Longtime friends and followers of the late Dorothy West gathered on Saturday afternoon in the shade on a hot August day to pay tribute to the writer, who was the last surviving member of the Harlem renaissance, and to share memories.

On Thursday, Jan. 17 at 9:30 a.m. as part of the Island’s celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., St. Andrews Episcopal church on North Summer street in Edgartown will become the twentieth site on the African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard.

The church was the site of the first meetings in 1964 of the Martha’s Vineyard chapter of the NAACP. A bronze plaque will be unveiled honoring those citizens of all ethnic groups and from all walks of life who organized to participate in the building of a colorblind society.