The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, on December 11, 1964. Upon his return from Europe the following week, Mayor Robert Wagner presented Dr. King with the Medallion of Honor, the city’s highest award.   

“This city has officially welcomed many world‐renowned figures,” Mayor Wagner said at the City Hall ceremony on December 17. “I can think of none who has won a more lasting place in the moral epic of America. New York is proud of you, Dr. King.” 

New York City has a long history of honoring special guests—athletes, aviators, astronauts, royalty, world leaders, even a virtuoso piano player—all celebrated with memorable receptions. Since the early years of the twentieth century, bureaus within the Mayor’s Office have been responsible for these welcoming events. During the Wagner Administration, the Department of Public Events had this responsibility.   

Examining files in the Public Events series within the Mayor Wagner papers, reveals extensive documentation regarding Dr. King’s reception. On December 1, 1964, Department of Public Events Commissioner Emma Rothblatt convened a meeting of twenty-six people to discuss arrangements for the day’s activities. The resulting multi-page minutes of the “Planning Meeting” detailed the necessary preparations. The press release subsequently issued on December 15, provided the finalized schedule for the day’s ceremonies: “Dr. King will be driven in an official limousine heading a five-car motorcade, with police escort from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.” Proceeding down the East River Drive, the motorcade will arrive at City Hall where Mayor Wagner will present the Medallion of Honor. Later in the evening, at 6 p.m. “Mayor Wagner will tender an official City reception to Dr. King in the Empire Room of the Waldorf Astoria and present a desk set, bearing the seal of the City of New York.”

Correspondence in the files demonstrates the thoroughness of the preparations. The December 15 memo to Public Events staff member Colonel Paul Armus is typical:  “Subject: Lincoln Cars. To: Colonal Armus. Please make the necessary arrangements for the release of the three Lincoln cars for Thursday, December 17th, from approximately 9:30 A.M. until midnight.” Other memos discussed gifts to be presented to Dr. King’s father, mother, and wife. On December 4, Commissioner Rothblatt notified Armus that “The Mayor has decided that the Silver Letter Opener for Dr. King’s father and the charm key for Dr. King’s wife and mother will be presented at the reception on December 17. Just to be certain however, I will have the awards ready at City Hall should the Mayor call for them.” 

Other folders contain documents concerning the evening reception at the Waldorf Astoria. Labeled “Very Special Attention,” a checklist specified the beverages to be served (Scotch, Rye, Bourbon “on-the-Rocks” and Highballs, Gin and Tonic, Old Fashioned, and Dry Martini Cocktails to be freshly made as needed”), gratuities (“No Tipping” signs to be displayed”), decorations, flags, music (“Provide one well-tuned Baby Grand Piano…”), as well as the extensive menu. It also included a list of the 400 invited guests—Vice President‐elect Hubert Humphrey and Mr. and Mrs. Count Basie, among the acceptances. 

The next day’s New York Times reported on Dr. King’s visit: “Addressing a crowd that packed every corner of the City Council Chamber and overflowed into the corridors of City Hall, Dr. King, in a deep voice and measured tones, said: ‘I am returning with a deeper conviction that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time—the need for men to end the oppression and violence of racial persecution, destructive poverty and war without resorting to violence and oppression’.” 

The Times also noted that “Dr. King slipped the medal into the right flap pocket of his dark‐blue suit. In the left inside pocket of his jacket was the small, yellow check of the Nobel Prize Committee, made out for 273,000 Swedish kroner ($54,600).” The Times report added that Dr. King planned to donate his entire prize to the civil rights movement.

On this weekend as we reflect on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, please take a few minutes to listen to Dr. King’s remarks at the City Hall ceremony: The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. December 17, 1964 at City Hall

“Yes, our souls have been tried in the cold and bitter Valley Forges of the Deep South, and black and white together, we have met the test. We shall overcome.” 

-Dr. Martin Luther King, December 17, 1964.