Next month will mark 54 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his only visit to Orlando — a trip that shocked the city and led to major changes, steering away from segregation.

  • 54th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'shocking' visit to Orlando
  • Martin Luther King Jr. made his only visit to Orlando in 1964
  • He addressed thousands at downtown Orlando's Tinker Field

The way Orlando is today is far different from 1964.

"We had some segregationists on the Orlando City Council," said Rev. Jimmie Perry, who was a member of the NAACP Youth Council in Orlando. "They didn't want to integrate nothing."

The early 1960s was a time when there were demonstrations in cities nationwide. Here in Orlando, demonstrations reached an impasse; however, the Rev. Curtis Jackson knew how to change that.

"And he had threatened that, he said, 'I know Rev. King, and I'm gonna make an appeal for him to come to Orlando,' " Perry said. "When he (King) responded, it shocked the city, both black and white."

King showed up, had a day long meeting and made demands. He also spoke before a crowd of thousands at Tinker Field, which was one of only a few places at the time that could handle everyone from Orlando and surrounding areas.

This, however, was happening as rumors were spreading of a big developer, buying huge tracts of land. You can guess who that is.

"So Bob Carr was telling everybody, 'Hold your horses; we don't wanna mess this thing up'," Perry recalled.

King's one and only visit was captured through two pictures that were donated to downtown Orlando's Orange County Regional History Center and chronicled in an exhibition called "Searching for Dr. King."

Whitney Broadaway went through donated footage at the history center, hoping to find film and sound from that important visit.

"Luckily, because of the film scripts, we know his exact words at least in the clip that they showed. We do have a quote from that speech," Broadaway said.

King's visit was extremely important, memorable and paved the way toward equality.

"Now you see African-Americans on every board in the city, even the judgeship, you see African-Americans. But there was none before," Perry added.

The visit also led to the development of the biracial Human Relations Commission. Perry was appointed to it by then-Mayor Bob Carr.