Celebrating MLK Jr. - His Time On The Farm

In the summer of 1944 a young black southern college student spent time on a tobacco farm in Connecticut. Unacustomed to seeing colored people treated with respect, the trip north openned his eyes to new possibilities. 


King worked the fields in the sweltering June heat. He worked hard, but was treated very well and earned $4.00 an hour...which was not bad for a student working to pay off his tuition in those days. At times he also worked in the kitchen where he had all the food he could possibly want.

On his time off the clock he had the chance to see what complete freedom was like. He went to fine restaurants, saw grand shows, and no one asked him to leave the building or give up his seat for a white man. He was treated with respect and dignity and he liked it.

During that same time frame his peers elected him as their religious leader. He even earned the nickname "tweed" because he wore nice suits to church. One person recalled how nice a voice he had. King had thought about several different career paths, but this was the first time he considered preaching.

As all good things do, his time on the farm came to an end. Re-enterring a world filled with racism was as harsh as brass knuckles to the face and he resented it. This time, though, he couldn't just sit back and do nothing about it.

Armed with the new belief that people of all colors were capable of living together in harmony...he went on to become a great civil rights leader and helped end segregation in the south. He became reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man who lived and died for his cause.