News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date:	Thursday, January 15, 1998
Contact:	Tom Brannan, Assistant City Manager, (703) 838-4300; Rose Williams Boyd, Director, Office of Citizen Assistance, (703) 838-4800

Alexandria’s 25th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial to Include Address by National Religious Leader Dr. Robert C. Henderson

Alexandria’s 25th Annual Memorial to the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., will feature a week-long series of activities highlighted by a Memorial Program at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 15, featuring Dr. Robert C. Henderson, Secretary General of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. The Memorial Program will be held at Alfred Street Baptist Church, 301 South Alfred Street in Alexandria. Music will be provided by the Alexandria Employees Choir.

As Secretary General of the Bahá’ís of the United States, Dr. Henderson is the leader of the national governing body of the American Bahá’í community. He also served on the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday Commission. Dr. Henderson’s landmark study, "Models of Unity -- Racial, Ethnic and Religious," focused on intergroup unity in the Chicago metropolitan area and stimulated similar studies across the nation. Dr. Henderson was a founder and Vice President of Air Atlanta, the first African-American owned jet airline, and formerly served as managing director of the management consulting firm Tarkenton and Company. As a diversity trainer, Dr. Henderson designed the California State Supreme Court Commission on Race and Ethnic Bias and a Western Justice Center Foundation plan for addressing racial conflict in Pasadena, California.

Sponsored by the City of Alexandria in cooperation with local religious, civic and social organizations, the series of commemorative events also includes:

On Sunday, January 11, at 7:30 p.m., a "Salute to the Life of Dr. King" sponsored by the Baptist Ministers’ Conference. The Rev. Dr. Lloyd O. Roberts, pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, is the guest speaker at this event, which takes place at the Third Baptist Church, 917 Princess Street.
On Friday, January 16, at 7:30 p.m., a "Youth Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King," sponsored and hosted by the Departmental Progressive Club, 411 Gibbon Street, Alexandria.
On Sunday, January 18, at 12 noon, the Second Annual "Step Towards Race Unity, a Bahá’í Tribute to Dr. King’s Dream," at Landmark Mall, Center Court. This event is sponsored by the Alexandria Bahá’í Assembly and will feature dance performances by the Bahá’í Youth of Northern Virginia and vocal and instrumental music by local performers.
On Monday, January 19, at 1 p.m., the Alexandria Society for the Preservation of Black Heritage and the Alumni Association of Parker-Gray High School will co-sponsor a Martin Luther King Media Presentation and Exhibit at the Black History Resource Center, 638 N. Alfred Street, Alexandria.
All of the commemorative events are open to the public. The Martin Luther King, Jr., Planning Committee, a group of Alexandria community volunteers that organizes the annual commemoration, will collect non-perishable food items and/or monetary contributions for ALIVE, an ecumenical organization sponsored by 35 churches and synagogues in the City.

For further information, please call the City of Alexandria’s Office of Citizen Assistance at (703) 838-4800.



Back to Top


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Back to Current City News, Policy Documents, Council, Planning Commission and BZA Agendas