Martin Luther King Jr. spoke during three known visits to Minnesota. King touched on topics ranging from colonialism to the war in Vietnam. The first of King’s speeches in the state happened more than 70 years ago, but the messages still resonate in the places he visited.

A sermon to pastors in St. Paul 

Martin Luther King Jr. first came to Minnesota on Jan. 22, 1951, at the request of Clifford Ansgar Nelson, who was serving as head pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in St. Paul.  

The current pastor, Bradley Schmeling, says he imagines it was a tight fit when 1,400 people came to see the civil rights activist.

“We have a picture of his presence here that hangs right outside of our sanctuary,” Schmeling said. “Knowing our sanctuary, I can’t imagine how that many people crammed into that room to hear him speak at the time.” 

The impact of King’s 1951 sermon, delivered to a crowd attending the Minnesota Pastors Conference, still resonates.

“Lutheranism is the whitest denomination in the country,” Schmeling said. “White supremacy still shaped so much of our experience here in Minnesota.” 

While the congregation is still majority white, Schmeling says King’s legacy has informed the Church’s work in social justice, especially when it comes to reconciliation work with Native communities. 

“If the church isn’t working on this, speaking about it, it’s hard to say that we would be preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

A full schedule in Mankato 

King’s next visit to Minnesota was on Nov. 12, 1961, when he delivered multiple speeches in Mankato.

King delivered two sermons at Centenary United Methodist Church, as well as a speech at Mankato West High, focusing on the need to end the notion of superior or inferior races, calling out those using the Christian Bible as justification.

“It’s a strange thing how men often believe things that are evil in context,” King said, according to a transcript from his speech at Mankato West High School. “They go to find some religious and biblical justification for it. And so, they lift things out of context and try to argue or to justify a particular belief that they have.”

MNSU Mankato professor Jameel Haque was involved in a documentary about King’s 1961 visit.  

“A delegation of pastors from Mankato were at a national conference where they met Martin Luther King Jr,” Haque explained. “They were very impressed by him, and they really wanted somebody to come to Mankato to bring a different kind of message.” 

Haque added King’s speech in Mankato came at a time when the Civil Rights Movement was picking up steam.  

“Having this legacy here in town,” Haque said. “It’s a big deal.” 

A lovely April day in St. Paul 

The last known time King visited Minnesota was in 1967. The civil rights leader spoke at the University of Minnesota about his opposition to the Vietnam War. It was a year before he was assassinated.

“As he moved further through the movement, he really did become more radical,” said G. Phillip Shoultz III, who is the Associate Artistic Director of “Vocal Essence” choral group. “Maybe radical is not even the right word — more pointed and direct in expressing opposition to things that he thought were fundamentally wrong.”

Shoultz has curated the University of Minnesota’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemoration program for six years, and the university’s celebration of the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington.

Shoultz says he takes this time of year to revisit the teachings of King, which he believes are especially important today. Shoultz points to King’s theological belief of the “Beloved Community”.

It is a “world where I can see you and you can see me and we don't have to agree on all issues, but I can hear you, you can hear me,” Shoultz said. “But at the heart, we both want what’s best for each other.” 

Shoultz wonders what role King might have played in current national conversations and in moments of divisiveness.

“I think he would find a way to bridge that gap with his words,” Shoultz said. “Inviting everyone to come in and listen and to consider how we are all complicit in some of the problems that we face.”