The Unity Park Advisory Committee has started the nomination process for 2019 Unity Park honorees.
This is the second year for nominations to add memorials to local activists and community leaders at Unity Park. The committee began seeking local nominees last year, and the first two — Rosa Stewart and Sadye Weir — were added to the park on Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year.
The committee is planning to add up to two additional honorees annually from public nominations.
In order to qualify, each nominee must have lived in Oktibbeha County for at least part of his or her life; must have been deceased for at least five years at the time of nomination; must have made a significant contribution to civil rights in Oktibbeha County; and must have advanced community unity in the county.
The new nominees will be announced in a ceremony at Unity Park on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2019. The committee is accepting nominations until Nov. 1.
Nominations can be submitted electronically to [email protected] or by mail to Unity Park Advisory Committee, 108 Grand Ridge, Starkville, MS 39759.
Unity Park, located behind the former Mugshots building on D.L. Connor Drive, is dedicated toward recognizing individuals and events that advanced civil rights locally and nationally. In addition to the 2018 honorees, the park features plaques honoring Dr. Douglas L. Connor, Martin Luther King Jr., former state Gov. William Winter, Fannie Lou Hamer, Medgar Evers and the Mississippi State University Men’s Basketball “Game of Change” against the University of Loyola-Chicago.
More information about Unity Park and its nomination guidelines are available at www.starkvilleunitypark.com.
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