Here’s a look at the life of Coretta Scott King, civil rights and peace activist
Personal:
Birth date: April 27, 1927
Death date: January 30, 2006
Birth place: Marion, Alabama (some sources say Heiberger)
Birth name: Coretta Scott
Father: Obidiah Scott
Mother: Bernice (McMurray) Scott
Marriage: Martin Luther King Jr. (married June 18, 1953-April 4, 1968, his death)
Children: Bernice King, March 28, 1963; Dexter King, January 30, 1961; Martin King, III, October, 23, 1957; Yolanda King, November 17, 1955-May 15, 2007
Education: Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, B.A. in music and education, 1951; New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, Massachusetts (degree in voice and violin), 1954
Religion: Baptist
Other Facts:
She didn’t believe James Earl Ray was her husband’s killer, but rather that his assassination was the result of a government conspiracy.
She supported the gay rights movement.
Timeline:
June 18, 1953 – Marries Martin Luther King Jr.
1957 – Accompanies her husband to Ghana to celebrate its independence from Great Britain.
April 4, 1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on his hotel balcony by James Earl Ray.
April 8, 1968 – She leads a silent march of 50,000 people through the streets of Memphis, Tennessee. The next day, she makes a televised speech at her husband’s funeral.
July 1, 1968 – She is the first woman to deliver the class day address at Harvard University.
1968 – Establishes and works for the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in honor of her late husband.
1974 – Develops the Full Employment Action Council, which was a group of over 100 religious, business, labor, civil, and women’s rights organizations dedicated to a national policy of full employment and equal economic opportunity.
1981 – Dedicates The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, GA, a project she worked on for over a decade.
1983 – Creates the Coalition of Conscience, which was a group of over 800 human rights organizations and sponsored the 20th and 25th anniversary of the March on Washington.
1983 – She lobbies Congress to pass an act to create a national holiday in honor of her late husband. The holiday is first observed in 1986 on the third Monday in January.
1990 – Co-host of the Soviet-American Women’s Summit in Washington, DC.
1995 – Steps down as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Dexter King, their son, takes this role.
January 21, 2002 – King visits the White House on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
January 15, 2004 – She and President George W. Bush lay a wreath at Dr. King’s tomb on what would have been his 75th birthday.
April 26, 2005 – Hospitalized for one night at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta for a heart condition.
August 16, 2005 – Is admitted to Piedmont Hospital in fair condition after having a major stroke and mild heart attack.
September 22, 2005 – Is released from the hospital.
January 30, 2006 – Coretta Scott King dies at a center for holistic medicine in Mexico.
February 4, 2006 – She becomes the woman and first African-American to lie in repose in the Rotunda of the Georgia State Capitol. Governor Sonny Perdue’s office estimates that over 42,000 mourners came to see Mrs. King during viewing hours.
February 6, 2006 – She lies in repose at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. More than 115,000 visitors come to pay their last respects, according to the National Park Service.
February 7, 2006 – Funeral at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, where her daughter, Bernice, is a minister. Among those in attendance at the 10,000-seat church are President George W. Bush and Laura Bush; former presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter; members of the US Congress and civil rights leaders.