A statue was unveiled Wednesday at a church in Compton depicting a moment in 1961 when L.A. County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, father of current Supervisor Janice Hahn, greeted the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at LAX with a handshake — the only local official who would agree to welcome the civil-rights leader to the city that day.
“That day that my father spent with Dr. King has always been a point of pride for me and my family,” Janice Hahn said Wednesday during the unveiling at the Archdiocese of North America Unitarian Universalist Church, formerly the Calvary Community Church of Compton.
The bronze statue depicts a now-iconic photo of Kenneth Hahn and King shaking hands and smiling after King descended the steps of a just-landed plane.
The two would spend the afternoon together, with Hahn — an ardent civil-rights advocate who died in 1997 at age 77 — showing King around his South Los Angeles district, visiting the L.A. Calvary Community Church and talking in Hahn’s downtown office.
At Wednesday’s ceremony, Janice Hahn recalled how other local elected officials at the time had “scheduling issues” when MLK was set to visit the city.
But her father, who was not the first person asked to greet MLK, was more than happy to do so, bringing along a photographer whose picture is now reborn in bronze.
“When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited Los Angeles, my dad Kenny Hahn was the only elected official who would agree to meet him at the airport,” Janice Hahn said in a statement ahead of Wednesday’s ceremony.
“That story has shaped my life to this day, more so than any political lesson my father taught me. Dr. King changed the course of history — I am proud to join Bishop L.J. Guillory … to celebrate these two great men.”
After MLK was assassinated in 1968, Kenneth Hahn would also lead efforts to build a hospital and name it in honor of King.
Kenneth Hahn served on the L.A. City Council from 1947-1952, then on the Board of Supervisors from 1952 to 1992.
Guillory, ombudsman general for the nonprofit Ombudsman International Inc., was a leader in the effort to erect the statue, and joined Janice Hahn for Wednesday’s ceremony.
“This day is about coming together to overcome bigotry and hate,” he said in a statement. “It is about celebrating anti-racism. It is about doing what is right — whether popular or not.
“Both Dr. King and (Kenneth) Hahn set an example that we all should follow every day of our lives. Both were honorable public servants who selflessly served mankind. That service went across race, color, sex, and religious barriers. That’s why we have the statue today.”
Guillory told City News Service that Kenneth Hahn was ostracized by other elected officials. But both men received “eternal life” as people continue to recognize their accomplishments, he said.
“We’re hoping that his statue will let people know that we’re all here for a season, but what we can do can last forever,” Guillory said.
He said he also hopes the statue will serve to teach younger generations about the civil-rights movement.
“The statue will be there to be a symbol of peace and unity,” he said.