Which Civil Rights Movement icon founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (one of the organizations involved in West Jackson-based COFO) and in 1963, visited the Masonic Temple on John R. Lynch Street to attend Medgar Evers’s funeral?

Well, on Monday, we celebrated a national holiday for this iconic figure; so in the spirit of celebration, today’s answer is none other than (b.) Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I honestly don’t have to go into detail about Dr. King. He has become the face of the civil rights movement. However, many were involved in the movement including the aforementioned Medgar Wiley Evers–the NAACP field secretary who had an office in the Masonic Temple at 1072 John R. Lynch Street. (NOTE: Rest assured that Medgar Evers name will appear as a WESTerday question in the very near future!)

Dr. King was in attendance at Evers’s funeral, but, as founder of the SCLC, he also made other appearances in West Jackson. Namely, he visited the volunteers and staff of the Council of Federated Organizations in 1964. COFO was an umbrella organization that combined the efforts of the NAACP, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), SCLC, and various other groups into one organization. For more on COFO, make sure check out the WESTerday post for COFO.

Photographs of his visit to COFO can be found at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History’s Reading Room, courtesy of another civil rights activist, Reverend Ed King (no relation to Martin Luther King, Jr.).

Thanks for participating in today’s WESTerday Trivia. Until next time! Love, peace, and SOUUUULLLLLL!