The Stone of Hope Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial at Martin Luther King Park in Columbia was erected in 1996. Today, many Columbia residents don’t know much about this significant tribute to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Student campers at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Park will be provided an opportunity to participate in activities to learn about Dr. King as well as research significant historic facts regarding the Stone of Hope on Tuesdays from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. in July. SC Humanities supported this project with a Mini Grant.
The programming for students will include a mini workshop with scholar Bobby Donaldson, a fact-finding scavenger hunt at the Stone of Hope, a field trip to the Richland Library Local History Room to research information about the Stone of Hope and its history, an opportunity to make their own stone of hope out of ceramics, and creation of a portfolio of their research that will be published in part in the Carolina Panorama Newsletter. Twenty-five 5th and 6th grade students are expected to participate.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c) 3 organization is governed by a volunteer 20-member Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and/or supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually.
