On September 12, 1960, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his first and only visit to Delaware, delivering a powerful speech to a packed audience inside the auditorium of Howard High School in Wilmington. His appearance marked a historic moment for the state during the height of the civil rights movement.
According to a newspaper clipping from The News Journal, Dr. King emphasized the importance of perseverance and nonviolent action. “Protest, yes, but with dignity and discipline to achieve our goals,” King told attendees, reinforcing the philosophy that would come to define the movement nationwide. His words resonated deeply with students, educators, and community members gathered at Delaware’s first secondary school for Black students.
Dr. King’s visit to Howard High School was not an isolated moment, but part of a broader civil rights struggle unfolding within Delaware itself. Few people realize that Brown v. Board of Education—the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision that declared school segregation unconstitutional—was actually comprised of five separate cases, one of which originated in Delaware.
The Delaware case involved students forced to travel long distances to attend segregated schools that lacked equal resources. Among those schools were a one-room schoolhouse in Hockessin and Howard High School in Wilmington. Although the cases were unsuccessful in lower courts, they were appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where they were combined with similar cases from other states to form Brown v. Board of Education.
Today, Dr. King’s 1960 speech at Howard High School stands as a powerful reminder of Delaware’s role in the national fight for educational equity and civil rights. His visit, though brief, remains a lasting chapter in the state’s Black history—one rooted in courage, persistence, and the demand for justice.
