NORWICH – On the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, the Chenango County Council of the Arts in Norwich presents “Countdown to Eternity,” a rare and intimate view of Dr. King from the archives of world renowned photographer Benedict J. Fernandez.

Through this series of more than 70 black and white photographs, viewers share public and personal aspects of Dr. King’s life including the tragedy and introspection of his immediate family at the time of his death.

One of the world’s best known advocates of non-violent change, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on Jan. 15, 1929. He was the grandson of the Reverend A.D. Williams, pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church and a founder of Atlanta’s NAACP chapter. As a student at Morehouse College, Crozen Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, and Boston University, Dr. King deepened his understanding of theological scholarship and Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent strategy of social change.

In 1967 King made his famous speech in front of the United Nations, calling the Viet Nam War a “racist” war. This soured his relations with President Lyndon Johnson and cost him the support of many white liberals.