9th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration
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Date and Time
Monday Jan 20, 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST
Location
Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church, located at the corner
of Church and Middle Streets (GPS 50 Middle Street). An elevator is available
from the side door at 10 Church Street
Fees/Admission
No charge for admission but freewill
donations are gratefully received.
Description
The Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation proudly presents its ninth annual
Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday event.
This year’s program will honor Dr. King by featuring the work being done by two local groups to reckon with history. Afterward, there will be a discussion about how vernacular history gets written, “how the word is passed.” The program will open with a recording of Martin Luther King, Jr. reading segments of “Letters from Birmingham Jail.”
Joe Rukeyser from the Cape Ann Slavery and Abolition Project will present
recent research on abolition. Melissa Dimond of Wellspring House will follow
with that organization’s work on the Freeman Family, the prominent Black
family who called the Wellspring House home for over 100 years. Then Michea McCaffrey, co-chair of the Gloucester Racial Justice Team, and Dick Prouty, founder of TownGreen and board member of the Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation, will lead a discussion on critical points made by author Clint Smith in his book How the Word is Passed. (It is not necessary to have read the book.)The Paul Revere Bell in the Meetinghouse tower will be rung at the end as people disperse onto the newly restored green.
