Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebrated throughout Mass.

© Provided by WCVB Boston Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with his wife, Coretta Scott King

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was celebrated across Massachusetts during the national holiday that honors the civil rights champion.

Monday would have been King's 92nd birthday. He and his wife, Coretta Scott King, met in Boston in 1951. They lived in the city for a few years while they studied before moving to Montgomery, Alabama.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker honored Dr. King during a virtual event in Springfield, while Boston Mayor Marty Walsh took part in the ceremony at Boston University, where King earned his doctorate in theology in 1955.

"Reflecting on Dr. King's legacy and the message is more important now than ever," Baker said.

"After everything we have seen in the last year and the last two weeks in Washington, we must all understand now that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere -- as Dr. King said," Walsh said.

Karen Holmes Ward, the host and executive producer of WCVB's "CityLine," also took part in the BU event, which also honored Coretta Scott King's time at the New England Conservatory of Music.

"Dr. King's vision, his words and his dream of a just world resonate today," Holmes Ward said.

Hundreds of Massachusetts students who are part of the Project 351 youth leadership group collected donated items such as clothes, blankets and hygiene products from drop-off boxes.

"The bottom line of our MLK service and of this weekend is definitely that service inspires and that service unites," said Skyla Rimple, one of the volunteers.

After years of anticipation and planning, the physical creation of a memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King in Boston Common is scheduled to begin this spring.

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