From the Archives Iowa Public Radio

The 31st U.S. President, Herbert Hoover, returns to his hometown of West Branch, Iowa on his 88th birthday for the dedication of his presidential library. During his speech, he cautions against allowing the spread of communism across the world.

Almost a year after President Herbert Hoover’s death, former Vice President Richard Nixon visits the library on what would be Hoover’s 91st birthday. Four years later, Nixon would be elected President of the United States.

World heavyweight champion boxer Muhammad Ali was at the top of his game in the 1960s. After Ali refused to serve in the Vietnam War for religious reasons, he was arrested and convicted of draft evasion, facing five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. His boxing license was suspended, and he was barred from leaving the country. With his boxing career on hold and his future uncertain, the champ began speaking at college campuses around the country, including in Iowa City.

In October 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Grinnell College, six months before his assassination. King encourages people implores the audience to "remain awake during the revolution."

On the fifth episode of From the Archives, a member of the Kerner Commission discusses the findings of the report at Grinnell College during a memorial symposium honoring the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

There are many origins to the Black Power Movement, but political scientist Charles V. Hamilton and his colleague Stockley Carmichael elevated it with their 1967 book Black Power: the Politics of Liberation in America. Hamilton says Black Power can organize Black people’s rage and force answers to hard questions.