The Legacy of Martin Luther King: A Bethel College Celebration

Monday, Jan. 18, 2010

1-2 p.m.
Premiere of recorded speech
Originally given in Bethel College Memorial Hall by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jan. 21, 1960 (Bethel College does not own the copyright to the speech. The King Center owns that copyright.)
Krehbiel Auditorium

2-4 p.m.
Remembering the Dream: Bethel College and Civil Rights in the 1960s
Panel discussion by alumni who attended the speech, experienced the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery March, or participated in the Bethel-Spelman College Exchange
Krehbiel Auditorium

4 p.m.
Plaque dedication
Commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech 50 years ago; reception to follow
Memorial Hall

6:30 p.m.
Art & Jazz
Enjoy art display on King legacy by USD 373-Newton students and jazz by Jim Pisano-Bob McCurdy-Jerry Hahn group
Memorial Hall

7 p.m.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Service — “More Than Nostalgia: Revisiting King in 2010”
Featuring music by Newton Community Children’s Choir; excerpts from the speech Martin Luther King gave in Memorial Hall 50 years ago; and scheduled presentation by civil rights activist and theologian Dr. Vincent Harding
Memorial Hall

Vincent Harding was an associate of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. He is professor of religion and social transformation at Illiff School of Theology in Denver, where he currently serves as vice president of institutional transformation and co-chair of the Veterans of Hope Project: A Center for the Study of Religion and Democratic Renewal.

Before Illiff, Vincent Harding taught at Pendle Hill Study Center, the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and Spelman College. He has written numerous books, including The Other American Revolution; There Is a River, Vol. 1; Hope and History; Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero; and We Changed the World (with R. Kelly and E. Lewis).

Harding has a long history of involvement in domestic and international movements for peace and justice, including the Southern Black freedom struggle. He was the first director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center in Atlanta, served as director and chairperson of The Institute of the Black World and was senior academic consultant to the award-winning PBS television series Eyes on the Prize.

Major funding from Schowalter Foundation and Fransen Family Foundation with support from Kansas Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution's Peace Lecture Series Fund and Bethel College.