In the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr on 4 April 1968, the Jersey shore region was dotted with memorials to the man and his struggle for nonviolence, according to a cover article in The Matawan Journal a week later. 500 people had gathered on Sunday for a memorial at The First Presbyterian Church in Matawan. 2000 had marched to Marine Park in Red Bank and an equivalent number had processed to an interfaith service in Asbury Park.
The paper (page 4 col 1) remarked on the great restraint shown by African Americans in Monmouth County after the shooting and expressed its hope that the strong attendance by whites at the region's MLK memorials would demonstrate that the sadness over his loss was an emotion shared by the entire community.
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