What's Happening on Martin Luther King Day in Melrose?

This week we answer the question: What's happening on Martin Luther King Day in Melrose?

The City of Melrose will be holding their 16th annual Potluck Dinner and Program starting at 5 p.m. on Martin Luther King Day (Monday, Jan. 20) at the First Congregational Church, according to Mayor Rob Dolan's blog.

The event is sponsored by the Mayor’s Office, the Melrose Human Rights Commission, the Melrose Clergy Association, the Melrose Alliance Against Violence, the Melrose Chamber of Commerce, the Melrose League of Women Voters and Hallmark Health, reads the blog.

"This year’s speaking program will feature a presentation from Brigid Alverson, a Melrose resident and former Human Rights Commission (chairwoman)," reads the blog. "Ms. Alverson will profile the life and work of Alice L. White, a Congregationalist missionary in the American South during the late 19th and early 20th century.

"Alverson, who currently works as an assistant to...Dolan, was a former local news reporter who has researched and written about White’s influence. White established a vocational school for black girls in Montgomery, Alabama, and many of her students went on to become active in the Civil Rights Movement. Her most famous student was Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks who said of the school, 'I learned that I should not set my sights lower than anybody because I was black. We were taught to be ambitious and to believe that we could do what we wanted in life.'"

White relocated to Melrose in the latter part of her life and was a member of the First Congregational Church and a volunteer at the Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, according to the blog.

The event, which is free and open to the public, kicks off with the potluck dinner at 5 p.m., followed by the 6:30-7:30 p.m. family program which includes Alverson’s presentation, as well as a short music program, adds the blog. For the potluck dinner, guests are asked to bring a meal or dessert that feeds 4-6 people and has the ingredients clearly marked.

Know of other Martin Luther King Day activities and events going on in Melrose on Monday, Jan. 20? Let us know when, where and what the activity or event is by posting a comment below.