Person

Stephen B. Oates

The 1983 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award was presented to Stephen B. Oates for Let the Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. The book is a brilliant examination of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., that portrays a very real man and his dream that shaped America’s history.

Stephen B. Oates is the author of sixteen books. He was a consultant and “talking head” in Ken Burns’s Civil War series on PBS and is a recipient of the Nevins-Freeman Award of the Chicago Civil War Round Table for lifetime achievement in the field of Civil War studies. A teacher at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, he is now writing the concluding book of the Voices of Storm trilogy, about the years of Reconstruction, 1865-1877.

New year, new us. Same mission.

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights is rebranding to honor the legacy of our founder and hero, Mrs. Ethel Skakel Kennedy. From now on, we will proudly be known as the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center

While our name is changing, our mission and work remain the same. We will continue to fight injustice, advance human rights, and hold governments accountable around the world in 2026 and beyond.