You don't have to be a Washington, D.C., resident get a free D.C. library card. According to their website, if you work in the District or live in Montgomery, Prince George's, Fairfax, Loudoun, Arlington, Prince William, Falls Church, Alexandria or Frederick, you can get one.

Once you have the card, you can use it to get free remote online access to these Proquest databases:

The Chicago Defender (1909-75), the New York Amsterdam News (1922-93), the Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003) The Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988), and The Washington Post (1877-1994).

http://www.dclibrary.org/services/getacard

And it has Dr. King on it so what's not to love!