Riverdale mourns Martin Luther King

1968

Year of turmoil

In early April 1968 Riverdale joined to rest of the nation in paying tribute to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Flags were lowered to half-staff at public buildings throughout the community and many cars were seen driving with their headlights on during the day to pay tribute to the slain civil rights leader. News of his assassination stunned the community, as it did the rest of the world. Approximately 500 congregants from three Kingsbridge churches marched from one house of worship to another to participate in quickly-scheduled interfaith services.

Kay Mallon, one of the organizers of the march, told The Press, “We wanted to state openly our sorrow over Dr. King. More than this — neighbor met neighbor — with Negroes and Whites marching together.”

Four years earlier, Dr. King visited Riverdale and gave a speech at the Fieldston School auditorium, where he said, “An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.”

The feeling of solidarity and the desire to rise up against perceived injustices continued throughout the year.

Thousands of students from Fieldston, Horace Mann, Manhattan College, DeWitt Clinton and Bronx High School of Science participated in a nationwide strike against the Vietnam War. Community educators and students had set the day aside after a national movement had urged the world’s youth to protest American involvement in Southeast Asia.

In Riverdale, many teachers, students, and parents rebelled at the idea of actual protests and set up activities to discuss the war and its complexities instead.