Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born
in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Morehouse College (B.A., 1948), Crozer
Theological Seminary (B.D., 1951), and Boston University (Ph.D., 1955).
The son of the pastor of the Ebenezer
Baptist Church in Atlanta, King was ordained in 1947 and became (1954) minister
of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Ala. He led the black boycott (1955-56) of
segregated city bus lines and in 1956 gained a major victory and prestige as
a civil-rights leader when Montgomery buses began to operate on a desegregated
basis.
Father: Martin Luther King, Sr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. organized the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which gave him a base to pursue
further civil-rights activities, first in the South and later nationwide. His
philosophy of nonviolent resistance led to his arrest on numerous occasions
in the 1950s and 60s.
The campaigns of Luther King, Jr. had
mixed success, but the protest he led in Birmingham, Ala., in 1963 brought him
worldwide attention. He spearheaded the Aug., 1963, March on Washington, which
brought together more than 200,000 people. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize.
With family
Dr. King's leadership in the civil-rights
movement was challenged in the mid-1960s as others grew more militant. His interests,
however, widened from civil rights to include criticism of the Vietnam War and
a deeper concern over poverty.
His plans for a Poor People's March to
Washington were interrupted (1968) for a trip to Memphis, Tenn., in support
of striking sanitation workers. On Apr. 4, 1968, he was shot and killed as he
stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel (since 1991 a civil-rights museum).
A career criminal named James Earl Ray
pleaded guilty to the murder and was convicted, but he soon recanted, claiming
he was duped into his plea. Ray's conviction was subsequently upheld, but he
eventually received support from members of King's family, who believed King
to have been the victim of a conspiracy. Ray died in prison in 1998.
In a jury trial in Memphis in 1999 the
King family won a wrongful-death judgment against Loyd Jowers, who claimed (1993)
that he had arranged the killing for a Mafia figure. Many experts, however,
were unconvinced by the verdict, and in 2000, after an 18-month investigation,
the Justice Dept. discredited Jowers and concluded that there was no evidence
of an assassination plot.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote Stride
toward Freedom (1958), Why We Can't Wait (1964), and Where Do We Go from Here:
Chaos or Community? (1967). His birthday is a national holiday, celebrated on
the third Monday in January. King's wife, Coretta Scott King, has carried on
various aspects of his work. She also wrote My Life with Martin Luther King
(1989).
