Following a postponement due to Hurricane Irene, a new date has been set for the official unveiling of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The dedication ceremony will now take place on the National Mall on Oct. 16, reports The Associated Press.
The original dedication was planned to coincide with the 48th anniversary of King's "I Have A Dream" speech on Aug. 28, but organizers had safety concerns due to the high winds and rains from Irene.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He became an iconic figure for his insistence on non-violent methods of resistance and his brilliant oratory.
The 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner is depicted with a stern gaze and crossed arms in the 30-foot memorial. On each side of the statue quotations from King's writings and speeches are inscribed.
King was murdered in 1968 in Memphis, Tenn., and will be the first non-white person to be honored with a memorial on the National Mall. It sits alongside monuments to Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. President Barack Obama will speak at the event.
Thousands of people have already visited the site, many of whom have been deeply affected.
"I feel like crying, but I don't want to," Jeffrey Tyler, a 16-year-old student at Cleveland's Lincoln West High School, informed the AP after viewing the memorial on Aug. 28.
"To see a black man up there, it made me feel really proud of myself," he added.