King’s Visit to the Region: October 1956 - King was invited to speak at the 21st Annual Convention of the Virginia State NAACP. At Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, King addressed an audience so big, that many listeners had to assemble in other churches, to which the sound of King’s speech was broadcast. March 1957 - King makes his first appearance at Virginia State College. He spoke at a forum at Foster Hall and attended a banquet at Jones Hall. Very little else is known of this visit. 1959 - King spoke at a mass meeting at First Baptist Church in Petersburg. The church has no records of it. But the church’s pastor, the Rev. Milton A. Reid, remembers the visit, because it was the first time he met King.
marched through Colonial Heights. Later that day, King made his second appearance at Virginia State College. On the third day of the visit, King came to Hopewell for the first and only tim. His friend, the Rev. Curtis Harris, was to be tried at Hopewell Circuit Court for a contempt charge that had grown out of his refusal to answer questions to a legislative committee. July 1965 - When King spoke at Roger’s Stadium on campus of Virginia State College, he shocked many in his movement. The previous year, he had received the Nobel Peace Prize, and now he openly attacked U.S. policy in Vietnam for the first time. “We aren’t going to defeat Communism with guns, bombs and gases, but rather by making democracy work and showing it to the world,” King said.
July 1960 - King came to Petersburg to recruit members for his executive staff. King announced at Gillfield Baptist Church that the pastor, the Rev.Wyatt T. Walker, would follow him to Atlanta. Dorothy Cotton came June 1967 - King came by invitation of the Hopewell Improvement along as well, leaving behind her husband. She would eventually join King Foundation, which was hosting a testimonial banquet to honor its founder, on his trip to Oslo, Norway, where he received the Nobel Peace Prize. the Rev. Curtis Harris, for his “outstanding work for the civil rights movement,” according to a press release. King, in a 45-minute speech at Jones March 1962 - King decided to come to Petersburg for three days to encourage people to vote. King knocked on doors in the Blandford neigh- Hall at Virginia State College, spoke against the war in Vietnam and the struggles at home. He addressed racial injustice, “which is still the black borhood. The next day King and his entourage traveled to Dinwiddie, man’s burden and America’s shame. Prince George and Chesterfield counties. King and his delegation also
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J. L. Dodson and Sons Funeral Establishment 25824 Greensville Avenue, Petersburg, Virginia 23803
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