Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Martin Luther King Jr. 1964
Nobel Foundation [Public domain]
via Wikimedia Commons

Martin Luther King Jr. Day (also known as MLK Day) is a federal holiday commemorating the life and works of Martin Luther King Jr. It is held on the 3rd Monday of January each year, which falls on or near King's birthday of January 15th. 

The push to make this a national holiday was contentious. The first bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives in 1968, just four days after King's assassination. However, it was not brought up for a full vote of the House until 1979, where it lost by 5 votes. The bill finally became law in 1983, and the first MLK Day was celebrated in 1986. 

Tarleton's Dick Smith Library has a wealth of resources by and about Martin Luther King Jr. such as these titles: 

King at the March on Washington in 1963,
where he gave his famous "I Have a Dream Speech."
 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. 
The Radical King
A Lasting Prophetic Legacy
Waking from the Dream
Misremembering Dr. King
Selma to Saigon
Extremist for Love
The Speech
The King Years
Martin's Dream
The Awful Grace of God
Behind the Dream
Hellhound on His Trail
The Trumpet of Conscience
Where Do We Go from Here?