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

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

at Stanford University 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.

Early life and education

Carson was born on June 15, 1944, in Buffalo,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

; son of Clayborne and Louise Carson. He grew up near Los Alamos,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

, where his was one of a small number of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

families. He attributes his lifelong interest in the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

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; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25, ...

for his first year on college during the 1962-1963 school year. At age 19, Carson met

Stokely Carmichael Kwame Ture (; born Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael; June 29, 1941November 15, 1998) was a prominent organizer in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global pan-African movement. Born in Trinidad, he grew up in the Unit ...

at a national student conference in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

. Carmichael convinced him to attend the

March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply 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 rig ...

as a member of the

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segreg ...

(SNCC, pronounced "snick")."Clayborne Carson." ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2014. ''Biography In Context'', http://ezproxy.pierce.ctc.edu:2085/apps/doc/H1000016110/BIC?u=puya65247&sid=BIC&xid=a1c629d7. 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

.Carson, Clayborne. Interview. Valerie Lampman. 23 May 2019. Recalling the March, at which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous " I Have a Dream" speech at the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in ...

, 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. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

(UCLA)the 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 is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as anal ...

American History The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...

. 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 has been a professor at Stanford University for more than 40 years, where he primarily teaches U.S History and African American History.''Clayborne Carson Full Bio''. 16 June 2015. 25 May 2019. <https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/news/clayborne-carson-full-bio-0>. Carson has taught and lectured in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, China,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

, and throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

.''“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 Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of ...

, the

(SNCC), the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Cali ...

, and other subjects related to the black struggle and

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

. 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

KPFA KPFA (94.1 FM) is an American listener-funded talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station sig ...

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 Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

, 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, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated t ...

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

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...

,'' and the ''

CBS Evening News The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening 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 featuring news reports, feature s ...

''. Carson is a member of the global council of the

California International Law Center The California International Law Center is a research center at the University of California, Davis School of Law (Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall) that focuses on international, comparative, and transnational law. It works to promote scholarship, cu ...

at the University of California, Davis School of Law.http://www.law.ucdavis.edu/academics-clinicals/cilc/global-council.html Carson is also a member of several professional organizations including: the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

(AHA), the

Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad inc ...

(OAH), the Social Science History Association (SSAH), the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History (ASAALH), and the

Southern Historical Association The Southern Historical Association is a professional academic organization of historians focusing on the history of the Southern United States. It was organized on November 2, 1934. Its objectives are the promotion of interest and research in Sou ...

.''Clayborne Carson''. November 2013. 9 May 2019. <https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/clayborne-carson>. 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. His first book '' In Struggle: and the Black Awakening of the 1960s'' was awarded the 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. In 1985,

Coretta Scott King Coretta Scott King ( Scott; April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader who was married to Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his death. As an advocate for African-American equality, she ...

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 has spent over 20 years working to edit and publish Dr. King's works. On April 3, 2018, Clayborne Carson, as the director of the MLK Research and Education Institute, hosted a screening of a documentary that he helped create called ''I'm MLK, Jr.'' After the screening he hosted an additional event celebrating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s last speech, " I've Been to the Mountaintop". In 2021, Carson was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as a member of the newly-formed

Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board is an independent agency tasked with examining unsolved murders of African Americans between 1940 and 1979. Established in 2019, the board is authorized for up to 7 years, and authorization may be ...

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 for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was ...

. He has a daughter and son.

Awards and achievements

Andrew Mellon Fellowship The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City in the United States, simply known as Mellon Foundation, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, and endowed with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of P ...

(1977) * 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. <https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/clayborne-carson>. *Rosa Park Distinguished Citizen Award, Martin Luther King, Jr., Association of Santa Clara Valley (1991) * Society of American Historians; elected member (1991) *Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences Fellowship (1991) *Honorary Doctorate from

Pacific Graduate School of Psychology Palo Alto University (PAU) is a private university in Palo Alto, California that focuses on psychology. It was founded in 1975 as the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology. Palo Alto University offers two undergraduate degree programs: a Bach ...

(1995) *Founders Award for Historical Scholarship from the

Historical Society of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...

(2000) *International design competition for the National Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in

Washington D.C ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

; winning team member (2000) * Gandhi King Ikeda Award from

Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel Morehouse College is a Private college, private historically black college, historically black Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. Anchored by its main ca ...

, Gandhi Institute for reconciliation,

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliation ...

, Atlanta (2004) *Commendation Resolution by California Legislative Black Caucus, California Assembly,

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

(2007) *

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 ho ...

from Morehouse College (2007) *Honorary Doctorate from

Niagara University Niagara University (NU) is a private Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition in Lewiston in Niagara County, New York. It is run by the Congregation of the Mission and has 3,300 undergraduate students in 50 academic programs. Appro ...

(2008) *Martin Luther King, Jr. Research Fellowship from Howard Gotlieb Archival Center at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...

(2009) *Community Leader Award from Peninsula Bay Chapter of

The Links The Links is an American invitation-only social and service organization of prominent Black women in the United States. Founded in 1946, it is the largest nationwide organization of Black women in the USA. Members include multiple prominent wome ...

, Inc. (2010) *Local Hero of the Year Award from KQED/Union Bank (2011) *Joseph B, and Toby Gittler Prize from

Brandeis University Brandeis University is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational institution sponsored by the Jews, Jewish community, Brandeis was established on t ...

(2012) *Honorary Doctorate from Westminster College (2015) *Freedom Flame Award from Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee, Inc. (2016) *Tikkun Award from the

Network of Spiritual Progressives The Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP) is an international political and social justice movement based in the United States that seeks to influence American politics towards more humane, progressive values. The organization also challenges wh ...

(2016) * Willie B. Kennedy Award from the Northern California Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Foundation (2018) *

John W. Blassingame John Wesley Blassingame (March 23, 1940 – February 13, 2000) was an American historian and pioneer in the study of slavery in the United States. He was the former chairman of the African-American studies program at Yale University. Blassing ...

Award from the

(2018) *Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation Award for promoting Gandhian values outside

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

(2018)

Select bibliography

* *Senior Academic Adviser "

Eyes on the Prize ''Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement'' is an American television series and 14-part documentary about the 20th-century civil rights movement in the United States. The documentary originally aired on the PBS network, and it also ...

" 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 * http://www.librarything.com/combine.php?author=carsonclayborne * *

with

Tavis Smiley Tavis Smiley (; born September 13, 1964) is an American talk show host and author. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, and grew up in Bunker Hill, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to ...

on January 15, 2007 *
Interview
with Clayborne Carson *https://twitter.com/claybornecarson?lang=en Carson's Twitter Page {{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Clayborne 1944 births Activists for African-American civil rights Activists from California African-American academics African-American non-fiction writers American biographers American book editors 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers 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