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MLK Wins Nobel Prize

Oct. 14, 1964 - The Nobel Peace Prize for 1964 was awarded today to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The award to Dr. King will be made in Oslo, Norway, on Dec. 10.

The 35-year-old civil rights leader is the youngest winner of the prize that Dr. Alfred Nobel instituted since the first was awarded in 1901.

The prize honors acts “for the furtherance of brotherhood among men and to the abolishment or reduction of standing armies and for the extension of these purposes.”

The Norwegian state radio changed its program schedule tonight to broadcast a 30-minute program in honor of Dr. King. In a broadcast from Atlanta, Ga., Dr. King said he was deeply moved by the honor.

Dr. King said that “every penny” of the prize money, which amounts to about $54,000, would be given to the civil rights movement.

“I am glad people of other nations are concerned with our problems here,” he said. He added that he regarded the prize as a sign that world public opinion was on the side of those struggling for freedom and dignity.

He also said he saw no political implications in the award. “I am a minister of the gospel, not a political leader,” he said.

Dr. King heard the news today in a room at St. Joseph’s Infirmary in Atlanta, Ga., where he was undergoing a checkup and getting some rest.

After noting that he had not had a general physical checkup in two years, Dr. King said: “I just kind of got rundown.” He said the checkup would take about two days and that he would remain in the hospital for a day or two more “to get some rest.”



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© 2024 by Joe Rubenstein

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