THE LINKS FOUNDATION, INCORPORATED UNVEILS THE LINKS EDUCATION AND CULTURAL CENTER AT THE NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM
The Links Foundation, Incorporated Fulfills Its $1 Million Pledge to the National Civil Rights Museum to Establish an Endowment and Support the New Center.
The Links Foundation, Incorporated will unveil the new Links Education and Cultural Center at the National Civil Rights Museum on Thursday, March 20, 2014 at noon.
The unveiling will be officiated by Margot James Copeland, national president of The Links, Incorporated and Gladys Gary Vaughn, 13th national president of The Links, Incorporated.
“As an organization devoted to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the cultural and economic survival of African Americans, it is our solemn duty to honor those who paved the way for social and economic justice for African Americans. Our success as a people, and as a nation rests on the shoulders of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, Dr. Dorothy Height and the legion of others who forged down roads they were told they couldn’t travel,” said Copeland. “This contribution is important, for it symbolizes that The Links are dedicated to educating our youth and our community about the importance of preserving civil and social justice progress in this country.”
“This grant is significant because it is imperative that African-American organizations build their wealth in order to survive and maintain,” said Vaughn, 13th national president who was at the helm of the organization when the museum was selected to receive the $1 million grant. “Supporting the museum in building their endowment will help provide a firm financial footing that will sustain the organization for years to come.”
In 2006, The Links Foundation approved a multi-year grant of $1 million to support the work of the museum and establish an endowment through the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis. The organization has now completed its pledge allowing for the establishment of the Links Education and Cultural Center. The Links Education and Cultural Center is an important resource to educators that affords young people a more hands-on and experiential approach to learning and understanding the American Civil Rights Movement.
“Thanks to the generous support of The Links, Incorporated we now have a center that will be used as a learning laboratory. One that helps to better connect the past with the present through interactive activities, summer institutes, docent programs, living history presentations and after-school programs,” said Beverly Robertson, president of the National Civil Rights Museum. “Also, as an extension of the museum’s permanent exhibitions, this center’s curriculum and activities will promote deeper discussions and exploration of the content in greater detail.”
The center is designed to attract educators, scholars, students, activists and the general public in providing engaging ways for them to learn this history.
THE LINKS FOUNDATION, INCORPORATED
The Links Foundation, Incorporated, the philanthropic arm of The Links, Incorporated, has made more than $25 million in charitable contributions since its founding in 1979. Working closely with its sponsors and supports, The Links, Incorporated is focused on creating transformational programming and impacting lives in communities of color through Services to Youth, The Arts, National Trends and Services, International Trends and Services, and Health and Human Services, to improve the quality of life for individuals, families and communities.
THE LINKS, INCORPORATED
The Links, Incorporated celebrates more than 65 years as a women’s volunteer service organization committed to enriching sustaining and ensuring the cultural and economic survival of African Americans and others of African ancestry. A premier international service organization with nearly 12,000 members in 276 chapters located in 41 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, its legacy of friends providing services that change lives, established by the original circle of nine friends in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1946, is alive and well.
The members of The Links, Incorporated are influential decision makers and opinion leaders. The Links, Incorporated has attracted many distinguished women who are individual achievers and who have made a difference in their communities and the world. They are business and civic leaders, role models, mentors, activists and volunteers who work towards a common vision by engaging like-minded organizations and individuals for partnership.
With more than 2 million service hours recorded in the past three years, members regularly contribute more than 500,000 documented service hours in their respective communities annually. For more information, visit www.linksinc.org.
(901) 527-1226
(312) 813-6965
fmorris@civilrightsmuseum.org
ABOUT THE NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM
The National Civil Rights Museum located at the Lorraine Motel, the assassination site of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., chronicles key episodes of the American Civil Rights Movement and the legacy of this movement to inspire participation in civil and human rights efforts globally, through its collections, exhibitions and educational programs.
The Museum is located in the historic arts district of downtown Memphis, Tennessee.
An internationally acclaimed tourist attraction, the Museum was voted third among USA Today’s Top 10 Best American Iconic Attractions; Top 10 Best Historical Spots in the U.S. by TLC’s Family Travel; Must See by the Age of 15 by Budget Travel and Kids and Top 10, American Treasures by USA Today.
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