The builders of the memorial paid almost $800,000 to the King family to use his words and pictures.

King's death changed the lives of the actor and others attending Morehouse, his alma mater.

Dozens of the striking black-and-white photos, along with letters Ray wrote from jail and other documents, are now available.

In 1968, 1,300 sanitation workers went on strike in Memphis, Tenn. Most of the workers were black, and protesting job conditions and low wages. Martin Luther King Jr. went to Memphis to lend his support to workers like Taylor Rogers. Rogers and his wife, Bessie, were both at Mason Temple on April 3, 1968, when King delivered what would prove to be his final speech. They recorded their memories in Memphis for StoryCorps, which chronicles the histories of ordinary people.