22 may 1968 & king memorial committee prepare for board of ed public hearing

#OTD 22 May 1968 Paul Cooke (in the photo above), DC Teachers College president, and other members of the King Memorial Committee prepared for a public hearing the next day to solicit suggestions from Washingtonians about how the Board of Education should remember and honor King.

The committee recommended that on every 4 April the school system would honor and remember King through oratorical contests and art competitions, including a winning statue that would be placed at a school building named after King. These commemorations would be funded through "voluntary contributions from students and teachers in the form of 'freedom dollars' or 'freedom dimes'." 

The other members of the committee included Joseph Penn, supervising director of the history department; George R. Rhodes, assistant superintendent for secondary schools; William H. Simons, Washington Teachers Union president; and Gale Alexander, a Cardozo HS student.

Your comments are welcome below. Did you, a family member or neighbor attend the public hearing on 23 May 1968? Do you remember the school programs on King? Do you remember anyone on the committee? Did you go to Cardozo with Gale Alexander? You may comment privately here.

Photo source: Courtesy of Sumner School Museum & Archives. DC Teachers College yearbook, 1968. Photographer unknown.