SAN ANTONIO — Trinity University will honor the late Martin Luther King Jr. with a public lecture and participation in a San Antonio march commemorating the slain civil rights leader. The University's annual MLK Jr. Commemorative Lecture will feature L. Douglas Wilder, America's first African-American elected governor, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, January 21, 2009, in Laurie Auditorium on the Trinity University campus. The title of Mr. Wilder's lecture is "The Movement: Past, Present, and Future." The event is free and is open to the public.

Mr. Wilder achieved a racial milestone on January 13, 1990, when he was sworn in as the first African-American elected governor in U.S. history. The event was even more poignant in that he was elected in Virginia, the centerpiece of the Confederacy during the Civil War, and a state that once denied him admission to its law schools. He also played a major role in the development of The National Slavery Museum in Fredericksburg, Va., and in 2004 was elected mayor of Virginia's capitol city. In 1992, Mr. Wilder was a Democratic candidate for president.

Mr. Wilder graduated from Virginia Union University in Richmond with a degree in chemistry; shortly after graduating, he was drafted. During the Korean War, he received the Bronze Star for heroism in ground combat, rescuing wounded GIs and capturing enemy troops. When he returned, he left Virginia because the state banned African-Americans from its law schools at the time. After graduating from Howard University Law School, Mr. Wilder returned to his old neighborhood in Richmond to establish a private practice. His awards include the NAACP Spingarn Medal, the Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Medallion of Honor, and a Citation of Honor for Contributions to American Politics.

Trinity has honored the memory of Dr. King, a slain civil rights leader, for decades and launched a speaker series in 1994. Students affiliated with the Trinity Multi-Cultural Network and members of the Black Student Union, as well as Trinity faculty and staff members, plan to join other residents of San Antonio in the annual MLK Jr. March through the community's East Side on Monday, January 19.

Any requests for special accommodations should be directed to Laurie Auditorium at (210) 999-8119 at least 48 hours before the event. For more information, contact Trinity's Office of University Communications at (210) 999-8441.