On Saturday, Troy, Ala. Mayor Jason Reeves declared February 3 would be now known as “John Lewis Day” in his city.

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who now represents the Peach State’s fifth congressional district, was born on a farm near Troy and was an active figure in the civil rights movement. He was a participant in the 1956 Montgomery bus boycott and spoke at the 1963 March on Washington.

He was in Troy on Saturday to give the keynote address to Troy’s annual Leadership Conference.

Lewis was inspired by civil rights figure Martin Luther King, Jr., who Lewis said called him “the boy from Troy.”

“Before Dr. King passed, and when I would see him, he would always say to me, ‘How is the boy from Troy doing?’” Lewis said in an interview with Montgomery NBC affiliate WSFA. “And it would always bring a smile to me.”

Jeff Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and works as the editor of Breitbart TV. Follow Jeff on Twitter @jeff_poor.