ORONO, Maine — The Wells Conference Center at the University of Maine in Orono was packed Monday morning, as people from the school and greater community joined together to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Today was the 37th anniversary of the federal holiday -- the first of which honors an African American in the United States.
King was assassinated in April 1968 on a motel balcony in Memphis, and President Ronald Reagan signed a bill back in 19-83 declaring the third Monday of every January "Martin Luther King Jr. Day."
A few hundred people were at the annual breakfast in Orono this morning. It has been going on for more than 15 years and is sponsored by the Greater Bangor Area NAACP Branch and the University of Maine Division of Student Life.
Doors opened at 8 a.m., and the program ran more than two hours.
Notable faces in the audience this morning included Governor Janet Mills, Senator Angus King, and Congressman Jared Golden -- all of whom took turns speaking at the podium.
This year's keynote speaker was Joyce Taylor Gibson, associate professor of leadership and organizational studies at the University of Southern Maine. She says she thinks it's important to keep pushing for equality in all realms of life -- and appreciates this federal holiday.
"It's recognition that Dr. King's dream and my life of dealing with injustice is important -- and for it to be national holiday means everything to me as an American, because we have to continue to address these things," Gibson expressed. "They just don't go away because we've had a movement."
Other events to for the holiday were happening around Maine today, too.
In Portland, leaders announced they are planning to hold a meeting next month to choose between the final three artists who will design the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in the city.
