So it goes

Michiko Kakutani's front-page New York Times piece on "I have a dream," a survey of the sources and aims of King's great speech, makes no mention of Marian Anderson's role, while giving spurious credit to Woody Guthrie. King's image of freedom ringing from various mountainsides was borrowed not from Guthrie but from Archibald Carey's 1952 speech to the Republican Convention (go to 16:30 here). It should also be noted that back in 1893 the pioneering feminist and civil-rights crusader Ida B. Wells transformed the lyrics of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" into a prophecy of future equality.

Previously: Voice of the Century.