African American Museum Honors Dr. Martin Luther King with Photos, Documentaries, Play on January 21

This photo of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is one of many taken by Moneta Sleet that are on display at the African American Museum.

The African American Museum will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day on January 21, 2008, with an exhibit featuring photographs, historic documents and documentaries about the civil rights leader’s life, announced Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi. The day’s events will take place from noon to 6 p.m.

The exhibit revolves around the photos of Dr. King taken by Moneta Sleet, Jr., as well as letters and other documents relating to the life of the civil rights leader. Kentucky-born Sleet, who died in 1996, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1969 for his photograph of Coretta Scott King at her husband’s funeral.

The Sleet exhibit will begin on January 16 and runs through the end of the month. The related multimedia exhibit incorporates continuous showings of several documentaries, including “Citizen King,” “I Have a Dream,” “Eyes on the Prize” and “Mighty Times: The Children’s March.”

The January 21 celebration also features a presentation from 4 to 6 p.m. of “The Meeting,” an Emmy Award-winning play by Jeff Stetson that depicts an imagined meeting in a Harlem hotel room in 1965 between Dr. King and Malcolm X. The play, first produced for American Playhouse in 1989, focuses on the debate that transpires between these two leaders who followed widely divergent philosophies.

The program culminates with the presentation of the annual Museum Visionary Service Awards recognizing three members of the community for activities that enhanced the programming and/or facilitated the mission of the African American Museum.

The African American Museum is located at 110 North Franklin Street in Hempstead. Regular museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; on Tuesday and Thursday, the museum is open until 9 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call (516) 572-0730.