It was first proposed four days after King's 1968 assassination outside a Memphis motel. It took 15 years until it became a federal holiday.

Visitors participated in a number of activities, such as a scavenger hunt, and a special viewing of Dr. King's famous "I have a dream" speech.

Martin Luther King, Jr. with his arms folded in front of him and his gaze cast out over the frozen Tidal Basin. But there stood Glenda McDonald, bundled up in her parka doing as she has done over the years,