The Life of Dr.

King
A great man was born…
 January 15, 1929 Michael Luther King,
Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia.
 He later changed his name to Martin.
He is also known as MLK.
 The house he grew up in was on 501
Auburn Avenue. It is now a historic site
that you can visit.
 Martin had a brother, Alfred, and a
sister, Christine.
 His father was Martin Senior. He was a
minister.
 His mother was Alberta Williams King.
She was a teacher.

501 Auburn Avenue

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/MLK/
Childhood…
 Young Martin was an excellent student
in school.
 Began his education in segregated
public school in Georgia.
 He skipped several grades in school and
entered high school at the age of 13.
 He enjoyed reading books, singing,
riding a bicycle, and playing football
and baseball.
 Martin went Morehouse College in
Atlanta, Georgia. He was only 15 years
old.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/MLK/
 The college years…
 King received diplomas from:
– 1948—graduated with a Bachelor
of Arts in Sociology from
Morehouse College.
– 1948—graduated with a Bachelor
of Arts in Sociology from
Morehouse College.
– 1955—completed his Ph.D. in
Systematic Theology at Boston
University.
 Coretta Scott and Martin met over the
phone in 1952.

http://marriage.about.com/od/politics/p/martincoretta.htm
 Marriage & children…
 Martin and Coretta were married on
June 18, 1953 in Marion, Alabama. He
was the second child and first son of
Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr., &
Alberta Williams King
 Martin and Coretta had four children:
– Yolanda "Yoki" Denise King: Born
November 17, 1955.
– Martin Luther III: Born on October
23, 1957.
– Dexter Scott King: Born on
January 30, 1961.
– Bernice Albertine King: Born on
March 28, 1963 in.
 Dr. King became a minister. He moved
to Alabama.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta
Scott King, sit with three of their four children in
their Atlanta, GA, home, on March 17, 1963.
http://marriage.about.com/od/politics/p/martincoretta.htm
Civil Rights…1950’s
 Martin experienced racism early in life.
He decided to do to something to make
the world a better and fairer place.
 During the 1950's, Dr. King became
active in the movement for civil rights
and racial equality.
 Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to
vacate her city bus seat for a White
passenger. King joins the bus boycotts.
 On December 5, 1955, he is elected
president of the Montgomery
Improvement Association. This makes
him the official spokesman for the Mass meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church calls for a
boycott. bus boycott, December, 1955.

 On November 13, 1956, the Supreme

Court rules that bus segregation is
illegal.

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html
Civil Rights…1950’s
 On May 17, 1957, Dr. King speaks to a
crowd of 15,000 in Washington, D.C.
 In 1958, the U.S. Congress passed the
first Civil Rights Act. This is the first
act passed since the 1870’s.
 In 1958, King's first book is published.
It is called Stride Toward Freedom.
 Martin Luther King, Jr. went on a
speaking tour. He is nearly killed when
a woman in Harlem stabs him.
 In 1959, Dr. King visited India to study
Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence.
 He resigns from pastoring to
concentrate on civil rights full time. 1958 Cover of Stride Toward Freedom.
 He moved to Atlanta to direct the
activities of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference.
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html
Civil Rights…1960
 King and his father become co-pastors
at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in
Atlanta, Georgia.
 Lunch counter sit-ins began in
Greensboro, North Carolina.
 In Atlanta, King is arrested during a sit-
in. He was waiting to be served at a
restaurant.
 He is sentenced to four months in jail.
John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy
help. Dr. King is let out of jail.
 Student Non-Violent Coordinating
Committee is founded. They organize
Students attempting to get service in Woolworths'
protests at Shaw University in Raleigh, white lunch-counter in Greensboro, North Carolina (1963).
North Carolina.

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAnaacp.htm
Civil Rights…1961
 In November, the Interstate Commerce
Commission bans segregation on buses.
This is because of the work of Dr. King
and the Freedom Riders.
 During the spring of 1961, student from
the Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE) started the Freedom Rides.
They did this to end segregation on
buses and in stations like Greyhound.

Freedom Riders waiting to board a bus.

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html http://www.crmvet.org/images/imgcoll.htm
The Freedom Riders…
 Dr. King and others faced violence
along the way from Washington D.C. to
Jackson Mississippi.
 On May 14, 1961, a bus was bombed
by the Klu Klux Klan. They were
stopped in Anniston, Alabama.
 Dr. King, and all others of the
campaign, saw acts of violence from
whites in the south. This proved to them
that non-violent confrontations could
attract national attention and force
federal action.

1961 Greyhound bus bombing in Anniston, Alabama.

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html http://www.crmvet.org/images/imgcoll.htm
Civil Rights…1963
 On Good Friday (April 12) Dr. King is
arrested with Ralph Abernathy for
demonstrating without a permit.
 On April 13, the Birmingham campaign
begins. This would prove to be the
turning point to end segregation in the
South.
 During the eleven days he spent in jail,
MLK writes his famous Letter from
Birmingham Jail.
 On May 10, the Birmingham agreement
is announced. The stores, restaurants,
and schools will be desegregated.
 On June 23, MLK leads 125,000 people
on a Freedom Walk in Detroit.
 The March on Washington held August Dr. King is arrested more than once for
demonstrating without a permit.
28, is the largest civil rights
demonstration in history. There were
almost 250,000 people in attendance.
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html http://www.thechiefsource.com/2006_01_01_chiefsource_archive.html
Civil Rights…1964
 At the August 1963, March on
Washington, King makes his famous I
Have a Dream speech.
 On January 3, King appears on the
cover of Time magazine as Man of the
Year.
 King attends the signing ceremony of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at the
White House on July 2.
 During the summer, King experiences
his first hurtful rejection by black
people when he is stoned by Black
Muslims in Harlem.
 King is awarded the Nobel Prize for
Peace on December 10. Dr. King is the
youngest person to receive that award at
age 35.
Time Man of the Year cover.

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html
Civil Rights…1965 1966
 On February 2, 1965, King is arrested
in Selma, Alabama during a voting
rights demonstration.
 After President Johnson signs the
Voting Rights Act into law, Martin
Luther King, Jr. turns to the problems
of poor blacks.
 On January 22, 1966, King moves into
a Chicago slum to show the living
conditions of the poor.
 In June, 1966, King and others begin
the March Against Fear through the
South.
 On July 10, 1966, King starts a Floyd McKissick, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Stokely
campaign to end discrimination in Carmichael during the March Against Fear in Mississippi,
Chicago. June 1966.

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html
Civil Rights…1967
 Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or
Community? is published.
 The Supreme Court upholds a
conviction of MLK by a Birmingham
court. He was demonstrating without a
permit. King spends four days in
Birmingham jail.
 On November 27, King announces the
creation of the Poor People's Campaign.
It focuses on jobs and freedom for the
poor of all races.

1967 Cover of Where Do We Go

From Here: Chaos or Community?

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html
Civil Rights…1968
 King declares that the Poor People's
Campaign will end in a march on
Washington. They will demand a $12
billion Economic Bill of Rights. This
would promise employment to those
who can work, money for those who
can’t, and an end to housing
discrimination.
 Dr. King marches in support of
sanitation workers on strike in
Memphis, Tennessee.
 On March 28, King lead a march that
turns violent. This was the first time
this happened.
 Dr. King gives his I've Been to the
Mountaintop speech. Dr. King’s I've Been To The Mountain Top speech.

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html
Assassination…1968
 At sunset on April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. is shot and killed. He
was standing on the balcony of the
Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
 There are riots and disturbances in 130
American cities. There were twenty
thousand arrests.
 Dr. King's funeral on April 9 is a global
event.
 Within a week of the assassination, the
Open Housing Act is passed by
Congress.

Mourners at Dr. King’s funeral.

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html
Dr. King’s Legacy…

 On October 19, 1983, the Senate voted

to make Reverend, Dr. Martin Luther
King’s Jr. birthday a national
holiday. It is the third Monday of
January. President Regan signed the
bill into law on November 2.
 1986 was the first year to celebrate. A
week of concerts, church services,
school activities and parades took place
in cities all across the country.
 It wasn’t until 1993 that all fifty states
observed the holiday. Arizona and New
Hampshire were the last to celebrate the
holiday.

http://www.nyking.org/celebration/nationalholiday.html
I Have A Dream:
A Salute To The Life Of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

This was a collaborative mural honoring the life of

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.