On April 4, 1968, Robert Kennedy flew to Indianapolis for a planned, inner-city rally promoting his presidential campaign, and was informed upon landing about King's assassination.

Kennedy was told that riots had broken out in other cities and was advised not to make the speech, but he proceeded to address the gathered crowd at 17th and Broadway, near the site where the memorial now stands.

They once spoke at length about the need to commemorate the events of April 4, 1968, and Robert Kennedy's speech to a crowd gathered near the corner of 17th and Broadway streets in Indianapolis.

Together Mannheimer and Jordan developed a plan to hold a national design competition to create a memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.

[7] Jurors for the competition included Bret Waller, director of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and Harry Robinson, professor of architecture at Howard University.

It was an inspired design that captured the historical importance of these two great Americans and powerfully expressed the spirit of reconciliation and the striving for peace people still found in the story of their lives—and deaths.

A marker near the actual spot from which Kennedy spoke contains remnants of guns confiscated by the Indianapolis police or collected as part of a city amnesty program created in conjunction with the Indiana Pacers.

[10] The City of Indianapolis contributed significantly to the project by completely redesigning the southern half of King Memorial Park where the sculpture would stand.