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MLK would have been proud of Heritage Wall event
Martin Luther King Jr. would have loved what transpired Saturday afternoon in downtown Greencastle.
As some 60 people assembled for a 45-minute program commemorating his Sept. 5, 1960 visit to Greencastle and King’s address to Methodist leaders at Gobin Church, he’d have been happy to know that the event didn’t just dwell on his appearance and the addition of a long-overdue plaque honoring its 60th anniversary to the Heritage Wall on the east side of the building at Vine and Washington streets.
Sure his hopes and dreams were shared by speakers Saturday and by others in the days leading up to it.
But Saturday was more than that.
Him and Her (Tosh and Joel Everson) sang “We Shall Overcome.” And Tosh urged that “each of us can do something. I’m not going to stop fighting for equality and justice for people of color, black people, indigenous people.”
NAACP President Russell Harvey called it a “gut check” moment, urging citizens to reflect on our past and where we stand today on the same issues Dr. King brought forth 60 years ago.
Harvey said that more than a plaque dedication, Saturday’s event was “a reflective ceremony.”
While we celebrate our history and a great leader in Dr. King, “What are we doing to keep the dream alive?” Harvey asked, challenging those in attendance and all citizens. “We still today have to raise our voices and put our hands and feet to work. Are we challenging each other to speak out about injustice?”
Harvey urged that anytime anyone walks past the Heritage Wall and the plaque commemorating Dr. King’s visit and vision, we should ask, “What are we doing to continue to carry it out?’”
Meanwhile, Rev. Bryan Langdoc of Gobin Church, noted that we all should “recognize with gratitude that our community was touched by this prophet.”
Heritage Preservation Society President Cammie Goldman noted that “Dr. King was so many things to so many people.”
New DePauw University President Lori White, the first woman and first person of color to hold that university position, sang. With an a capella rendition of “Ain’t Nobody Gonna Turn Me Around,” White encouraged everyone to keep on marching to the freedom land.
As keynote speaker, White said of Dr. King’s Greencastle appearance, “Don’t we all wish we could have been here for that occasion.”
Instead of focusing on King’s 1960 Gobin address or his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, White pointed to a 1968 King sermon known as “The Drum Major Instinct.”
In it, King says he was “a drum major for justice,” and while others may want to lead the parade for personal gain, he was a drum major for justice ... a drum major for peace ... and a drum major for righteousness.
“If Dr. King taught us anything,” White suggested, “it was how one person can make a difference, which he certainly did.
“Our world desperately needs a drum major,” she offered, to be willing to march to the beat of those old gospel songs. And with that, White broke into song ...
“Ain’t nobody gonna turn me around no more ...
“Ain’t nobody gonna turn me around ...”
Plaques on the Heritage Wall
The Martin Luther King Jr. visit to Gobin Church on Sept. 5, 1960 becomes the 20th plaque commemorating individuals, events or accomplishments in Greencastle and Putnam County.
If you just count the plaques, there are 21 on the wall, but one just spells out what the Heritage Wall is and that it was dedicated on May 12, 2001.
The other plaques are for:
-- Putnamville United Methodist Church, established 1834.
-- Indiana Asbury College/DePauw University, established 1837.
-- The founding of Greencastle.
-- The ancient people who once walked here.
-- Eli Lilly’s first drugstore and the Civil War.
-- Founding of the Lilly family in Greencastle.
-- Greencastle Courthouse Square and the connection between historian/author Jesse Weik and Abraham Lincoln.
-- Women in Greencastle and their role in the post-Civil War era, including the founding of Kappa Alpha Theta at DePauw as the first college sorority in 1870.
-- John Dillinger and the Oct. 23, 1933 robbery of Central National Bank.
-- Percy Julian and the synthesis of physostigmine.
-- The Julian family home and the Black History Month release of a stamp honoring Percy Julian.
-- Donald J. Cook, renown chemistry professor and local history enthusiast.
-- National Historic Chemical Landmark, Minshall Laboratory at DePauw.
-- Putnam County Playhouse, established 1961.
-- Indiana Extension Homemakers Association, founded September 1913.
-- Eitel’s Flowers and its four generations of Eitel family ownership.
-- Handy’s Dairy, operating locally 1916-2002.
-- Prevo’s, operating locally 1900-1992.
-- Cannon’s, operating locally 1891-1985 with three generations of Cannon family ownership.