Converse to Celebrate the Life and Dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

During mid-January, Converse College will celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through a community service project, a prayer breakfast and a panel discussion concerning the influence of the civil rights movement has had on the U.S. economy and educational system.

Community Service (Jan. 12-15)
From Jan. 12-15, Converse students will be leading civil rights lessons in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classes at Pine Street Elementary School. “During each lesson,” explains Converse junior Elizabeth Rowland, “the Pine Street students will learn about diversity and will complete an art project that symbolizes its importance.” Rowland is an education major at Converse and developed the curriculum for the project.

Prayer Breakfast, Panel Discussion (Jan. 19)
The prayer breakfast will be observed in Gee Dining Hall at 7:30 a.m. with a gospel choir and various clergy from the area as featured guests. In addition, the winner of the college-sponsored Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest will read her winning entry.

Members of the Spartanburg community and the Converse faculty will lead a panel discussion at 11:30 a.m. in Daniel Recital Hall addressing the influence of the civil rights movement on the U.S. economy and education system. Panelists include:

• Annie Ruth Bobo, who was living in Washington, D.C. at the time of Dr. King’s historic March on Washington in 1963. She currently resides in Spartanburg and operates Best Care Always, a 1st grade preparation center;

• Ruby Brown Herring, director of career services at Converse who has also worked at the University of Arkansas-Monticello and the Florida Institute of Technology;

• Dr. Melissa Walker, Associate Professor of History at Converse and Executive Secretary of the Southern Association for Women Historians. Dr. Walker researches rural Southerners in the 20th century, and has published extensively on rural African-Americans. Most recently, she published “Shifting Boundaries: Race Relations in the rural Jim Crow South” in the collection African-Americans in the Rural South;

• Dr. Kay Woodward, a Spartanburg business woman who has served on the Converse College Board of Trustees and was a faculty member of the college’s psychology department.

Immediately following the panel discussion, a Lowcountry Boil will be served in Gee Dining Hall. For more information, contact Andrea Creech at 596-9016.