 "Photo: Meghan Schromen")
Masses of people poured into the Chicago History Museum on Monday morning in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. The museum, located at 1601 N. Clark St., opened its doors from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with free admission for the public to celebrate his life and legacy.
King worked as a civil rights activist until his assassination on April 4, 1968. Like his father and grandfather, he served as a pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
Championing the cause of civil rights, King traveled more than 6 million miles and giving more than 2,500 speeches across the country between 1957 and 1968.
He became involved in the Rosa Parks bus incident by leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and soon after founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The SCLC promoted civil disobedience in the form of nonviolent protests to gain civil rights reform.
The SCLC participated in multiple marches, including the March on Washington in 1963, the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965 and a march in Chicago in 1966.
At the age of 35, King became the youngest person toreceive the Nobel Peace Prize, and donated the prize winnings to further the civil rights movement.
"History tells the world everything," Chicago History Museum visitor Sharon Patterson said. "You never know what happened in the past unless someone can tell you. That's why I love this place."
A room was set up on the first floor for children to make paper tiles that will be used to cover the surface of a magnetic Peace Wall to teach them equality and acceptance, both of which are represented in the tiles.
Cory Bollinger, the father of two, commented while watching his eldest child make a tile that he wants to instill in his children an appreciation for this day "so they can know about their heritage and where they come from and what people have gone through."
"I'm realizing that if we don't continue to remember it and commemorate it and how much it has done for us in society, it's going to be forgotten," Bollinger said.
Another activity aimed at the children was storytelling by Gwen Hilary, with music accompaniment by Enoch Williamson. The stories told of the lessons taught by King and ended with an acrostic of his name with each letter being the first of a word or phrase for which King stood.
Children of all ages were accompanied by parents, all wanting to learn more about King and his accomplishments.
"We learned about him in school, but I don't know much," said 8-year-old Aria, which is why her father brought her and her sister to the museum.
Other performances at the Chicago History Museum included a tribute concert by the Chicago Chamber Choir, also in the Chicago Room, which was filled from front to back with museum visitors. The 24-member choir performed hymns and songs in honor of King.
The events of the day closed with a reenactment of King's quintessential "I Have A Dream ... " speech read by Illinois State University sophomore LaRoyce Hawkins.
Hawkins and Stanford University sophomore Cameron Drake participated in a simulated discussion between King and fellow civil rights activist Malcolm X.
"I wanted to bring them out for the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. and his contributions," said Lisa White, a mother of four children. "I want them to see a positive male figure of our African American culture who never gave up. I'm sure if he were alive today, he would still be contributing."
The morals taught by King are universal in nature, but when the Phoenix asked visitors to the museun which one stands out most, there were many different answers: Patterson chose peace; White chose tenacity; and Bollinger chose equality.
At Loyola, various events also took place to commemorate this day. It began with a Martin Luther King Day prayer luncheon, which took place on Tuesday. Today, events to commemorate the life and work of King include the Martin Luther King Celebration: the Amaker Award starting at 5 p.m. in Kasbeer Hall and a speech by Judge Greg Mathis in Galvin Auditorium starting at 5:15 p.m.
Additionally, on Thursday writer and director Robin Smith will present the film "Come Walk in My Shoes," which depicts Rep. John R. Lewis' (D-GA) meeting and marching alongside King as a young man.
People around the city celebrated this day with activities such as the Chicago Sinfonietta's Annual Tribute to MLK and the Rockefeller Chapel Memorial Celebration.
King's legacy is that of peaceful resistance to the inequality created by mankind and perpetuated by an unwillingness to change.
In the words of King, "We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now because I've been to the mountaintop. [...] Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!"
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