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Biographical Outline of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a vital figure of the modern era. His
lectures and dialogues stirred the concern and sparked the conscience
of a generation. The movements and marches he led brought significant
changes in the fabric of American life through his courage and selfless
devotion. This devotion gave direction to thirteen years of civil rights
activities. His charismatic leadership inspired men and women, young and
old, in this nation and around the world.
Dr. King’s concept of “somebodiness,” which symbolized
the celebration of human worth and the conquest of subjugation, gave black
and poor people hope and a sense of dignity. His philosophy of nonviolent
direct action, and his strategies for rational and non-destructive social
change, galvanized the conscience of this nation and reordered its priorities.
His wisdom, his words, his actions, his commitment, and his dream for
a new way of life are intertwined with the American experience.
Birth and Family
Martin Luther King, Jr. was born at noon on Tuesday, January 15, 1929
at the family home, 501 Auburn Avenue, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Charles
Johnson was the attending physician. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the first
son and second child born to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and
Alberta Williams King. Also born to the Kings were Christine, now Mrs.
Isaac Farris, Sr., and the Reverend Alfred Daniel Williams King. The Reverend
A.D. King is now deceased.
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s maternal grandparents were the Reverend
Adam Daniel Williams, second pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Jenny
Parks Williams. His paternal grandparents were James Albert and Delia
King, sharecroppers on a farm in Stockbridge, Georgia.
He married Coretta Scott, the younger daughter of Obadiah and Bernice
McMurry Scott of Marion, Alabama, on June 18, 1953. The marriage ceremony
took place on the lawn of the Scott’s home in Marion, Alabama. The
Rev. King, Sr. performed the service, with Mrs. Edythe Bagley, the sister
of Coretta Scott King as maid of honor, and the Rev. A.D. King, the brother
of Martin Luther King, Jr., as best man.
Four children were born to Dr. and Mrs. King:
- Yolanda Denise (November 17, 1955, Montgomery, Alabama)
- Martin Luther III (October 23, 1957, Montgomery, Alabama)
- Dexter Scott (January 30, 1961, Atlanta, Georgia)
- Bernice Albertine (March 28, 1963, Atlanta, Georgia)
Education
At the age of five, Martin Luther King, Jr. began school, before reaching
the legal age of six, at the Yonge Street Elementary School in Atlanta.
When his age was discovered, he was not permitted to continue in school
and did not resume his education until he was six. Following Yonge School,
he was enrolled in David T. Howard Elementary School. He also attended
the Atlanta University Laboratory School and Booker T. Washington High
School. Because of his high scores on the college entrance examinations
in his junior year of high school, he advanced to Morehouse College without
formal graduation from Booker T. Washington. Having skipped both the ninth
and twelfth grades, Dr. King entered Morehouse at the age of fifteen.
In 1948, he graduated from Morehouse College with a B.A. degree in Sociology.
That fall he enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania.
While attending Crozer, he also studied at the University of Pennsylvania.
He was elected President of the Senior Class and delivered the valedictory
address. He won the Peral Plafkner Award as the most outstanding student,
and he received the J. Lewis Crozer Fellowship for graduate study at a
university of his choice. He was awarded a Bachelor of Divinity degree
from Crozer in 1951.
In September of 1951, Martin Luther King, Jr. began doctoral studies
in Systematic Theology at Boston University. He also studied at Harvard
University. His dissertation, “A Comparison of the Conceptions of
God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman,” was
completed in 1955, and the Ph.D. degree was awarded on June 5, 1955.
Honorary Degrees
Dr. King was awarded honorary degrees from various colleges and universities
in the United States and several foreign countries. They include:
- Doctor of Humane Letters, Morehouse College
- Doctor of Laws, Howard University
- Doctor of Divinity, Chicago Theological Seminary
- Doctor of Laws, Morgan State University
- Doctor of Humanities, Central State University
- Doctor of Divinity, Boston University
- Doctor of Laws, Lincoln University
- Doctor of Laws, University of Bridgeport
- Doctor of Civil Laws, Bard College
- Doctor of Letters, Keuka College
- Doctor of Divinity, Wesleyan College
- Doctor of Laws, Jewish Theological Seminary
- Doctor of Laws, Yale University
- Doctor of Divinity, Springfield College
- Doctor of Laws, Hofstra University
- Doctor of Humane Letters, Oberlin College
- Doctor of Social Science, Amsterdam Free University
- Doctor of Divinity, St. Peter’s College
- Doctor of Civil Law, University of New Castle, Upon Tyne
- Doctor of Laws, Grinnell College
Career
Martin Luther King, Jr. entered the Christian ministry and was ordained
in February 1948 at the age of nineteen at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta,
Georgia. Following his ordination, he became Assistant Pastor of Ebenezer
Baptist Church. Upon completion of his studies at Boston University, he
accepted the call of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
He was the pastor of Dexter Avenue from September 1954 to November 1959,
when he resigned to move to Atlanta to direct the activities of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference. From 1960 until his death in 1968, he
was co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Dr. King was a pivotal figure in the Civil Rights Movement. He was elected
President of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization
that was responsible for the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott from 1955
to 1956 (381 days). He was arrested thirty times for his participation
in civil rights activities. He was a founder and president of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference from 1957 to 1968. He was also Vice President
of the National Sunday School and Baptist Teaching Union Congress of the
National Baptist Convention. He was a member of several national and local
boards of directors and served on the boards of trustees of numerous institutions
and agencies. Dr. King was elected to membership in several learned societies
including the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Awards
Dr. King received numerous awards for his leadership in the Civil Rights
Movement. Among them were the following:
- Selected as one of the ten most outstanding personalities of the
year by Time Magazine, 1957.
- Listed in Who’s Who in America, 1957.
- The Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, 1957.
- The Russwurm Award from the National Newspaper Publishers, 1957.
- The Second Annual Achievement Award from The Guardian Association
of the Police Department of New York, 1958.
- Selected as one of the sixteen world leaders who had contributed most
to the advancement of freedom during 1959 by Ling Magazine of
New Delhi, India.
- Named “Man of the Year, “ by Time Magazine, 1963.
- Named “American of the Decade,” by the Laundry, Dry Cleaning,
and Die Workers, International Union, 1963.
- The John Dewey Award, from the United Federation of Teachers, 1964.
- The John F. Kennedy Award, from the Catholic Interracial Council of
Chicago, 1964.
- The Nobel Peace Prize, at age 35, the youngest man, second American,
and the third black man to be so honored, 1964.
- The Marcus Garvey Prize for Human Rights, presented by the Jamaican
Government, posthumously, 1968.
- The Rosa L. Parks award, presented by The Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, posthumously, 1968.
- The Aims Field-Wolf Award for his book, Stride Toward Freedom.
The above awards and others, along with numerous citations, are in the
Archives of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change,
Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia.
Publications
Although extremely involved with his family, his church, the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, activities for peace and justice, his
world travels, and his many speaking engagements, Dr. King wrote six books
and numerous articles. His volumes include:
- Stride Toward Freedom, (New York: Harper & Row, 1958).
The story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
- The Measure of a Man, (Philadelphia: Pilgrim Press, 1959).
A selection of sermons.
- Why We Can’t Wait, (New York: Harper & Row, 1963).
The story of the Birmingham Campaign.
- Strength to Love, (New York: Harper & Row, 1963). A selection
of sermons.
- Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? (New York: Harper
& Row, 1967). Reflections on the problems of today’s world,
the nuclear arms race, etc.
- The Trumpet of Conscience, (New York: Harper & Row, 1968).
The Massey Lectures. Sponsored by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
(Posthumously).
Death
Dr. King was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel
in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968. Dr. King was in Memphis to help
lead sanitation workers in a protest against low wages and intolerable
working conditions. James Earl Ray was arrested in London, England on
June 8, 1968, and returned to Memphis, Tennessee on July 19, 1969 to stand
trial for the assassination of Dr. King. On March 9, 1969, before coming
to trial, he entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to ninety-nine years
in the Tennessee State Penitentiary.
On December 8, 1999, a jury of twelve citizens of Memphis, Shelby
County, TN concluded in Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King,
III, Bernice King, Dexter Scott King and Yolanda King Vs. Loyd Jowers
and Other Unknown Conspirators that Loyd Jowers and governmental
agencies including the City of Memphis, the State of Tennessee,
and the federal government were party to the conspiracy to assassinate
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King’s funeral services were held on April 9, 1968 at Ebenezer
Baptist Church and on the campus of Morehouse College, with the President
of the United State proclaiming a day of mourning and flags being flown
at half-staff. The area where Dr. King is entombed is located on Freedom
Plaza and is surrounded by the Freedom Hall Complex of the Martin Luther
King, Jr. Historic Site. The site is a 23-acre area was listed as a National
Historic Landmark on May 5, 1977 and was made a National Historic Site
on October 10, 1980 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
In recent years, events in the lives of the King family have continued
to reflect the tragedy and the triumph so uniquely combined in Dr. King’s
own life and is intrinsic, perhaps, in the lives of all dedicated persons
the world over.
Just a little more than a year after Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed,
his younger brother, Alfred Daniel, died in a tragic accident at his home
in Atlanta. Funeral services were held at Ebenezer Baptist Church on July
24, 1969, where Alfred Daniel had served as co-pastor.
On Sunday, June 30, 1974, Mrs. Alberta Williams King, the mother of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot and killed as she sat at the organ in
the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Again, through an act of violence,
there ended a life that was totally nonviolent, a life that was thoroughly
Christian, a life that reflected love for all persons and unselfish service
to humankind. Again, the indomitable faith of the King family was put
to the test, and again love prevailed amid the greatest sadness. The Rev.
Martin Luther King, Sr., bereft by the violent deaths of his two sons
and now by the equally tragic death of his devoted wife, could still say
– and did say – at her funeral service on July 3, “I cannot
hate any man.”
In 1975, the year following his wife’s death, the Rev. Martin Luther
King, Sr. resigned his forty-four year pastorate at Ebenezer, passing
on the active leadership of the church to the young and inspired Dr. Joseph
L. Roberts, Jr. At his retirement banquet on August 1, 1975, however,
“Daddy King” made it clear – as if anyone could have thought
otherwise – that his resignation did not mean his retirement from
the full and active life that has described his long career. This “Giant
of a Man,” as he was acclaimed on that memorable evening, continued
to work and to speak and to use the gifts with which the Lord had endowed
him in the loving service of others. Among the Rev. King, Sr.’s many
accomplishments is the completion of his one luxury, the publication of
his autobiography, Daddy King. Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. died
on November 11, 1984 of a heart attack at Crawford W. Long Memorial Hospital
in Atlanta. He was 84 years of age. Funeral services were held on November
14, 1984.
Speeches
Dr. King’s speech at the March on Washington in 1963, along with
his acceptance speech of the Nobel Peace Prize, and his final sermon in
Memphis are among his most famous utterances. The following excerpts reveal
the cogency, conviction and persuasion of his powerful speaking style.
(From the speech “March on Washington”)
“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties
of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted
in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise
up and live out the true meaning of its creed; ‘We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ I have a dream
that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the
sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table
of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day, even the state of Mississippi,
a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat
of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content
of their character. I have a dream today¼I have a dream that one
day down in Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having
his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one
day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be
able to join hands with the little white boys and white girls as sisters
and brothers. I have a dream today.”
“This hope is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the
south with. And with this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain
of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to work together,
to pray together, to struggle together, to stand up for freedom together,
knowing that we will be free one day.”
“...And so let freedom ring, from the prodigious hilltops of New
Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let
freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom
ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the
curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that. Let freedom ring from
Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and mole hill of Mississippi. From every
mountainside, let freedom ring¼And when we allow freedom to ring
– when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every
state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of
God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants
and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the
old Negro spiritual: Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty, we
are free at last.”
(From the Acceptance Speech, The Nobel Peace Prize, 1964)
“I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and
an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept the idea
that the ‘isness’ of man’s present nature makes him morally
incapable of reaching up for the eternal ‘oughtness’ that forever
confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and
jetsam in the river of life unable to influence the unfolding of events
which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically
bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak
of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.”
“I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation
must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of a thermonuclear
destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will
have the final world in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated
is stronger that evil triumphant.”
(From the sermon “I’ve Been To the Mountaintop,” April
3, 1968)
“...That’s the question before you tonight. Not, ‘If I
stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job?’
‘Not, if I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen
to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office everyday and every
week as a pastor?’ The question is not, ‘If I stop to help this
man in need, what will happen to me?’ The question is, ‘If I
do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?’
That’s the question.”
“Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with
a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these
days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity
to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God once more for
allowing me to be here with you.”
“...And they were telling me, now it doesn’t matter now. It
really doesn’t matter what happens now. I left Atlanta this morning,
and as we got started on the plane, there were six of us, the pilot said
over the public address system. ‘We are sorry for the delay, but
we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all of
the bags were checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong on the
plane, we had to check out everything carefully. And we’ve had the
plane protected and guarded all night.”
“And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats,
or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from
some of our sick white brothers?”
“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some
difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because
I’ve been to the mountaintop and I don’t mind. Like anybody,
I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m
not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will, and He’s
allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over and I’ve
seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to
know tonight, that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. And I’m
happy tonight; I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing
any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
Speeches used by permission of Intellectual Properties Management,
Atlanta, Georgia, as Manager of The King Estate.
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