Graphic on Heights Page 5, April 9, 1968, encapsulates a tumultuous week
The April 9, 1968, edition of The Heights focused, to no one’s surprise, on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the previous Thursday. The lead article focused on the responses by local colleges and the Boston community. Above the masthead, flanking a photo of Dr. King, was an untitled, unsigned editorial. Its opening sentence portended its strong and angry tone: “There is a darkness in this country.”
The editorial described Dr. King’s death as having “the aura of futility and foolhardiness.” Dr. King saw “the darkness surrounding the American soul and his response was to love. . . . In all of this, Martin Luther King seems a fool.”
“Martin Luther King had a dream — the transformation of this country and all its citizens,” the editorial concluded. “His dream has died with him.”
The article on local response to Dr. King’s death also reported interesting BC background information. According to the article, classmate James Mooney called Charles Donovan, S.J., academic vice-president, at midnight following Dr. King’s death, asking Fr. Donovan to cancel classes on the following day, Friday. Fr. Donovan originally declined to cancel classes, the article said, because, “he feared giving the impression of panic.” He did agree to meet with students, faculty, and administrators the following morning at 9.
At that meeting, the article reported, he agreed to cancel classes and hold a memorial service. A Mass started at 9:45 am, I would guess in Bapst. F. X. Shea, S.J., had spent time in Selma, Ala., with Dr. King and offered a eulogy. He encouraged students to attend events in downtown Boston. Classmate Joanne Calore Turco recalls: “I attended a memorial service outside the library. Then, I think, there was a march down Commonwealth Avenue and some kind of demonstration on Boston Common.”
Further into the paper were articles, essays, and “personal accounts” by Heights staff members. Associate Editor Jack Foley and newswriter Hillard Pouncy traveled to Roxbury the night of Dr. King’s killing “to measure the response of the Negro community.” Foley’s account had the headline “Some were crying, most were staring.” Pouncy’s account carried the headline “Now a matter of survival.” Associate Editor Richard Small added an personal commentary “Now is the end of non-violence.”
Small mentioned that he was writing his column “very early on a Friday morning.” I think this edition of The Heights was probably put together under a lot of pressure. Such a major event as the assassination of the nation’s leading civil rights figure would bring such pressure by its very nature. There was also the timing. In March of that year, The Heights changed its production schedule. Instead of appearing on Fridays, with editorial work being done at the beginning of each week, issues came out on Tuesday. Plans for this edition were wiped away by events and speed was the likely factor that led to the unfortunate errors in the headline for the lead article “Colleges and Boston morn (sic) assasination (sic) of Dr. King.” Very noble effort overall, however.