The Biggest Quake in North America: Alaska, 1964

When the Great Alaska Earthquake convulsed the south-central region of that vast state on March 27, 1964, the energy released by the upheaval— the largest quake in recorded North American history—was, LIFE magazine reported, “400 times the total [energy] of all nuclear bombs ever exploded” until that time. The event unleashed a colossal 200,000 megatons of energy, destroying buildings and infrastructure in Anchorage and far beyond; raising the land as much as 30 feet in some places; and sparking a major underwater landslide in Prince William Sound, which killed scores of people when the resulting waves slammed into Port Valdez.

When all was said and done, the 9.2-magnitude quake—which struck around 5:30 in the evening on Good Friday—and its many powerful aftershocks caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage; killed more than 130 people (including more than a dozen tsunami-related deaths in Oregon and California) and; in ways literal and figurative, forever altered the Alaskan landscape in places such as Anchorage, Seward and Valdez.

Here, LIFE.com presents photos—many of them never published in LIFE—from the cataclysm’s aftermath.

Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizabethRonk.

Anchorage, Alaska, in the aftermath of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake.

Anchorage, Alaska, in the aftermath of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake.

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The earthquake split the Turnagain section of Anchorage with a criss-cross of deep fissures in the ground, heaving the smashed homes up at crazy angles.

The earthquake split the Turnagain section of Anchorage with a criss-cross of deep fissures in the ground, heaving the smashed homes up at crazy angles.

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Aftermath of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

Aftermath of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

Stan Wayman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Aftermath of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

Aftermath of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Aftermath of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

Aftermath of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

Stan Wayman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Alaskans pray after the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake.

Alaskans prayed after the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake.

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ben Henry, 10, sits on bowling-game table in Anchorage American Legion Hall as his sister Genevieve sleeps by pins. Everything in their house was destroyed.

Ben Henry, 10, sat on bowling-game table in the Anchorage American Legion Hall as his sister Genevieve slept by the pins. Everything in their house was destroyed.

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

People receiving medical treatment after the March 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

People received medical treatment after the March 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

v

Alaska earthquake, 1964.

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

After the March 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

After the March 1964 Good Friday earthquake, Alaska.

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Unloading relief supplies after the March 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

Relief supplies were unloaded after the March 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

After the March 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

After the March 1964 Good Friday earthquake, Alaska.

Stan Wayman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

After the March 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

After the March 1964 Good Friday earthquake, Alaska.

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

After the March 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

After the March 1964 Good Friday earthquake, Alaska.

Stan Wayman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

After the March 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

After the March 1964 Good Friday earthquake, Alaska.

Stan Wayman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

After the March 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

After the March 1964 Good Friday earthquake, Alaska.

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

After the March 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

After the March 1964 Good Friday earthquake, Alaska.

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

After the March 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, Alaska.

After the March 1964 Good Friday earthquake, Alaska.

Stan Wayman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

In downtown Anchorage, the buildings and the pavement dropped 20 feet, dividing Fourth Avenue into two levels and leaving a weird jumble of signs.

In downtown Anchorage, the buildings and the pavement dropped 20 feet, dividing Fourth Avenue into two levels and leaving a weird jumble of signs.

Stan Wayman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

LIFE Magazine April 10, 1964

Cover of LIFE Magazine April 10, 1964

LIFE Magazine

Reading The Comics: A True American Pastime

From the cartoons such as Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes that have long livened up the daily newspaper to the graphic novels of more recent vintage such as  Watchmen and Maus, comics have proven to be a wonderfully expansive form of American art. Comics can provide readers with a quick laugh or a deep journey, and they can enchant young and old alike. 

In tribute, LIFE.com offers vintage photos of men, women and children disappearing into the comics. From the young girl waiting outside the Anchorage supermarket to the soldiers on a break in Korea, having a comic in your hand meant that your imagination had a place to go.

Also included in the gallery are images of hearings in 1954 held by the U.S. Senate over whether a certain stripe of violent comics were contributing to juvenile delinquency. The hearings led to the comics industry adopting its own ratings system. Another photo in this gallery shows  Henry A. Wallace, who served as Vice President under Franklin Roosevelt from 1941 to 1945, examining the funny pages while dressed in a suit, a reminder of how comics have enjoyed a truly broad appeal.

A sailor read a comic book aboard the USS Doran in 1942.

Thomas McAvoy/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

A mother reads her children the comics while traveling on the "El Capitan" train between Chicago and Los Angeles, 1945.

A mother read her children the comics while traveling on the “El Capitan” train between Chicago and Los Angeles, 1945.

Sam Sher/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

A young boy read a comic strip while his leash-tethered dog waited forlornly for their walk to continue, 1944.

Nina Leen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Former Vice President and Secretary of Commerce Henry A. Wallace read the comics, 1946.

Walter B. Lane/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

A Turkish soldier looks at an American comic book with a Korean girl during the Korean War, 1951.

A Turkish soldier looked at an American comic book with a Korean girl during the Korean War, 1951.

Carl Mydans/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

A boy escaped from his haircut, Garden City, New York, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Religious comic books, 1943.

Religious comic books, 1943.

Walter Sanders/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Private Ernest Dandou reads a comic book at paratrooper camp, Georgia, 1944.

Private Ernest Dandou read a comic book at paratrooper camp, Georgia, 1944.

Frank Schersche/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

A young girl reads a comic book at an Anchorage, Alaska, supermarket in 1958.

A young girl read a comic book at an Anchorage, Alaska, supermarket in 1958.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Actress Buff Cobb (one-time wife of journalist Mike Wallace) reads comic books at home in 1946.

Actress Buff Cobb (one-time wife of journalist Mike Wallace) read comic books at home in 1946.

Martha Holmes/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Two Dutch children read comic books in 1953, Netherlands.

Two Dutch children read comic books, Netherlands, 1953.

Nat Farbman/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Comic book artist Bob Kane, who created Batman, poses with his iconic illustrations, 1966.

Comic book artist Bob Kane, who created Batman, posed with his iconic illustrations, 1966.

Yale Joel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The 1954 Senate Subcommittee Hearings into Juvenile Delinquency focused on the “dangers” posed by comic books.

Yale Joel/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The 1954 Senate Subcommittee Hearings into Juvenile Delinquency focused on the “dangers” posed by comic books.

Yale Joel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Boys shopped for comic books, Des Moines, Iowa, 1945.

Nina Leen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Cartoonist Chester Gould sitting on wall beside cemetery where he "buried" vanquished villains from his "Dick Tracy" comic strip, 1949.

Cartoonist Chester Gould sat on a wall beside a cemetery where he “buried” vanquished villains from his “Dick Tracy” comic strip, 1949.

Francis Miller/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Small boys read comic books during a speech by Dwight Eisenhower in Montana, 1952.

These boys read comic books during a speech by Dwight Eisenhower in Montana, 1952.

Ralph Morse/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

A Turkish boy (center) rents out comic books to local children to support his family in the Philippines in 1945.

A Turkish boy (center) rented out comic books to local children to support his family in the Philippines in 1945.

Carl Mydans/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

American troops read comic books during the Korean War, 1951.

American troops read comic books during the Korean War, 1951.

John Dominis/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Lieutenant Frank Hensley read a comic book after loading cargo on plane, 1950.

Joseph Scherschel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

A father readsthe Sunday comics to his daughter, 1946.

Nina Leen/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Reading a comic book while traveling on a Pullman car, 1945.

Sam Shere/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Reading the comics, Detroit, 1943.

Walter Sanders/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Robert Frost: Revisiting Sites That Inspired His Verse

Even in America, where poetry is largely looked upon as an elitist indulgence rather than a cultural force to be reckoned with, Robert Frost’s works—or parts of his works—are familiar to vast numbers of people. They might not know that the words were first penned by the Bard of New England, but men and women who haven’t cracked a volume of poetry in decades still recognize Frost’s most memorable lines and, above all, his inimitable images:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

— From “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

He will not go behind his father’s saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, “Good fences make good neighbors.”

— From “Mending Wall”

Then there’s the famously short, sharp “Fire and Ice,” first published in December 1920:

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Frost won four Pulitzer Prizes for his poetry—one of a very small handful of writers to have won so many—and remains, a full half-century after his death in 1963, one of the most celebrated and popular American literary voices of the 20th century. Here, LIFE.com pays tribute to the man (b. March 26, 1874, in San Francisco) and the artist with a series of photos made by Howard Sochurek in England in 1957.

When 83-year-old Robert Frost went to England this summer [LIFE told its readers] it was officially to receive that country’s highest scholastic acclaim, honorary degrees from Oxford and Cambridge. Unofficially, it was a fine opportunity for the famous American poet to “round off his life,” as he put it, and revisit the peaceful haunts of Gloucestershire where he had lived as a younger man. In 1912, unknown as a poet in the U.S., Frost had begun a two-and-a-half-year sojourn in England and his first two books, “A Boy’s Will” and “North of Boston”, were published by an English firm. Accompanying him on his nostalgic return was LIFE’s Howard Sochurek, who caught the poet reminiscing in scenes that inspired at least eight of his later works. Back in the U.S. now, Frost regards his trip as “one of the biggest adventures of my life.”

Frost’s life was marked by enormous loss: only two of his and his wife Elinor’s six children outlived him. Elinor died in 1938. Frost himself suffered from depression, as did several other members of his family. And yet he left behind a body of work as clear-eyed and as uplifting as that of any American writer before him, or since.

In an English field where 'Surging, the grasses dizzied me of thought' (from 'My Butterfly'), Mr. Frost recalls another day.

In an English field where ‘Surging, the grasses dizzied me of thought’ (from ‘My Butterfly’), Frost recalled another day.

Howard Sochurek The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Under 'the thick old thatch, Where summer birds had been given hatch' (from 'The Thatch'), Frost looks from cottage in Dymock where his friend, poet Wilfrid Gibson, lived in 1914

“In ‘the thick old thatch, Where summer birds had been given hatch” (from ‘The Thatch’), Frost looked from the cottage in Dymock where his friend, poet Wilfrid Gibson, lived in 1914.

Howard Sochurek The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Malvern Hills, in England, where Robert Frost once lived.

Malvern Hills, in England, where Robert Frost once lived.

Howard Sochurek The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Frost, who once wrote, 'I never heard of a house that throve . . . where the chimney started above the stove,' examines stove of his old kitchen at Little Iddens, Gloucestershire

Frost, who once wrote, ‘I never heard of a house that throve . . . where the chimney started above the stove,’ examined the stove of his old kitchen at Little Iddens, Gloucestershire

Howard Sochurek The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Malvern Hills, England, where Robert Frost once lived.

Malvern Hills, England, where Robert Frost once lived.

Howard Sochurek The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Nature lover Frost, who once farmed 'a pasture where the boulders lie As touching as a basket full of eggs,' stoops suddenly in English pasture to grasp stone and throw it.

Nature lover Frost, who once farmed “a pasture where the boulders lie/As touching as a basket full of eggs,” stooped suddenly in this English pasture to grasp a stone and throw it.

Howard Sochurek The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Past the tree which could have been model for his 'Tree at my window, window tree . . . ' Frost gazes sadly in direction of cottage, now in ruins, where he wrote it.

Past the tree which could have been model for his line “Tree at my window, window tree . . . ,” Frost gazed sadly in the direction of the cottage, now in ruins, where he wrote it.

Howard Sochurek The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Malvern Hills, where Robert Frost once lived.

Malvern Hills, where Robert Frost once lived.

Howard Sochurek The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Robert Frost in 1957, during a visit to the English countryside where he once lived.

Robert Frost in 1957, during a visit to the English countryside where he once lived.

Howard Sochurek The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Robert Frost in an English meadow, 1957.

Robert Frost in an English meadow, 1957.

Howard Sochurek The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Here Are Two Rabbits That Walked Around on Their Front Feet

In November 1946, LIFE magazine introduced its readers to a pair of furry British acrobats named Junior and Mr. Walker — rabbits residing in Barking, outside of London. Asked why the two bunnies made their way through the world upended, padding about on their forefeet — instead of hopping on all fours, like virtually all other Leporidae — their owner, a butcher named Reginald Freeman, explained that they had been doing it since they were born.

“Mr. Walker, the elder rabbit,” LIFE wrote, “started off on his forefeet. Junior, a female, at first experimented with the more conventional four-legged method but after watching Mr. Walker for a while switched to his two-legged style.”

That’s all well and good. But still, why did they do it? Why did they act in this strange — albeit fascinating — un-rabbitlike manner?

“Mr. Freeman asked a veterinarian about all this,” the article concluded, “and was told the rabbits’ spinal muscles were underdeveloped and they walked on two legs because it was easier.”

Whether the critters’ spinal muscles were undeveloped because they moved through the world upside-down, or because both were born with underdeveloped back muscles (a highly unlikely coincidence), LIFE neglected to clarify.

Finally: It’s worth noting that the photographs of Mr. Walker and Junior (and Mr. Freeman, of course) were made by George Rodger, one the 20th century’s greatest photojournalists and a founding member of Magnum Photos. Which just goes to show — a good photographer really can shoot anything.

Junior and Mr. Walker, rabbits that walked on their forefeet.

British Rabbits, Junior and Mr. Walker

George Rodger The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Junior the rabbit.

British Rabbits, Junior and Mr. Walker

George Rodger The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Junior (up) and Mr. Walker (down).

British Rabbits, Junior and Mr. Walker

George Rodger The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Mr. Walker and Junior.

British Rabbits, Junior and Mr. Walker

George Rodger The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Mr. Walker and Junior, at rest.

British Rabbits, Junior and Mr. Walker

George Rodger The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

True Grit: Dust Bowl Survivors

For some, the phrase “Dust Bowl” conjures a place: the Great Plains, but a Great Plains of abandoned homes, ruined lives, dead and dying crops and sand, sand, sand.

For others, the phrase denotes not a region but an era: the mid- to late-1930s in America, when countless farms were lost. Dust storms raced across thousands of miles of once-fertile land, so huge and unremitting that they often blotted out the sun. Millions of American men, women and children took to the road, leaving behind everything they knew and everything they’d built, heading west, seeking work, food, shelter, new lives, new hope.

These families, immortalized in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and in the unflinching photographs of Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and others, were almost universally known as “Okies,” whether or not they actually hailed from the devastated state of Oklahoma. The great, ragged migration away from half-buried farms and toward California and other vague “promised lands” is one of the defining catastrophes of the Great Depression. To this day, the very term Okie conjures images of gaunt men, grim women and doomed children dressed in tattered clothes, traveling by foot or jalopy across a landscape that seems perpetually dry, flat and ruined.

But just as entire families in Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Nebraska and other states abandoned their homes in search of a new start, countless other farmers held their own, suffering through the very worst of the Dust Bowl years, battling for every ear of corn, every grain of wheat, every leaf of lettuce on farms they had worked, in some cases, for generations.

Here, LIFE.com offers a series of revealing photos by the great Alfred Eisenstaedt. These pictures don’t follow “Okies” as they leave their world behind. Instead, Eisenstaedt’s photos chronicle the hardscrabble existence of Oklahoma farmers who stayed: families who fought to keep their livelihoods and their homesteads during those lean, unforgiving years after the Dust Bowl according to the history books, at least came to an end.

—Photo gallery edited by Liz Ronk for LIFE.com.

Oklahoma farmer, 1942.

Oklahoma farmer, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Oklahoma farmer and his family, 1942.

Oklahoma farmer and his family, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Oklahoma farming family, 1942.

Oklahoma farming family, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

"Sagebush and sand surround [Oklahoma farmer John] Barnett's house and farm buildings. There is no topsoil left on the 160 acres. He grows rye and fodder in sandy loam."

Sagebush and sand surrounded Oklahoma farmer John Barnett’s house and farm buildings. There was no topsoil left on the 160 acres. He grew rye and fodder in sandy loam.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Oklahoma, 1942. Agriculturists work on the region's catastrophic on erosion problem.

In Oklahoma in 1942, agriculturists worked on the region’s catastrophic erosion problem.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Abandoned farm, Oklahoma, 1942.

Abandoned farm, Oklahoma, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Harvesters hitchhike to a wheat harvesting, Oklahoma, 1942.

Harvesters hitchhiked to a wheat harvesting, Oklahoma, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Oklahoma, 1942.

Oklahoma, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Farmer and sons, Oklahoma, 1942.

Farmer and sons, Oklahoma, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Oklahoma farm, 1942.

Oklahoma farm, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Farmer John Barnett and his sons work their farm, Oklahoma, 1942.

Farmer John Barnett and his sons worked their farm, Oklahoma, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Oklahoma, 1942.

Oklahoma, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Farmer John Barnett's wife, Venus, works in her vegetable garden after a second planting, Oklahoma, 1942. A windstorm earlier in the year blew the first seedlings away.

Farmer John Barnett’s wife, Venus, worked in her vegetable garden after a second planting, Oklahoma, 1942. A windstorm earlier in the year blew the first seedlings away.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

John Barnett feeds livestock on his farm, Oklahoma, 1942.

John Barnett fed livestock on his farm, Oklahoma, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

"Oklahoma farmer John Barnett's daughter Delphaline, 17, wears bright-colored slacks around the farm. She and her two brothers go to a rural school where there are only four other pupils. Next fall Delphaline will enter high school." Oklahoma, 1942.

Oklahoma farmer John Barnett’s daughter Delphaline, 17, wore bright-colored slacks around the farm. She and her two brothers went to a rural school where there were only four other pupils.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

"Farmer John Barnett and his family are 'Okies' who stuck to their land near Woodward. They have 21 dairy cattle which yield a scant seven gallons per milking. Mrs. Barnett takes care of a vegetable garden that is always blowing away. The children, Delphaline, 17 (top), Lincoln, 11 (right), and Leonard, 9, do plenty of chores. On Sundays the Barnetts eat jack rabbit." Oklahoma, 1942.

Farmer John Barnett and his family stuck to their land near Woodward. Their 21 dairy cattle yielded a scant seven gallons per milking. Mrs. Barnett took care of a vegetable garden that was always blowing away. The children, Delphaline, 17 (top), Lincoln, 11 (right), and Leonard, 9, did plenty of chores. On Sundays the Barnetts ate jack rabbit.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Mrs. Venus Barnett and son Lincoln in room of their farmhouse, Oklahoma, 1942.

Mrs. Venus Barnett and son Lincoln in their farmhouse, Oklahoma, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt—Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Oklahoma farming family at meal, 1942.

An Oklahoma farming family, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Abandoned house, Oklahoma, 1942.

Abandoned house, Oklahoma, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Oklahoma, 1942.

Oklahoma, 1942.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The Night MLK Was Murdered: A Photographer’s Story

On April 4, 1968, LIFE photographer Henry Groskinsky and writer Mike Silva, on assignment in Alabama, learned that Martin Luther King, Jr., had been shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. The two men jumped into their car, raced the 200 miles to the scene of the assassination, and there to their astonishment found that they had unfettered access to the motel’s grounds; to nearby abandoned buildings from which the fatal rifle shot likely came; to Dr. King’s motel room; and to the bleak, blood-stained balcony where the civil rights leader had fallen, mortally wounded, hours earlier.

“I was astonished by how desolate it all was,” Groskinsky told LIFE. “Then again, everyone probably thought that the person who shot Dr. King might still be out there somewhere.”

For reasons that have been lost in the intervening decades, Groskinsky’s photographs from that eerily quiet night in Memphis taken at the site, and on the very day, of one of the signal events of the 20th century were not published in LIFE magazine, and the story behind them was not told. Until now.

[The new LIFE special edition, Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr., at Amazon.]

(Note: A slightly different version of this post appeared on an earlier version of LIFE.com.)

The Lorraine Motel, n the hours after Dr. King's assassination, April 4, 1968.

The Lorraine Motel, in the hours after Dr. King’s assassination, April 4, 1968.

Henry Groskinsky/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Will D. Campbell, alone on the Lorraine Motel balcony, gazes out into the night. "This picture was probably made as soon as we got there," Groskinsky told LIFE.com. "When I saw him standing there, alone, I thought it looked as if he was just asking himsel

Will D. Campbell, a minister and activist alone on the Lorraine Motel balcony, gazed out into the night. “This picture was probably made as soon as we got there,” Groskinsky told LIFE.com. “When I saw him standing there, alone, I thought it looked as if he was just asking himself, My God, what has happened here?”

Henry Groskinsky/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Outside of room 306, Theatrice Bailey, the brother of the Lorraine Motel's owner, cleans blood from the balcony. "There was no friction with the people there at the Lorraine," Groskinsky recalled, "even though here was this white man with a camera on the

Outside of room 306, Theatrice Bailey, the brother of the Lorraine Motel’s owner, cleaned blood from the balcony. “There was no friction with the people there at the Lorraine,” Groskinsky recalled, “even though here was this white man with a camera on the o friction with the people there at the Lorraine,” Groskinsky recalled, “even though here was this white man with a camera on the scene.”

Henry Groskinsky/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Theatrice Bailey attempts to clean blood from the balcony, hours after the 6 PM shooting of Dr. King. "I don't know if there were official people around taking notes and pictures and things like that," Groskinsky told LIFE.com. "Nobody was there when we w

Theatrice Bailey attempted to clean blood from the balcony, hours after the 6 PM shooting of Dr. King. “I don’t know if there were official people around taking notes and pictures and things like that,” Groskinsky told LIFE.com. “Nobody was there when we were there. But the fact that the blood was still on the floor, and this man was actually putting it in a jar … well, when you see a picture like that, God, it feels invasive.”

Henry Groskinsky/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The back of a photograph taken by LIFE photographer Henry Groskinsky on April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tenn.

The back of a photograph taken by LIFE photographer Henry Groskinsky on April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tenn.

Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The building on the left is the abandoned building from which Groskinsky took several of his photographs on the night of April 4. "It was a little scary crawling into the building, because who knew who was going to be there? Who doesn't want you to be the

The building on the left was the abandoned building from which Groskinsky took several of his photographs on the night of April 4. “It was a little scary crawling into the building, because who knew who was going to be there? Who doesn’t want you to be there? The atmosphere was very dark, very creepy.”

Henry Groskinsky/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Colleagues gather on the balcony outside the Lorraine Motel's room 306, just a few feet from where Dr. King was shot, April 4, 1968.

Colleagues gathered on the balcony outside the Lorraine Motel’s room 306, just a few feet from where Dr. King was shot, April 4, 1968.

Henry Groskinsky/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s neatly packed, monogrammed briefcase in his room at the Lorraine Motel, April 4, 1968 with his brush, his pajamas, a can of shaving cream and his book, Strength to Love, visible in the pocket.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s neatly packed, monogrammed briefcase in his room at the Lorraine Motel, April 4, 1968, with his brush, his pajamas, a can of shaving cream and his book, Strength to Love, visible in the pocket.

Henry Groskinsky/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Stunned, silent members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Dr. King's room at the Lorraine Motel, April 4, 1968, including Andrew Young (far left, under table lamp) and civil rights leader and Dr. King's colleague, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, in

Stunned, silent members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Dr. King’s room at the Lorraine Motel, April 4, 1968, including Andrew Young (far left, under the table lamp) and civil rights leader and Dr. King’s colleague, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, in the middle on the far bed. “I was very discreet,” Groskinsky recalled. “I shot just enough to document what was going on. There, almost in the center of the picture, in the mirror, you can see my reflection. I took a couple of pictures and just kind of backed off.”

Henry Groskinsky/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Ralph Abernathy and Will D. Campbell, a long-time friend and civil rights activist, embrace in Dr. King's room. "I was documenting a momentous event," Groskinsky told LIFE.com, "and I thought that at any time I was going to be asked to leave, so I did wh

Ralph Abernathy and Will D. Campbell, a long-time friend and civil rights activist, embraced in Dr. King’s room. “I was documenting a momentous event,” Groskinsky told LIFE.com, “and I thought that at any time I was going to be asked to leave, so I did what I could as quickly as I could.”

Henry Groskinsky/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

A photo taken through tree branches by Henry Groskinsky from a derelict building across the street from the Lorraine Motel, April 4, 1968, very close to where the shot that killed Dr. King likely came from.

A photo taken through tree branches by Henry Groskinsky from a derelict building across the street from the Lorraine Motel, April 4, 1968, very close to where the shot that killed Dr. King likely came from.

Henry Groskinsky/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

An airplane dispatched by the U.S. government to retrieve Dr. King's body and return it to Atlanta, Ga., waits on the tarmac in Memphis, Tenn., the day after MLK's assassination. "Here we were, two white guys in the Deep South right after the murder of th

An airplane that was dispatched by the U.S. government to retrieve Dr. King’s body and return it to Atlanta, Ga., waited on the tarmac in Memphis, Tenn., the day after MLK’s assassination.

Henry Groskinsky/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The cover of the April 12, 1968, issue of LIFE magazine.

The cover of the April 12, 1968, issue of LIFE magazine.

Fred Ward/Life Magazine

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“Degrading to Minority and Majority Alike”: The Fight to Vote, 1960

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Seeking Warmth During an Iceland Deployment