Mark Jones, of Lawrence, who is a spokesman of the Kansas Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Committee, is working to get a portion of U.S. Highway 24 renamed for the slain civil rights leader.

Mark Jones is laying the groundwork for naming a portion of a road in Lawrence after slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Lawrence is such a progressive city and important in the history of Kansas,” he said.

Jones, 55, said he remembers when growing up in Columbus, Ohio, two of his heroes were King and Jim Brown, the legendary running back for the Cleveland Browns.

But it was King’s message of nonviolence that stuck with Jones.

“He gave me another way to look at things,” said Jones, who moved to Lawrence with his wife and children in 1998.

Jones is a spokesman for the Kansas Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Committee, which is working to get portions of roads renamed in every major city in Kansas in honor of King, who was slain April 4, 1968.

Jones, a real estate investor, is considering pushing for legislation next year that would name a portion of U.S. Highway 24 after King. But, he said, he is open to other suggestions.

Sonny Scroggins, a Topeka activist, also is involved in the memorial effort.

He said a King memorial in Lawrence makes sense because of the city’s history as a bastion for people wanting to end slavery during the Civil War period.

“Lawrence is the jewel of civil rights in Kansas,” Scroggins said. “Lawrence played a pivotal role in making Kansas a free state.”