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Coretta Scott King biography

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Coretta Scott King was an American civil rights activist and the wife of 1960s civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

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Synopsis

Coretta Scott King was an American civil rights activist and the wife of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. She established a distinguished career in activism in her own right. Working side-by-side with her husband, she took part in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and worked to pass the Civil Rights Act. After King's death, she founded the Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta.

Quotes

"I believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation."
– Coretta Scott King

"Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation."
– Coretta Scott King

"Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul."
– Coretta Scott King

"I'm fulfilled in what I do. I never thought that a lot of money or fine clothes—the finer things of life—would make you happy. My concept of happiness is to be filled in a spiritual sense."
– Coretta Scott King

"Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated."
– Coretta Scott King

Early Life

Coretta Scott King was born Coretta Scott on April 27, 1927, in Marion, Alabama. She attended Lincoln High School, graduating as the school's valedictorian in 1945, and then enrolled at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and education. After graduating from Antioch, Coretta began taking courses at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where she earned her second collegiate degree, in voice and violin, in the early 1950s.

It was while she was attending the Conservatory of Music that Coretta met her future husband, Martin Luther King Jr., the famed civil rights leader who, at the time, was studying theology at Boston University. The couple married on June 18, 1953, and soon moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where King served as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and Coretta, subsequently, oversaw the various tasks of a pastor's wife.

Civil Rights Activist

Working side-by-side with her husband throughout the 1950s and '60s, Coretta took part in the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, journeyed to Ghana to mark that nation's independence in 1957, traveled to India on a pilgrimage in 1959 and worked to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act, among other civil-rights-related work.

Though best known for working alongside her husband, Coretta established a distinguished career in activism in her own right. Among many roles, she worked as a public mediator and as a liaison to peace and justice organizations.

Death of MLK Jr.

On April 4, 1968, while standing on a balcony outside of the Lorraine Motel in Atlanta, Georgia, Martin Luther King Jr. was struck and killed by a sniper's bullet. The shooter, a malcontent drifter and former convict named James Earl Ray, was hunted for nearly two months before he was apprehended. King's assassination sparked riots and demonstrations in more than 100 cities across the country.

Following her husband's assassination, Coretta continued their work. She founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, based in Atlanta, Georgia, serving as the center's president and chief executive officer from its inception. In 1980, a 23-acre site around Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthplace was designated for use by the King Center. The following year, a museum complex was dedicated on the site.

In 1995, Coretta passed the reins of the King Center over to her son, Dexter, but she remained in the public eye for several years thereafter, until her death in 2006. She wrote regular articles on social issues and published a syndicated column, and was also a regular commentator on CNN (beginning in 1980). In 1997, she called for a retrial for her husband's alleged assassin, James Earl Ray (Ray died in prison before the trial could be effected, on April 23, 1998).

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