MONTICELLO - Not many people can say they knew civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. on a personal level.
However, the Rev. Charlie Workman can.
"He was terrific," Workman told a Monticello freshman high school class, during a presentation on Tuesday. "(King was) standing by what was just."
Workman got involved in King's work after being asked by his close friend to attend lectures and rallies during the Freedom Summer of 1964. They also were asked to help register black voters.
Workman Tuesday told his story to two Monticello classes - U.S. History and English. Amanda Jacobson, a teacher at Monticello High School who asked Workman to visit, was grateful to the 94-year-old for providing his perspective on a key part of recent American history.
"Charlie has worked his whole life, and was dedicated to civil rights," Jacobson said.
Workman recalled a time when King went for a walk in the warm Alabama heat, under an umbrella, when a group of white boys asked him if he would like to be white. King told them that he would not because he would lose too much during the change.
That remark sparked a beating of King by the boys.
The timeless "I Have A Dream Speech" also was partially read Tuesday by Workman. He was among more than 200,000 at the March on Washington the day King delivered it.
On the day King was shot in 1968, Workman was at a meeting in Memphis, the last place anyone would see the civil rights leader alive.
Even though at the time Workman's actions seemed radical to some, Workman said he maintained faith in what he was doing.
"I was trying to do what was right," he said.
During the 1950s - before the start of the civil rights movements - Workman helped to integrate student gatherings in Texas. He told of a time when he took a bus full of students to Alabama to see King speak. They stopped at a motel to spend the night, but the black young people in the group were turned away and had to sleep elsewhere.
He came to Wisconsin in 1966, where he found a long career as a college chaplain and ran the community hunger appeal. He went on to become the pastor of Zwingli church, until he retired in 1984.
The same year as his retirement, Workman and two other local pastors created Habitat for Green County, after a tornado ripped through Barneveld and destroyed a local church, homes and business.
Ever since, Workman has played an active role in Habitat for Humanity efforts, including helping to raise money for the group.
However, the Rev. Charlie Workman can.
"He was terrific," Workman told a Monticello freshman high school class, during a presentation on Tuesday. "(King was) standing by what was just."
Workman got involved in King's work after being asked by his close friend to attend lectures and rallies during the Freedom Summer of 1964. They also were asked to help register black voters.
Workman Tuesday told his story to two Monticello classes - U.S. History and English. Amanda Jacobson, a teacher at Monticello High School who asked Workman to visit, was grateful to the 94-year-old for providing his perspective on a key part of recent American history.
"Charlie has worked his whole life, and was dedicated to civil rights," Jacobson said.
Workman recalled a time when King went for a walk in the warm Alabama heat, under an umbrella, when a group of white boys asked him if he would like to be white. King told them that he would not because he would lose too much during the change.
That remark sparked a beating of King by the boys.
The timeless "I Have A Dream Speech" also was partially read Tuesday by Workman. He was among more than 200,000 at the March on Washington the day King delivered it.
On the day King was shot in 1968, Workman was at a meeting in Memphis, the last place anyone would see the civil rights leader alive.
Even though at the time Workman's actions seemed radical to some, Workman said he maintained faith in what he was doing.
"I was trying to do what was right," he said.
During the 1950s - before the start of the civil rights movements - Workman helped to integrate student gatherings in Texas. He told of a time when he took a bus full of students to Alabama to see King speak. They stopped at a motel to spend the night, but the black young people in the group were turned away and had to sleep elsewhere.
He came to Wisconsin in 1966, where he found a long career as a college chaplain and ran the community hunger appeal. He went on to become the pastor of Zwingli church, until he retired in 1984.
The same year as his retirement, Workman and two other local pastors created Habitat for Green County, after a tornado ripped through Barneveld and destroyed a local church, homes and business.
Ever since, Workman has played an active role in Habitat for Humanity efforts, including helping to raise money for the group.