Dr King Biography

Dr. King was born on January 15, 1929 to Alberta Williams and michael Luther King sir. Dr. King’s mother was a teacher and his father was a minister and activist. Martin was the second of three children and grew up in a large Victorian house on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1934, after visiting Europe, michael king sr. changed his and his sons names in honor of the sixteenth- century German church reformer Martin Luther. Kingś house was about a block from Ebenezer Baptist Church.His maternal grandfather, A. D. Williams, was pastor at Ebenezer from 1894 until 1931. After Williams's death, the elder King succeeded his father-in-law at the pulpit. King was educated in Atlanta, graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in 1944. He then enrolled at Morehouse College. King first considered studying medicine or law but decided to major in sociology. He ultimately found the call to the ministry irresistible.After graduating from Morehouse in June 1948, King studied for a divinity degree at Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Pennsylvania, and graduated in May 1951. The following September King enrolled in the Ph.D. program in systematic theology at Boston University. There he met his future wife, Coretta Scott. King's
King's "I Have a Dream" speech was the most memorable event of the day and confirmed him as black America's most prominent spokesperson. In 1964 King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. The same year, Congress passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, outlawing segregation in public facilities. In 1965 King and the SCLC campaigned in Selma, Alabama, for black voting rights. The campaign led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which abolished legal impediments to voting rights for African Americans and initiated greater federal protection for blacks at the