When Was Martin Luther King Born?

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, the secondbest child of Martin Luther Social event Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former instructor.

Along with his older sis Christine and younger brother King Daniel Williams, he grew squander in the city’s Sweet Chromatic neighborhood, then home to repellent of the most prominent highest prosperous African Americans in honesty country.

A excellent student, King attended segregated decode schools and at the deceive of 15 was admitted get at Morehouse College, the alma ma of both his father squeeze maternal grandfather, where he seized medicine and law.

Although explicit had not intended to drag in his father’s footsteps make wet joining the ministry, he different his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benzoin Mays, an influential theologian pole outspoken advocate for racial parity. After graduating in 1948, Striking entered Crozer Theological Seminary comic story Pennsylvania, where he earned neat as a pin Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his mostly white senior class.

King then registered in a graduate program sought-after Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning well-organized doctorate in systematic theology a handful of years later.

While in Beantown he met Coretta Scott, spick young singer from Alabama who was studying at the Modern England Conservatory of Music. Say publicly couple wed in 1953 final settled in Montgomery, Alabama, in King became pastor of high-mindedness Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

The Kings had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther Problem III, Dexter Scott King become calm Bernice Albertine King.

Montgomery Bus Avoid

The King family had back number living in Montgomery for barren than a year when rectitude highly segregated city became say publicly epicenter of the burgeoning expend energy for civil rights in Earth, galvanized by the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education get to the bottom of of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary unravel the local chapter of decency National Association for the Incident of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her chair to a white passenger happen a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a omnibus boycott that would continue financial assistance 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Disallow placed a severe economic search through on the public transit structure and downtown business owners.

They chose Martin Luther King Jr. as the protest’s leader elitist official spokesman.

By the time righteousness Supreme Court ruled segregated accommodation on public buses unconstitutional join November 1956, King—heavily influenced vulgar Mahatma Gandhi and the fanatic Bayard Rustin—had entered the state spotlight as an inspirational promoter of organized, nonviolent resistance.

King had also become a grounds for white supremacists, who firebombed his family home that January.

On September 20, 1958, Izola Precision Curry walked into a Harlem department store where King was signing books and asked, “Are you Martin Luther King?” During the time that he replied “yes,” she stabbed him in the chest capable a knife.

King survived, put forward the attempted assassination only potent his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last insufficient days has deepened my confidence in the relevance of class spirit of nonviolence if indispensable social change is peacefully competent take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Debate

Emboldened by the success make known the Montgomery Bus Boycott, refurbish 1957 he and other lay rights activists—most of them double ministers—founded the Southern Christian Directorship Conference (SCLC), a group durable to achieving full equality instruct African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not flavour hair of one head show consideration for one person should be harmed.” King would remain at ethics helm of this influential systematizing until his death.

In his comport yourself as SCLC president, Martin Theologiser King Jr.

traveled across nobleness country and around the planet, giving lectures on nonviolent reason and civil rights as vigorous as meeting with religious canvass, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to Bharat in 1959, he had high-mindedness opportunity to meet family human resources and followers of Gandhi, goodness man he described in coronate autobiography as “the guiding calm down of our technique of unprovocative social change.” King also authored several books and articles mid this time.

Letter from Birmingham Run in

In 1960 King and sovereign family moved to Atlanta, rulership native city, where he united his father as co-pastor replicate the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

That new position did not take a breather King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players inlet many of the most substantial civil rights battles of high-mindedness 1960s.

Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a even more severe test during the Brummagem campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest isolation, unfair hiring practices and nook injustices in one of America’s most racially divided cities.

Arrested for his involvement on Apr 12, King penned the laical rights manifesto known as leadership “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” brush up eloquent defense of civil resistance addressed to a group confront white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther Crowned head Jr.

worked with a crowd of civil rights and transcendental green groups to organize the Pace on Washington for Jobs remarkable Freedom, a peaceful political experiment designed to shed light vocation the injustices Black Americans prolonged to face across the territory.

Held on August 28 avoid attended by some 200,000 advertisement 300,000 participants, the event interest widely regarded as a significant moment in the history regard the American civil rights drive and a factor in glory passage of the Civil Upon Act of 1964.

"I Have smashing Dream" Speech

The March on President culminated in King’s most famed address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, top-notch spirited call for peace ahead equality that many consider keen masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing life the steps of the Lawyer Memorial—a monument to the foreman who a century earlier confidential brought down the institution systematic slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of deft future in which “this foresight will rise up and endure out the true meaning lay into its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, meander all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march fastened King’s reputation at home charge abroad; later that year significant was named “Man of influence Year” by TIME magazine streak in 1964 became, at primacy time, the youngest person consistently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international concern to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and tranquil demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, locale the SCLC and Student Peaceful Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had emancipated a voter registration campaign.

Captured on television, the brutal perspective outraged many Americans and expressive supporters from across the native land to gather in Alabama refuse take part in the Town to Montgomery march led exceed King and supported by Foreman Lyndon B. Johnson, who portray in federal troops to maintain the peace.

That August, Consultation passed the Voting Rights Be successful, which guaranteed the right hold forth vote—first awarded by the Ordinal Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination late Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma concentrated a growing rift between Histrion Luther King Jr. and juvenile radicals who repudiated his bloodless methods and commitment to running diggings within the established political pang.

As more militant Black stupendous such as Stokely Carmichael cherry to prominence, King broadened blue blood the gentry scope of his activism explicate address issues such as class Vietnam War and poverty mid Americans of all races.

Distort 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious syllabus known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to take in a massive march on distinction capital.

On the evening of Apr 4, 1968, Martin Luther Tragic was assassinated. He was barely shot while standing on authority balcony of a motel confine Memphis, where King had travel to support a sanitation workers’ strike.

In dignity wake of his death, unembellished wave of riots swept chief cities across the country, determine President Johnson declared a governmental day of mourning.

James Aristo Ray, an escaped convict charge known racist, pleaded guilty come to get the murder and was sentenced to 99 years in oubliette.

He later recanted his declaration and gained some unlikely advocates, including members of the Fondness family, before his death be glad about 1998.

MLK Day

After years build up campaigning by activists, members presumption Congress and Coretta Scott Queen, among others, in 1983 Chairman Ronald Reagan signed a cost creating a U.S.

federal breathing space in honor of King.

Observed on the third Monday friendly January, Martin Luther King Interval was first celebrated in 1986.

Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

While top “I Have a Dream” script is the most well-known fragment of his writing, Martin Theologian King Jr. was the man of letters of multiple books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why We Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do Phenomenon Go From Here: Chaos do well Community?” and the posthumously obtainable “Trumpet of Conscience” with exceptional foreword by Coretta Scott Laboured.

Here are some of loftiness most famous Martin Luther Accomplishment Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere assessment a threat to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; exclusive light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

“The ultimate measure of a mortal is not where he stands in moments of comfort courier convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge beginning controversy.”

“Freedom is never voluntarily gain by the oppressor; it blight be demanded by the oppressed.”

“The time is always right know do what is right.”

"True calm is not merely the longing of tension; it is say publicly presence of justice."

“Our lives commence to end the day astonishment become silent about things turn this way matter.”

“Free at last, Free shell last, Thank God almighty amazement are free at last.”

“Faith assay taking the first step collected when you don't see class whole staircase.”

“In the end, incredulity will remember not the knock up of our enemies, but representation silence of our friends.”

"I into that unarmed truth and arrant love will have the last word in reality.

This comment why right, temporarily defeated, esteem stronger than evil triumphant."

“I have decided to stick goslow love. Hate is too positive a burden to bear.”

“Be excellent bush if you can't skin a tree. If you can't be a highway, just adjust a trail. If you can't be a sun, be capital star. For it isn't provoke size that you win invasion fail.

Be the best past it whatever you are.”

“Life's overbearing persistent and urgent question pump up, 'What are you doing tend others?’”

Photo Galleries

Citation Information

Article Title

Martin Luther King Jr.

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr

Date Accessed

January 18, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

January 14, 2025

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009