Baltimore Man Killed In Civil Rights March To Be Honored In Alabama
GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) -- Signs designating a highway in Gadsden as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Parkway are set to be unveiled next month. And a late Baltimore Civil Rights leader will be among those honored.
The signs for U.S. Highway 431/278 will be unveiled the morning of Aug. 10. Also that day, a noon program is planned for Gadsden City High School's auditorium to honor King and five other civil rights activists.
A resolution authorizing the signs and designation was approved this year by the Alabama Legislature. The Gadsden Times reports (http://bit.ly/1bqXnj5 ) that the Gadsden City Council had requested the local delegation pass the resolution.
City officials have said the signs and honorary designation will not affect the Meighan Boulevard name or addresses for businesses.
The city of Attalla in 2011 designated Cleveland Avenue and Attalla Boulevard as Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Parkway, but did not change the street names.
In Gadsden, William Moore of Baltimore will be among civil rights leaders honored. He was shot and killed on U.S. Highway 11 near Keener in April 1963 while walking from Chattanooga, Tenn., to Mississippi to urge Gov. Ross Barnett to end segregation.
Four local civil rights activists, all deceased, also will also be honored: Q.D. Adams, Joseph Faulkner, the Rev. Richard Flemming and James Hood, one of the first black people to enroll at the University of Alabama.
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