The Yale and New Haven communities will recognize the life and work of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with a series of events on campus and beyond, including a public talk by Col. (Ret.) Edna W. Cummings, a military veteran, civil rights advocate, and storyteller who helped secure recognition of the first all-Black, all-woman battalion deployed overseas during World War II.
Cummings, who held leadership posts with Georgetown University's Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program and the U.S. Army during a 25-year military career, will be the keynote speaker during Yale's annual MLK Commemoration event on Jan. 29.
Other events honoring King and his legacy include a day of service and celebration at the Yale Peabody Museum; a one-day exhibition of materials related to the civil rights leader at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library; and an open mic night for members of the Yale and New Haven communities. Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be recognized this year on Monday, Jan. 19.
The full schedule of events, which begin this weekend, can be found at mlk.yale.edu.
'Repairing the Record, Building Connection'
Members of the Yale and Greater New Haven communities are invited to attend the event featuring Cummings, which will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 29 at Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall (1 Prospect St., New Haven).
The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. It will also be livestreamed.
A retired U.S. Army colonel, Cummings held leadership roles in the Pentagon and with NORAD (U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command) and NORTHCOM (U.S. Northern Command). Beginning in 2018 she led the effort to bring recognition to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, also known as the "Six Triple Eight," of the Women's Army Corps - including co-production of an award-winning documentary about the unit. In 2022 the battalion received a Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian honor awarded by the U.S. Congress.
Following her keynote address, Cummings will be joined by New Haven radio host, journalist, and community leader Babz Rawls-Ivy for a conversation on how society can "repair the record and build connection" by bringing untold stories to light and fostering genuine community across generations.
The event will be presented by the 2026 Yale & New Haven MLK Commemoration Committee, Yale's Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life, and Yale College Dean's Office in collaboration with Yale Schwarzman Center.
A special Beinecke display
Members of the public are invited to a special one-day display of highlights of Beinecke Library collections related to the civil rights leader, which will be on view in the courtyard level reading room on Sunday, Jan. 18. The display will be open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.
It will include an array of materials, many drawn from the library's James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of African American Arts and Letters, that highlight King's life, legacy, and impact, and the long civil rights movement in the United States. The display will also include materials about Black New Haven history and the lives and legacies of Yale's earliest Black students, from the 1830s into the 20th century.
While these materials will be on one-day display for this special holiday, they are regularly available for research in the reading room.
Exploring freedom songs
On Monday, Jan. 19, members of the Yale and New Haven communities are invited to "Freedom Songs," a daylong exploration of the music that inspired and sustained the U.S. civil rights movement.
The event, which will be held at GRAILS, the cultural listening space in the lower level of 1020 Chapel Street at The Shops at Yale, invites participants to engage in "a shared act of listening" that will trace King's legacy not only through speeches and marches, but through the songs that gave those moments breath, rhythm, and resolve.
This event, which will be from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., is free and open to the public. Registration is not necessary. View more information about the event.
A day of service and celebration
Also on Monday, Jan. 19, more than a dozen community organizations will celebrate King's life and work - including teachings about justice - during an annual celebration at the Yale Peabody Museum (170 Whitney Ave.).
The main event, which will be from 12 p.m. to 4:45 p.m., will include music and dance performances, a social justice and service resource fair, hands-on activities, a zine-making program, and a community open mic. A poetry slam will follow, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free.
Event partners include the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection; Students for Educational Justice; Mothers and Others for Justice; CitySeed; New Haven Pride Center; Citywide Youth Coalition; Possible Futures Bookstore; NXTHVN; New Haven Reads; Bethel AME Church; the United Way of Greater New Haven; New Haven Museum; the Yale Center for British Art; and the New Haven Public Schools' Fine Arts department.
View the full calendar of events.
'Dream Out Loud'
The Afro American Cultural Center at Yale will host an open mic night in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. at The Underground at the Yale Schwarzman Center (168 Grove St.) on Tuesday, Jan. 22.
