Honoring our Past

Questions have been pouring in about Martin Luther King. One of the most interesting features we found is on the University of Virgina's Miller Center of Public Affairs web site http://millercenter.org/. In honor of Martin Luther King Day, the first installment of the new Presidential Recordings Series, a collaboration of the University of Virginia Press, its e-imprint, Rotunda, and the University's Miller Center of Public Affairs is the Lyndon B. Johnson Digital Edition that includes several conversations with and about King. The title includes hundreds of hours of presidential tapes covering everything from the War on Poverty to the Civil Rights Movement to the Vietnam War.


Each conversation is fully transcribed and annotated and accompanied by its audio file. The edition includes photos and video galleries, a linked timeline, and searching ability. Miller Center scholars are in the process of transcribing and annotating the secret White House tapes recorded by every president from Franklin Roosevelt to Richard Nixon. The press is offering a free trial of the edition through January 27. After that, users can sign up on the site for a free 48-hour trial.

As part of the University of Virginia's week-long commemoration of the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, the Miller Center is hosting a program exploring King's private conversations and public communications tomorrow, Wednesday, at 11 a.m. The program will highlight the relationship between King and President Lyndon B. Johnson that emerges in secret tapes recorded by Johnson. This event takes place at the Miller Center and will be webcast live at http://millercenter.org/.

Excerpt from Shelf Awareness, Daily Enlightenment for the Book Trade