Then & Now
by Highlands Historian Stella Bailey
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the bill that named the third Monday in January as the official observance ‘Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday’. The civil rights leader, born 91 years ago, is again honored this month.
According to the Old Farmers Almanac, here are many interesting facts that should be told and remembered, especially in these troubled times. I quote the Almanac:
• He was born Michael King, Jr. on January 15, 1929.
• He entered college at the age of 15. He skilled grades 9 and 12 before enrolling at Morehouse College, the alma mater of his father and maternal grandfather, in 1944.
• Although he was the son, grandson and great-grandson of Baptist ministers, he was considering becoming a doctor or a lawyer instead. He later decided that the Bible had “many profound truths”, which one cannot escape” and entered the Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, graduating with his PhD at the age of 25.
• He received a C in public speaking during his first year at seminary, but by his final year, King was receiving straight A’s and had become the valedictorian of his class. When he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, he was the youngest person to do so, at age 35.
• In Alabama in 1956 he was jailed 29 times, often on such trumped up charges as driving 30 miles per hour in a 25-mile speed zone.
• In a speech on April 3, 1968 he told the audience: “I’ve seen the Promised Land.” He was assassinated the next day.
• He is the only person born in the United States whose birthday is a federal holiday. George Washington was born before the United States came to be.
• He once stated “Darkness cannot drive out Darkness, only Light can do that. Hate cannot drive out Hate, only Love can do that.”
*********
There is a suitable display window in Village Hall about Dr. King and his legacy, created by the Historical Society.
The annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Memorial March will take place in Highland Falls on Monday, January 20, beginning at 11 a.m. in front of Sacred Heart Church. A commemorative church service will take place at noon at St. Mark’s Baptist Church, on Main St. in Falls.
