January 5, 2005
Join the Raleigh City Museum for Two Special Activities in January

Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday and
New Children's Program Highlights of the Month

RALEIGH, N.C. (January 5, 2005) - As the nation celebrates the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Monday, January 17, 2005, the Raleigh City Museum will be open from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. that day to help commemorate this special day. The public is encouraged to visit the museum and its continuing exhibit, Let Us March On: Raleigh’s Journey Toward Civil Rights, as part of their observances of the legacy and life of Dr. King. The museum will also debut a new children's program this month when "The Raleigh City Museum Children's Hour" debuts on Saturday, January 22 at 2:00 p.m.

Let Us March On: Raleigh’s Journey Toward Civil Rights, which opened in April 2000 in the museum’s A.J. Fletcher Foundation Gallery in the Historic Briggs Building, chronicles Raleigh’s experiences during the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. While Raleigh was not a focal point for racial tensions, our community did experience challenges regarding the move toward social integration. The progress made toward civil rights in our city was the result of the efforts of individuals who dared to stand up and demand change. Portions of their stories are documented within the exhibit through an extensive oral history project conducted in the spring of 2000. These individuals, African American and white, faced hostility and antagonism while holding strong to their convictions. As this exhibit shows, their beliefs were not always enough to allow them to triumph. Yet, even when success was not immediately achieved, the efforts of these local trailblazers began a process where integration became inevitable.

In addition to the exhibit, the museum will feature presentations relating to the Civil Rights Movement throughout the day on video monitors installed within the exhibit galleries. Airings will include "Exhausted Remedies: Joe Holt’s Story," a local documentary relating the first attempt to integrate Raleigh’s all-white schools in the 1950s, and "The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow," a four-part documentary produced in 2002 for the Public Broadcasting System. The museum will also feature guided tours of its gallery exhibits at 11:00 a.m. and again at 2:00 p.m. All activities, and general admission into the Raleigh City Museum, are free.

On Saturday, January 22 the Raleigh City Museum debuts a new monthly children’s event. Entitled The Raleigh City Museum Children’s Hour, the inaugural activity will be "Artifact Discovery." Learn how the museum preserves Raleigh’s history through artifacts, and try to guess what uses educational artifacts may have had in their past lives. This lively hand’s-on children’s program is open to ages 6 and older (must be accompanied by an adult). The activity begins at 2 p.m. in the museum's A.J. Fletcher Foundation Gallery. It is free to the public.

About the Raleigh City Museum
The Raleigh City Museum is a private, non-profit educational center that uses exhibits, lectures and programs to help residents and visitors discover the diverse aspects of the city's people, places and history. The museum opened its first exhibit in 1993 and moved to its current location in the historic Briggs Building in 1998.

For more information on these events, please contact Ken Peters, Coordinator of Education & Outreach, at 832-3775 ext. 11.

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