The day's events featured family activities such as making a quilt in honor of King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Children from the Boys & Girls Club of Stamford, as well as other visitors, were able to draw their own dreams to contribute to the quilt.
"We like to do something where we can have people contribute to one big work of art," said Julia Harrington, manager of youth and family programs at the Bruce Museum. "It's something we can take out every year and keep adding to it. Every year this is one of the most popular family days."
Some of the kids, including Stamford third-grader Ashley, created drawings inspired by King's dream. She made a picture of black and white children playing together outside. Other children contributed drawings of their dreams from their own personal lives, such as sixth-grader Yeili, who wants to be a doctor; second-grader Isabel, who wants to be a lifeguard; and fourth-grader Evan, who wants to compete in the X Games.
Between working on their patches for the quilt, they were treated to a performance by the Bright Star Theatre Company. The performers took the students on a journey through the history of African-American music, starting with hymns and spirituals that slaves sang during the early days of America, and continued through the blues, ragtime, jazz and rock.
The performers dressed as famous characters from history -- Harriet Tubman, Scott Joplin, Billie Holiday and Little Richard -- and sang samples of many popular songs from different periods of music history, often inviting the audience to sing along.
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