Students wishing to enter are asked to write an original, 350 word essay on “What would be Dr. Martin Luther King’s Dream Today?” Submissions are due by Monday, January 7, 2013 at 3 p.m. and must be typed, double spaced and contain a cover sheet with name, grade (grades 9 through 12 only) and telephone number. Submissions can be emailed to education@galvestonhistory.org or turned into the Old Central Cultural Center. First place will receive $300, second place $200 and third place $100.

When the MLK essay contest was first conceived in 2000, the students’ assignment was to write a letter to Coretta Scott King, Dr. King’s widow. For the five years previous to her death, the students wrote these letters and the committee organizers mailed them to Mrs. King. The year before her death, King sent this response to organizers Maggie and Ennis Williams: “Please tell your students to continue to read and study about my husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his life, and read books that he wrote. I hope they will grow to be like him and someday help those who need help. He gave his life loving and serving others.”

For more information, please contact Tommie Boudreaux at 409-740-0454 or Denise Alexander at 409-765-3410.