Clayborne Carson (born June 15, 1944) is an American academic who was a professor of history at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and director of the Martin Luther King Jr., Research and Education Institute. Since 1985, he has directed the Martin Luther King Papers Project, a long-term project to edit and publish the papers of

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

Early life and education

Carson was born on June 15, 1944, in Buffalo, New York; son of Clayborne and Louise Carson. He grew up near Los Alamos,

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, where his father was a security guard for the

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development Laboratory, laboratories of the United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, United States Department of Energy ...

. His was one of a very small number of

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

families in Los Alamos, and he attributes his lifelong interest in the Civil Rights Movement to that experience. "I had this really strong curiosity about the black world, because in Los Alamos the black world was a very few families. When the civil rights movement started, I had this real fascination with it, and I wanted to meet the people in it."Diane Manuel,
A Sudden Call
, ''Stanford Today'', May/June 1996. After graduating from Los Alamos High School in 1962, Carson attended the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

for his first year on college during the 1962–1963 school year. At age 19, Carson met Stokely Carmichael at a national student conference in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. Carmichael convinced him to attend the

March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (commonly known as the March on Washington or the Great March on Washington) was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic righ ...

as a member of the

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and later, the Student National Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emer ...

(SNCC, pronounced "snick")."Clayborne Carson." ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2014. ''Biography In Context''. Accessed 21 May 2019. On August 28, 1963, Carson was overwhelmed to find himself among hundreds of thousands of African Americans at the March. This was the first big thing Carson had done in contribution to the Civil Rights Movement.Carson, Clayborne. Interview. Valerie Lampman. 23 May 2019. Recalling the March, at which Dr.

delivered his famous "

I Have a Dream "I Have a Dream" is a Public speaking, public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, Kin ...

" speech at the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...

, Carson says, "I have a lot of vivid memories, but not of King's speech." What left the biggest impression, he says, were "the people I met there." The March was also the only time Carson had ever heard Dr. King speak in public. It wasn't until 1964 after Carson had transferred to the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA) that he became more active in what he calls the "northern version of the southern struggle", and continued with SNCC. At UCLA Carson Changed his field of study from

computer programming Computer programming or coding is the composition of sequences of instructions, called computer program, programs, that computers can follow to perform tasks. It involves designing and implementing algorithms, step-by-step specifications of proc ...

American History The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...

. Here he earned his B.A. (1967), M.A. (1971), and wrote his doctoral dissertation on Stokely Carmichael and SNCC which earned him his Ph.D. (1975). While studying at UCLA, he was also involved with anti-Vietnam War protests. He speaks of that experience in his current writing, highlighting the importance of grassroots political activity within the African-American freedom struggle.

Career

Carson was a professor at

for more than 40 years, where he primarily taught U.S. History and African American History.''Clayborne Carson Full Bio''. 16 June 2015. 25 May 2019

.''“Clayborne Carson.” Clayborne Carson Biography , King Legacy Series, www.thekinglegacy.org/individuals/clayborne-carson'' He teaches and lectures about Martin Luther King,

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...

, the

(SNCC), the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...

, and other subjects related to the black struggle and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

. He has been a frequent guest on

Pacifica Radio Pacifica may refer to: Art * ''Pacifica'' (statue), a 1938 statue by Ralph Stackpole for the Golden Gate International Exposition Places * Pacifica, California, a city in the United States ** Pacifica Pier, a fishing pier * Pacifica, a conce ...

station

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Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, and has also appeared on programs like NPR's ''

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's hosts are Terry Gross and Tonya Mosl ...

'', the '' Tavis Smiley Show,'' the '' Charlie Rose Show,'' ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

,'' and the ''

CBS Evening News The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featu ...

''. Carson is a member of the global council of the California International Law Center at the University of California, Davis School of Law. Carson has also written several books and articles regarding the Civil Rights Movement, and has made contributions to many more as well as documentaries, and interviews.''Clayborne Carson''. November 2013. 9 May 2019

His first book ''In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s'' was awarded the Frederick Jackson Turner Award, Fredrick Jackson Turner Award in 1982.“Honors and Awards.” ''The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute'', 4 Mar. 2019, kinginstitute.stanford.edu/institute/clayborne-carson/curriculum-vita/honors-and-awards. Carson was also the Historical Adviser for the film '' Freedom on My Mind'', which in 1995 was nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

. In 1985, Coretta Scott King asked Carson to lead a project to publish King's previously unpublished works. In an interview conducted in 2008, Carson explains that he initially declined to work as Senior Editor to Dr. King's works, Carson had "never really thought of imselfas a King biographer. ewas a SNCC person," he said, referencing the discord between SNCC and Dr. King that occurred during the movement. Carson eventually agreed to oversee the project mentioning that he would not have accepted the job if the family held control over Dr. King's works. Carson and his staff have spent over 20 years working to edit and publish Dr. King's works. Carson retired from Stanford in 2020. In 2021, Carson was nominated by President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

to serve as a member of the newly formed Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board.

Personal life

Carson married Susan Ann Beyer in 1967, who at the time was a librarian. Until her retirement, she was the managing editor of the King Papers Project, and lives in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

. He has a daughter and son.

Awards and achievements

* Andrew Mellon Fellowship (1977) * Frederick Jackson Turner Award, Fredrick Jackson Turner Award of the organization of American Historians for ''In Struggle:SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s (''1982'')''''Clayborne Carson'' . November 2013. 9 May 2019

* Society of American Historians; elected member (1991) *Honorary Doctorate from Pacific Graduate School of Psychology (1995) *International design competition for the National Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in

Washington D.C Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

; winning team member (2000) * Gandhi King Ikeda Award from Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel, Gandhi Institute for reconciliation,

Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...

, Atlanta (2004) *

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from Morehouse College (2007) *Honorary Doctorate from

Niagara University Niagara University (NU) is a private Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition in the census-designated place Niagara University, New York, in the town of Lewiston near Niagara Falls. It is run by the Congregation of the Mission and ...

(2008) *Honorary Doctorate from Westminster College (2015)

Select bibliography

* *Senior Academic Adviser " Eyes on the Prize" PBS,1987-1990. *co-editor, ''T he Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader''. Penguin Books, 1991. *Historical Adviser," Freedom on My Mind" Tara Releasing, 1994. * ''Co-editor with David Gallen,

: the FBI file''. Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1991. *Co-author with Carol Berkin and others, ''American Voices A History of the United States.'' Scott Foresman and Company, 1992. *co-author, ''A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'' Grand Central Publishers, 1998. *co-author, ''The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.'' Grand Central Publishers, 2001. *co-editor, ''African American Lives: The Struggle for Freedom''. Volume I. Longman, 2004. *co-editor, ''African American Lives: The Struggle for Freedom''. Volume II. Longman, 2004. *co-author, ''The Martin Luther King, Jr. Encyclopedia''. Greenwood Press, 2008. *senior editor, ''The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr.''. Vols. 1–4. University of California Press, 1992–2007. *co-editor with Kris Shepard, ''A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." ''Warner Books, Inc., 2001''. *consultant, ''Civil Rights Chronicle : the African-American Struggle for Freedom'' Publications International, Ltd., 2003. *''Martin's Dream: My Journey and the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. A Memoir''. Palgrave MacMillan, 2013. * *Historical Adviser, "Chicano! History of Mexican American Civil Rights" NLCC Educational Media, 1996 . *Historical Adviser, " Black and Jews" 1997 . *co-author, "Blacks and Jews in the Civil Rights Movement," in ''Strangers and Neighbors: Relations between Blacks and Jews in the United States'', University of Massachusetts Press, 2000. *Author of introduction, ''Stride Toward Freedom: Montgomery Story''. Beacon Press, 2010. *Co-Author, ''This Light is Ours: Activist Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement.'' WW Norton & Co, 2009. *Author of play ''Passages of Martin Luther King.'' 1993

References

External links

Clayborne Carson Home Page
Stanford University (archived) * *

with Clayborne Carson {{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Clayborne 1944 births Activists for African-American civil rights Activists from California 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics African-American non-fiction writers American biographers American book editors 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American anti–Vietnam War activists Historians of the United States Living people American male biographers Stanford University Department of History faculty University of California, Los Angeles alumni Academics from New York (state) People from Los Alamos, New Mexico Morehouse College faculty American male non-fiction writers Historians of the civil rights movement