MLK chair gets prominent placement at South

GROSSE POINTE FARMS — Students and staff at Grosse Pointe South High School in Grosse Pointe Farms celebrated one of the most notable events in the school’s history when they unveiled a new display case April 30 for the chair that civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. used when he spoke at the school March 14, 1968.

Besides the chair, the case also features the full text of King’s speech, titled “The Other America,” as well as a historic photo from that day and a local news article.

The unveiling marked the first time students and school district officials had seen the display case.

Costs associated with the display case were covered by the Class of 2026, which made this project their senior gift to South.

“I know we wanted to choose a meaningful class gift,” said Lily Frey, of Grosse Pointe Farms, the senior class secretary. “I think the display looks good. It’s a significant part of the school’s history.”

Class President Heidi Bryan, of Grosse Pointe Park, agreed.

“It’s just such a huge accomplishment for the school,” Bryan said of hosting the appearance by King. “We always try to be as inclusive as possible.”

King — who made innumerable contributions to the civil rights movement — was “such a phenomenal person,” Bryan said.

The chair had previously been kept in the principal’s office.It’s now on view in a larger case in the school’s main hall, just past the visitors entrance, greatly increasing its visibility.

Like her fellow class officers, senior class Treasurer Betsy Ropke, of Grosse Pointe City, was excited to work on this project.

“It meant a lot to me,” Ropke said. “Many people don’t know Martin Luther King came to our school, and it was one of his last big speeches.”

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 39 years old.

South Principal Cindy Parravano said that after reading social media posts from South students and alumni who didn’t realize King had spoken at the school, they realized they needed to remedy that.

“We needed to showcase this more and let our kids know,” Parravano said.

A state historical marker about King’s speech was placed in front of the school in 2021, but the chair display brings that moment to life inside the school.

Melissa Petz, South’s student activities director, worked on designing the display case. Using a sample of King’s handwriting, she said she used a font that most closely replicated it to reproduce the text of his speech at South.

Ropke said Petz was a major figure behind this project. The Class of 2026 used some of the funds raised by their daddy-daughter dances over the last two years to pay for the display case, Ropke said.

“We wanted to add something new to the school,” Ropke said.

School visitors can scan a QR code inside the display case that will take them to an audio recording of King delivering “The Other America.”