Educator, author, and civil rights advocate Dr. Bettye F. Baker will speak at the 32nd annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration January 23. The event will be held in Gettysburg College’s Christ Chapel at 7 p.m. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.

Baker has been a teacher and educational consultant for more than 25 years. She has written political and opinion pieces, book reviews and poetry, and published a children’s picture book, “What is Black.” Baker is married to Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) William Baker, the last official researcher of the Brownsville, Texas, Incident of 1906. Baker’s research resulted in the reversal of President Theodore Roosevelt’s decision to discharge without honor 167 African American soldiers for shooting up the town of Brownsville.

The event will also feature performances by lyric soprano Jessica Gondwe, pianist Jocelyn Swigger, and the Gettysburg Children’s Choir. The Biglerville High School Jazz Band will perform as a prelude to the event at 6:40 p.m.

The annual Living the Dream Award will be presented during the event to a local resident whose life and work supports King’s dream of freedom and equality for all. The award is sponsored by the YWCA Gettysburg & Adams County and the United Way of Adams County.

A freewill offering will be collected to support the Adams County Career Aid Project, which provides need-based financial aid to Adams County students. Unlike many other educational aid programs, ACCAP provides assistance to students of all ages. This year, ACCAP has awarded more than $11,300 to students attending Harrisburg Area Community College, Penn State University, West Chester University, Shippensburg University, McDaniel College, the Baltimore School of Massage, and Albright College, among many others.

Free shuttle service to Christ Chapel from the college’s Constitution and Master’s parking lots will be available from 6:15 to 7 p.m. with return service beginning at 8 p.m. Free child care will be available in the college’s Weidensall Hall during the event. For more information on the event or ACCAP, call Adrienne Camel at 717-334-7634, ext. 147.

Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with a strong academic tradition that includes Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate and other distinguished scholars among its alumni. The college enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students and is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Kendra Martin, director of media relations & news content, 717-337-6801