On April 15, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech at Cheltenham High School to a sold-out audience as part of the Cheltenham Township Adult School’s 5-Star Forum series, writes Kenny Cooper for the WHYY. 

The now-defunct series brought many important speakers to lecture before an audience over the years, including Maya Angelou, John Updike, Danny Glover, Margaret Meed, David Brinkley, and Hal Holbrook. The series was so popular that it had subscribers among residents. 

There is a local legend that King’s visit was captured on film. While there is a copy of an old program detailing CTAS events that spring, including King’s speech, the supposed tapes were never found. 

“We believe that he probably covered a lot of the themes in that ‘I Have a Dream’ speech,” said Donald Scott, a professor at the Community College of Philadelphia and journalist. “And that of course involved America needing to commit to what they had on paper in terms of all men and women — all individuals in America — being free and [deserving] the same rights.” 

Read more about the Martin Luther King Jr. speech at Cheltenham High School in the WHYY. 

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