Folks stood along the sidewalks in downtown Elizabethtown Monday on a cool, clear January day to watch the numerous entries pass by and remember the work of slain civil rights lead Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The 34th annual event honored Dr. King’s birthday and celebrated the 60th anniversary of his “I Have A Dream Speech” he gave from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 28, 1963.
Monday’s parade features marching bands, floats, political leaders, pageant contestants, civic groups, American Legion members and more.
North Carolina NAACP President Deborah Dicks Maxwell was the grand marshal.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day became a federally recognized holiday in 1983 and was first observerd in 1986. In 2000 it became a nationally observed holiday in all states. Martin Luther King Jr. Day takes place on the third Monday of January each year.
King was assassinated in 1968. He was born on Jan. 15, 1929.
Click here to read a transcript of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech held during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
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