Jones made clear to me King was very capable of writing his own speeches. That he was assisted was a practical necessity. Monies earned from the speech funded King’s civil rights work. It was Jones who filed the papers to copyright King’s “Dream” speech, as well as successfully securing a preliminary injunction, from a New York federal court, to prevent 20th Century Fox from selling phonograph records of it. “The first seven paragraphs of the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech are exactly as I had drafted them.”Īfter that it was all King, announcing a list of visions that are some of the most famous words spoken in the nation’s history. “Oh my God, he must have really been tired,” Jones told me. The next morning, Jones saw what King had prepared. Sometimes the hardest thing for him was the point of departure – starting the speech,” Jones explained. Unbeknownst to the others, Jones had prepared an opening for the speech for King to consider. But Lawrence Reddick, a professor at Coppin State Teachers’ College in Baltimore, disagreed, saying the attendees needed practical guidance and didn't want to just hear another sermon. Other ideas flowed, the hour was late and King became frustrated. Ralph Abernathy was forceful, urging King to preach. In a December interview, Jones, 91, recalled the efforts made for King's most iconic speech. Jill Lawrence: Cathartic speeches won't protect voting rights or elections. I've spent a good amount of my career interviewing lawyers and know how much history is often changed in the little-known legal memos, briefs and guidance these attorneys provide. Many of these attorneys are older, and getting their accounts in their own words is important as they reach their golden years. As we remember King's legacy this year, I was fascinated to hear stories from Jones and another attorney, Fred Gray, who were there at key moments in King's life of service. Opinions in your inbox: Get a digest of our takes on current events every dayĪgainst the backdrop of history, it's easy to forget that King, such a transcendent figure, needed a lot of assistance, including legal help, to power the engine of his civil rights activism. Lawyers like Jones played an unromantic but vital role in the Civil Rights movement. Included in the group was Clarence Jones, who served as King’s lawyer, speechwriter and adviser. Those gathered with King in the hotel had been there to influence his remarks. The oration would become an image etched in American history: King, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, delivered his "I Have a Dream” speech to more than 200,000 people on the National Mall. The matter at hand was an address that King was scheduled to give the next day. Martin Luther King Jr. and several other civil rights leaders huddled in a secluded section of the lobby of the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C.