The Haddonfield Human Relations Commission on Monday will host an annual event to commemorate the life and work of Martin Luther King.

The event includes a candlelight procession this year beginning at the Indian King Tavern on Kings Highway at 7 p.m., ending at Grace Episcopal Church with “remarks, student essay and poetry readings, and recognition of community groups and individuals helping to build a stronger community and realize Dr. King's dreams.”

Haddonfield resident and current Chairman of HHRC, Carl Maugeri, teaches management communications at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia. Maugeri said that the HHRC was “appointed by Jack Tarditi when he was mayor.”

Maugeri added “there was word that a march by neo-Nazi’s was planned to go through Cherry Hill. The mayor decided that Haddonfield should have a group to respond.” That was back in 1993. The march never took place. Maugeri said the group is said to have “gotten their geography wrong” and never made it to Cherry Hill. Haddonfield’s response to the prejudice carries on through the commission.

The annual Martin Luther King event has come to include recognition for high school students who “are actively engaged in the community and have concerns for world prejudices and relationships.” This year, an essay contest for middle and high school students challenged participants to think about the idea of the connection between Haddonfield and Lawnside as part of the underground railroad. Quakers and others in both towns sheltered slaves on the road to freedom.

According to history available at the historic Peter Mott House in Lawnside and on the Lawnside Historic Society, LLC website at www.petermotthouse.org, the town is a “historically African-American town” and the Peter Mott House “a station along the Underground Railroad, built circa 1845. Mott was a free black man and an agent of the Underground Railroad.”

Maugeri said that “eight students will be recognized” and “four will read excerpts from their essays or poems.” The keynote speaker to the whole group is Linda Shockley, trustee of the Lawnside Historic Society. The procession from the Indian King Tavern to Grace Church in Haddonfield is supposed to “commemorate the walk toward freedom that people took as part of the underground railroad,” said Maugeri.

According to Maugeri, many rumors over time connected the Underground Railroad and the Indian King Tavern, saying that the tavern was a stop on the path to freedom. He said that the lore has more recently been disputed in history and the candlelight procession is meant to “stand for social justice and the courageous stands people in our area took.”

The HHRC works with the commissioners to stay on top of local issues and investigate cases of prejudices or discrimination that may occur. The group’s mission being to “create a welcome environment” to foster diversity in Haddonfield includes sponsoring a spring forum and acting as mentor to a student human relations club at Haddonfield Memorial High School.

Persons interested in participating in the event can meet outside of the Indian King Tavern at 7 p.m. Flashlights or battery operated candles are recommended for the procession.