King Returns to Washington

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Jefferson Walker

   Pages 1-13

3. “Building the Dream”: The Making of the King Memorial

   • Jefferson Walker

   Pages 14-33

4. The Rhetorical Form and Force of the King Memorial

   • Jefferson Walker

   Pages 34-58

5. Interpretation, Politicization, and Institutionalization: A Rhetorical Analysis of the King Memorial’s Dedication Ceremony

   • Jefferson Walker

   Pages 59-78

6. Conclusion

   • Jefferson Walker

   Pages 79-92

7. Back Matter

   Pages 93-95

   PDF

Exploring the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial (King Memorial) in Washington, DC through a multi-faceted rhetorical analysis of the site's visual and textual components, Jefferson Walker reveals multiple critical, popular, privileged, and vernacular interpretations of the site and Dr. Martin Luther King's memory. Walker argues that the King Memorial and its related texts help to universalize and institutionalize King's ethos - creating a contentious rhetorical battleground where various people and organizations contest the "ownership" and use of King's memory. Walker uses these analyses to uncover how the site contributes to the public memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Jr.
• Barack Obama
• Civil Rights Movement
• Collective Memory
• King Memorial
• Martin Luther King
• National Mall
• Public Memory
• Rhetoric
• Institution
• Jr.
• Martin Luther
• memory
• Nation
• politics

“King Returns to Washington, Jefferson Walker brings new energy and a fresh perspective to both the disciplinary study of the rhetoric of public memory and the broader study of the legacy of the civil rights era. King Returns to Washington offers a compact yet detailed account of the 27-year-long process from inception to dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 2011.” (Jennifer Biedendorf, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Vol. 21 (4), 2018)

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• Assistant Professor of Communication, Louisiana Tech University, USA

  Jefferson Walker

Jefferson Walker is Assistant Professor of Communication at Louisiana Tech University, USA. His research and teaching interests are in public memory, political communication, and the rhetoric of social movements. His work has been published in Alabama Review and the Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric. He earned his PhD in Communication and Information Sciences from the University of Alabama, USA.

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