MLK Exhibit Draws Visitors From Around the State

Stanley-Whitman House's free Martin Luther King Day exhibit filled a need — that's what visitors were saying Monday at the museum's first event on the holiday. The exhibit, which had drawn 88 people by 1 p.m. from Farmington, Massachuesetts and all over Connecticut, used hands-on activities and one-on-one discussion to explain the civil rights movement.

The program was developed by Joann Zeisner, Education Coordinator at the Stanley-Whitman House, to bring awareness to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the work that he did to end racial discrimination through nonviolent means.

"It's so important for all students to know the great strides [civil rights leaders] made. They put their lives on the line to get the rights all people should have," Zeisner told one family.

The event focused on the civil rights movement, not King alone, but explained the cultural environment that forced civil rights leaders like Rosa Parks and King into action.

Zeisner played a video about Rosa Parks' famous bus ride and the ensuing boycott, explaining as she went and prompting the kids to think.

"Three-hundred and eighty-one days that they never took the bus... and they almost put the bus system out of business — which would have been terrific — but they won and Montgomery had to change its laws," Zeisner explained. "It was really the beginning for Martin Luther King."

After the video, she took families or small groups around to stations of activities. At the first, she handed out sheets outlining rights and asking which were important and worth fighting for.

Another station showed pictures and newspaper clippings of civil rights leaders and marches. Zeisner told stories of how blacks were treated during that time and children sat astonished.

At the final station, boxes of markers and blank paper invited visitors to express their impressions of what they'd heard. Finished art was posted on a bulletin board in the room.

Naieem Kelly, 9, came from Hartford with his mom and sister. His grandmother had been involved in the civil rights movement so, he said, he already knew a lot about King and other leaders.

"We learned about some new people we hadn't heard of before and we liked seeing the house," Naieem said. "It was interesting all the poeple joined the boycott so they could have more justice and respect.

Mom Sacha Kelly said the family tries to do something to comemorate the day and seeing the Stanley-Whitman House was an added bonus.

"It was a really nice family activity," she said. "They liked both the actual MLK activities, the snacks of course, and looking at the house with the flashlight."

Akira Higgins, 11, has learned about King at West Woods Upper Elementary School but, he said, he enjoyed Zeisner's program.

"It was fun and there was a lot of information," he said.