On Friday, November 2, 2018, the Katie Hall Educational Foundation, Inc., the Gary Public Library, and the Art, Culture, and History Committee of the Gary Common Council will sponsor the “Former U.S. Representative Katie Hall and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday Law Signing at 35” program.
The event will take place in the Community Room, Gary Public Library, 220 West 5th Avenue, Gary, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
The year 2018 marks the 35th anniversary of the signing of federal legislation establishing a legal holiday in the United States recognizing the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [Black History Month Special Edition, USA Magazine, January 2018]. The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday Law (H.R. 3706) was signed on November 2, 1983, by then United States President Ronald Reagan, in the Rose Garden, the White House, Washington, D.C.
The Honorable Katie Hall (D-IN) authored and sponsored the federal legislation honoring Dr. King, which most importantly, designates the third Monday in January as the nation’s official observance in honor of Dr. King. Dr. King’s birthday has been observed as a national holiday since January 1986. He is the only African-American in United States history to be recognized with a national holiday.
On display at the Gary Public Library on Friday, November 2, will be more than 75 birthday cards entered into the 2018 Harriet Tubman Essay Contest by local elementary and junior high school students throughout Northwest Indiana. The birthday cards were especially designed for this upcoming occasion. The contest is sponsored annually by the Katie Hall Educational Foundation, Inc.
The keynote speaker for the historic event at the Gary Public Library is Dr. Vanessa Allen-McCloud, CEO of the Urban League of NWI. Dr. McCloud is a gifted community activist, orator, and soloist.
While at the Gary Public Library on November 2 visit the “Former U.S. Representative Katie Hall and the Dr. MLK, Jr. National Holiday Law Signing at 35” exhibit on display thru November 30, 2018. The curator of the exhibit is Junifer Hall, Chairman and CEO, Katie Hall Educational Foundation, Inc. Guests attending this event will receive a keepsake complimentary “U.S. Representative Katie Hall at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday Law Signing” postcard.
For more information, contact the [email protected] or the Law Office of Attorney John Henry Hall, Ed.D., LL.M. at (219) 883-7711.
