Discovered: Tape of early King speech in Hartford

The University of Hartford recently discovered in its vaults a tape recording of a speech Martin Luther King Jr. delivered at the Bushnell on May 7, 1959, according to the Hartford Courant. King, then 30 years old, told an audience of about 1,400: "I come to Hartford not totally a stranger because I have very pleasant memories of this city." He was referring to visiting the city as a teenager, while among a group of Morehouse College students who worked on a tobacco farm in Simsbury one summer. His speech also contained hints of the more famous "I Have a Dream Speech" he would deliver four years later in Washington, D.C., the Courant reports. Alongside the article is a link to a sample of the recording.