Martin Luther King Jr. Visits J.R. "Bud" Cole
The photo taken of J.R. "Bud" Cole and Martin Luther King Jr. was taken in 1964 after the attack and burning of a Black church named Mt. Zion. On June 16th of 1964, the terrorist organization called the KKK received a tip that civil rights activist Michael Schwerner would be present in the congregation. Upon the KKK realizing that Schwerner was not attending, they torched the church and beat members of the congregation. After which, they set up a trap on June 20th that led to the death of three individuals, including Michael Schwerner.
This led to a nation-wide investigation that included the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to uncover who committed the murders of Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman. This case led to national attention from civil rights activists like MLK as well as news outlets like Peoples Magazines, which took the photo seen in this exhibit.
Sources:
https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/mississippi-burning.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/freedomsummer-murder/