A piece of history will be on display Thursday at the Greenville-Butler County Public Library.

A photo of Civil Rights pioneer Martin Luther King, Jr. that was taken at Greenville’s Harrison Street Baptist Church will be unveiled. The photo was taken by Jim Peppler, a photographer with the Southern Courier, a newspaper devoted to covering the Civil Rights movement in the mid-1960s.

GBCPL Director Kevin Pearcey said the photo sheds light on an important truth.

“It’s history,” said Pearcey. “I think it’s important for everyone to know that Dr. King visited and spoke in Greenville at one of our churches. Oftentimes, when discussing the Civil Rights movement, we talk about Selma, Birmingham, Montgomery — all important places — but it’s also important to realize that this was a very real struggle that happened in small towns like Greenville across the south. These photos prove that and we have Jim Peppler and the Alabama Department of Archives and History to thank for making these images available to the public.”

The event, which is being hosted jointly by the GBCPL, the Greenville Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Greenville, will be held at the Camellia Pavilion at 6 p.m..

“We hope to have a good crowd of people at the Pavilion for the unveiling and I know the Chamber of Commerce is doing a great job of getting everyone notified,” Pearcey said.

In the case of inclement weather, the unveiling will be held in the Community Room at the library.