The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation will launch an advertising campaign today aimed at raising nearly $75 million for the construction of a tribute to the slain civil rights leader on the Mall.

The foundation, in partnership with the Ad Council, has produced public service announcements featuring prominent black movie stars Halle Berry and Morgan Freeman, as well as Al Roker of NBC’s “Today” show. The campaign will be a mix of print, television and radio spots, along with a redesigned Web site.

Scheduled to attend the unveiling, at 2:15 p.m. in Room S-211 of the Capitol, are Roker; Peggy Conlon, Ad Council president; Harry Johnson, the foundation’s president; Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.); Sens. John Warner (R-Va.) and Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.); and Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and Diane Watson (D-Calif.).

The memorial, approved by Congress in 1996, will be built on a 4-acre site adjacent to the Tidal Basin. It will stand opposite the Jefferson Memorial, to the north of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.

— Jennifer Yachnin