The vision for the new Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza on Fraser Street is in focus, and should be a reality in the spring.
The plaza will include 15 black granite pavers commemorating significant moments in the slain civil rights leader’s life and other events related to social justice. It will also feature a graphic wall with two enlarged photographs of King’s speech at Rec Hall on the Penn State campus in 1965, as well as six pillars at Fraser and Beaver Avenue to represent King’s philosophies and continuing efforts for social justice.
Besides a timeline of King’s life, the pavers will also include commemorations of Calvin Waller, who in 1899 became the first black student to attend Penn State, and the vote by football players in November 1946 to cancel a game at Miami because Penn State’s two African-American players, Wally Triplett and Denny Hoggard, were not welcome.
The plaza advisory committee also recommends establishing a performing arts trust that would ensure an ongoing effort to coordinate diverse performances for the space, which will include a stage.
Mayor Elizabeth Goreham called the project “a very special acknowledgement of Dr. King.”
“This has been a labor of love,” Goreham said of the planning process. “It’s important to our town. I’m delighted with this.”
Goreham noted that the MLK Plaza ties nicely with Penn State’s “All In” initiative launched in October. That is an ongoing university-wide effort to bring students, faculty and staff together to show their commitment to cultivating a diverse and inclusive environment.
The project will cost about $642,000, which includes all the hardscape for the plaza and the area surrounding the Fraser Street parking garage.
The council president will appoint members of a secondary advisory committee to recommend additions or modifications to the plaza, including the content of brass plaques on the pillars as well as developing a recommendation on the proposed performing arts trust.
Advisory committee member Gary Abdullah said he hopes a performing arts trust will bring performers to the plaza who may not otherwise have an opportunity to display their talents off-campus.
Abdullah noted that while Penn State is a “magnet for talented people,” artists such as jazz, blues and hip-hop musicians may not find places to perform elsewhere in the area because such venues are market-driven. He said it is not about the race of the individual performers, but about representing different performing arts genres.
“Hopefully once the venues around here see the success that’s taking place with that plaza and series, it will continue to expand the way they see it and what they program in their venues,” he said.
Providing a platform for a greater diversity of performances “enriches the community in a lot of ways” and advances King’s ideals and the vision for the plaza, Abdullah said.
In addition to the borough, such an effort should include different sectors of the community, including downtown businesses and representatives of artists, he said.
Abdullah praised Goreham and committee chair and council member Catherine Dauler, who “have been nothing but supportive” of the idea.
The following is the text for the granite pavers at the Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza in State College:
1. Calvin Waller
First Black Penn State student
September 1899
2. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia
January 15, 1929
3. We Are Penn State
Football players vote to cancel game
November 5, 1946
4. Brown v. Board of Education
Ended legal segregation in public schools
May 17, 1954
5. Rosa Parks Arrested
Montgomery Bus Boycott
December 1955-December 1956
6. Mary Godfrey
First Black Penn State faculty member
Spring 1956
7. “Bombingham”
King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
Church bomb kills 4 girls
April/September 1963
8. March on Washington, D.C.
For Jobs and Freedom
August 28, 1963
9. Civil Rights Act of 1964
Mississippi Summer
July 1964
10. Nobel Peace Prize
Awarded to Martin Luther King, Jr.
October 14, 1964
The timeline along the walkway leads to the photo wall panels of King’s speech on Jan. 21, 1965, with photos from the Penn State archives.
The timeline then resumes:
11. Selma to Montgomery March
Voting Rights Act of 1965
March/August, 1965
12. Riverside Church Speech
Against Vietnam War
April 4, 1967
13. Poor People’s Campaign
For Economic Justice
November 1967-June 1968
14. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee
April 4, 1968
15. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Legislation for National Holiday
November 2, 1983
Additionally, one of the six pillars will commemorate King’s Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was awarded posthumously on July 11, 1977.
