Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebrated In Southampton Village

Southampton Village resident Sarah Thomas was one drop in a sea of hundreds of thousands of people who turned out on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to listen to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his famous “I Have A Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on a hot summer day in August 1963.

On Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Ms. Thomas and a roomful of people at the Rogers Memorial Library meeting room relived that historic moment.

Ms. Thomas, who will turn 82 later this month, spoke at the library’s 10th annual Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast event, where Southampton Town residents and elected officials came together to pay tribute to the country’s most prominent civil rights leader.

In her remarks, Ms. Thomas said she felt a spirit of unity during that day in 1963—a unity that she believes doesn’t exist today. She recalled feeling riveted while hearing Dr. King speak. She said Dr. King delivered the speech with a preacher’s cadence that hooked her.

“I didn’t want to talk,” she said. “I just wanted to listen.”

She recounted Dr. King’s history and ended her remarks by reading excerpts of “I Have A Dream.” She also summed up the significance of Dr. King’s work, while emphasizing that there’s still more to do. “He reminded his people not to seek to satisfy their thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness,” she said.

Ms. Thomas, who was born and grew up in the village, attended Cornell University in 1947 and received a bachelor’s degree in home economics. She was a teacher for 34 years and is currently a saleswoman for Avon. She also runs a bed-and-breakfast out of her home on Pelham Street. A frequent patron of the library, Ms. Thomas also participated in the library’s oral history project, according to Library Director Liz Burns.

Also part of the event was a musical performance by Southampton resident and vocalist Monica Hughes and her mother, Catherine Hughes, who played piano. The younger Ms. Hughes sang a number of songs, including “I Believe I Can Fly” by R Kelly, and asked the audience to hold hands and sing along with “Lift Every Voice and Sing”—often referred to as “The Black National Anthem.”

Alice R. Martin, an audience member and a village resident, said the event reminded her that there’s still a lot of work to be done on some issues like women’s rights, domestic and child abuse, and bullying.

“While we were singing the song, I was thinking of other areas where we also have to overcome,” she said.