On April 15, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech at Cheltenham High School.
According to local historian Chuck Langerman, Dr. King spoke about race relations to a sold out standing-room-only crowd in the Cheltenham High auditorium as part of the Cheltenham Township Adult School’s “Five Star Forum”.
According to the contract pictured below, Dr. King was paid $1,000 plus transportation costs for the speech.

King also spoke at Salem Baptist Church of Jenkintown in 1963. In January 1964, Dr. King appeared on the cover of Time magazine as its “Man of the Year”, a cover he had previously graced in 1957 when he was featured for his role in the Montgomery bus boycott. From the King Institute at Stanford University:
Time’s tribute to King included a photograph of the civil rights leader on the magazine’s cover, along with a seven-page feature that included pictures of King during some of the most memorable moments of his civil rights career, including a meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson and King’s arrest in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. King received many congratulatory telegrams, notably from Roy Wilkins, secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; and Nelson A. Rockefeller, governor of New York.
Although many of King’s supporters celebrated the tribute, King was privately incensed by some of the comments in the story. His clothing style was described as “funereal conservatism,” and he was said to have “very little sense of humor.” King, who had garnered considerable fame from his speeches and oratorical skills, was criticized for his use of metaphors, which the author called “downright embarrassing” (“Man of the Year,” 13).


Last year, Kenny Cooper, a 2016 Cheltenham High graduate and a suburban reporter for WHYY, published a feature article about the 60th anniversary of King’s speech in Wyncote.
Monday, January 20 marks the 39th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a national holiday.
For all the latest news, follow us on Facebook or sign up for Glenside Local’s “Daily Buzz” newsletter here.
Photos: Time, History.com