ADA — A panel of seven people who witnessed Martin Luther King Jr.’s talk at Ohio Northern University in 1968 will share their memories of the event during a panel discussion at 11 a.m. Thursday in the Freed Center for the Performing Arts.
King spoke at ONU on Jan. 11, 1968. A series of events will honor the 50th anniversary of the speech, ending with the unveiling of a statue of King on April 17 outside of Taft Hall.
Panelists for this event are Terry Keiser, Alfred Cohoe, Monty Siekerman, Sadicka White, Bob Parsons, Bob Roberts and Joel Weaver. In 1968, Keiser and Cohoe were ONU faculty, Siekerman was ONU’s director of university information, and the others were ONU students.
The event will also feature the ONU Gospel Ensemble and prayers led by current students.
King’s talk at ONU was one of the last speeches he gave at a college or university. According to ONU archivist Paul Logsdon, King spoke at Kansas State University on Jan. 19, 1968, and at Manchester College in Indiana on Feb. 1. He was assassinated in Memphis on April 4.
Information about King’s visit to ONU is available online at www.onu.edu/mlk.