A family friendly celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. will be held at the New Haven Museum on Saturday, January 17, 2026, from 1 to 4 p.m. The theme of the all-ages MLK Day at New Haven Museum will be King’s acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. 

The event will include viewings of King’s inspiring Nobel acceptance speech, and participation in creating a colorful community mobile inspired by the speech. Families and friends will gather in the Clement Room to make their own contributions to a fun, mixed-media mobile using assorted materials.

There will also be a reading nook with 10 community/MLK-related books from the New Haven Free Public Library and a coloring corner with coloring pages relating to Dr. King.

NHM Educator Rohanna Ssanyu Delossantos notes the event is inspired by the following quote from King’s Nobel speech: “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.” She adds that visitors will be able to take home extra coloring sheets, a flyer describing the community mobile they helped create, and a copy of King’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech.