Event: University Chapel Hour and Special Events and Services presents: A Festival of Spirituals in Honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Carren Moham, assistant professor of voice, and Illinois Wesleyan students
Date/Time: Jan. 22 (Wednesday) at 11:00 a.m., and Jan. 26, 2003 (Sunday) at 3:00 p.m.
Location: Evelyn Chapel, Illinois Wesleyan University, 1301 N. Park St., Bloomington
Admission: Free and open to the public
Program: At the University Chapel Hour, IWU students and faculty will perform songs and spirituals reminiscent of the Civil Rights Movement. Selections will include: “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,” “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho,” “Precious Lord Take My Hand,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord,” and “Lord, If I Got My Ticket, Can I Ride.” In addition to the musical selections, Carren Moham, IWU assistant professor of voice, will speak about the “Importance of Spirituals to the Underground Railroad.”
Background: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., champion of civil rights, school desegregation, and non-violent social change, was twice a guest speaker at Illinois Wesleyan. During his first visit to campus in February of 1961, King addressed an audience of approximately 500 at the annual Religious Emphasis Banquet and met with students in the classroom as well as informally. He returned five years later in 1966 as the leader of the civil rights movement and gave a speech to an audience of over 3,000 at the Fred Young Fieldhouse. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. On Nov. 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation establishing a federal holiday on the third Monday of January in King’s honor. The slain civil rights leader was the first person to be honored with a federal holiday since one was designated for George Washington.
Several members of King’s family have also spoken at Illinois Wesleyan. His daughters, the Rev. Bernice Albertine King and Yolanda King separately gave speeches in 1993 and 1997 at Illinois Wesleyan’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Fellowship Dinners. Martin III, King’s son, and Vernon King, his nephew, have also been guest speakers at Illinois Wesleyan University.
Contact: For additional information, contact the Illinois Wesleyan Chaplain’s office at 309/556-3005.
