Southfield Public Library to host Viola Liuzzo: An Exemplary Woman in Extraordinary Times exhibit January 15 – February 6
 The Southfield Public Library and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Task Force will present the “Viola Liuzzo: An Exemplary Woman in Extraordinary Times” exhibit January 15 – February 6 at the Southfield Public Library, 26300 Evergreen Road.
Viola Liuzzo was a white Detroit resident, housewife and mother of five who drove to Selma, Alabama in 1965 to protest for black voter rights and to help with voter registration. After a civil rights march on March 25, Liuzzo was murdered by Ku Klux Klan members as she was driving several local marchers home in her car. Liuzzo's funeral was held on March 30 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic church in Detroit, with many prominent members of both the civil rights movement and government in attendance. Included in this group were Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; NAACP executive director Roy Wilkins; Congress on Racial Equality national leader James Farmer; Michigan lieutenant governor William E. Milliken; Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa; and United Auto Workers president Walter Reuther. Her ultimate sacrifice spurred the passage of the August 1965 Voter Rights Act signed by President Lyndon Johnson. She was also the only white woman killed in the civil rights movement. Viola Liuzzo is entombed at Holy Sepulcher Catholic Cemetery in Southfield.
The exhibit was developed by faculty and students of Davenport University in Grand Rapids and is on loan from the Michigan Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame, Lansing. This program is funded in part by the Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Southfield Community Foundation.
Southfield was the first city in the state of Michigan to hold a Dr. King peace walk or march. The first Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Walk took place on January 20, 1986, commemorating the first national observance of Dr. King’s birthday. The walk continues to grow in size and scope each year with year-long educational and community outreach activities.
For more information, call Barbara Talley, vice president of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Task Force Committee, at (248) 569-9279. |