MANKATO — Sally Burdick was a 19-year-old college student when she shook the hand of Martin Luther King Jr., though at the time she had no idea just how famous he would become.
It was Nov. 11, 1961, and Burdick was encouraged to attend a speech by King at Centenary Methodist Church in Mankato. King spoke there twice that day and once at what was then Mankato High School, which is now Mankato West High School.
The events of that fateful November day are the focus of 50-minute film “MLK 11.12.61,” which is being premiered 6 p.m. Jan. 20 at Minnesota State University’s Ostrander Hall. The film was created by writer and director Ryan Sturgis and producer Jameel Haque.
Put on by the Kessel Peace Institute, “MLK 11.12.61” details the day when King visited Mankato. It was the only day in history when he came to Mankato to speak.
King came as a means of attempting to further people’s understanding of the civil rights work he was doing in the South and gather national support for it, Sturgis said. King received three invitations to speak at the Methodist church and accepted the third.
King spoke twice in the morning at the church and once in the afternoon at the high school. He always had a “grueling” speaking schedule when he traveled, Haque said.
The making of the movie wasn’t easy, he said, as few news outlets covered King’s appearance in Mankato. KSMU recorded one of King’s speeches, and that’s used in the film.
Burdick is featured in “11.12.61” and said her then Lutheran Student Association pastor encouraged students to attend King’s speech at Centenary Methodist Church. She and her best friend walked to the church from the MSU campus and got seats in the third pew.
“Our pastor … told us this young Black minister was going to be coming to speak, and it would be worthwhile for us to hear it,” Burdick said. “We didn’t know who he was.
“He mostly spoke about accepting all people,” she said. “It was a very positive kind of speech, a lot about acceptance. I was impressed. People were very interested in what he had to say. Everybody listened carefully.”
She said she got the impression King was someone special. “He had a charisma about him that made people listen and react. Deep inside, I knew this was someone very special who was going to go far. It wasn’t until later we realized we were in the presence of greatness.”
After King’s speech, Burdick joined others in a line to shake his hand.
“He took time with every single person to make eye contact and say thank you for coming,” she said. “So yes, I touched Martin Luther King Jr. I didn’t know how special it was.”
“11.12.61” is the third film by Sturgis and Haque that focuses on King. They plan to further their work by producing a feature-length film about the Somali population “and that element of the Black American experience” that they’ll send to film festivals, Sturgis said.
The Jan. 20 “11.12.61” film showing in the Centennial Student Union is free to attend. Also that night, the Greater Mankato Diversity Council will distribute its Pathfinder Awards, which honor people who are social justice activists in the mold of King, Haque said.
The Kessel Peace Institute, which is hosting “11.12.61,” is an arm of MSU that promotes social justice in Mankato and beyond.