American civil rights leader; wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1927–2006)
Coretta Scott King
King in 1964
Born
Coretta Scott
(1927-04-27)April 27, 1927
Heiberger, Alabama, U.S.
Died
January 30, 2006(2006-01-30) (aged 78)
Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico
Resting place
King Center for Nonviolent Social Change
Education
Antioch College (BA) New England Conservatory of Music (BM)
Occupations
Activist
author
Political party
Democratic
Spouse
Martin Luther King Jr.
(m. 1953; died 1968)
Children
Yolanda
Martin
Dexter
Bernice
Relatives
Edythe Scott Bagley (sister) Alveda King (niece)
Awards
Gandhi Peace Prize
Coretta Scott King (April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader and the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his death. As an advocate for African-American equality, she was a leader for the civil rights movement in the 1960s. King was also a singer who often incorporated music into her civil rights work. King met her husband while attending graduate school in Boston. They both became increasingly active in the American civil rights movement.
King played a prominent role in the years after her husband's assassination in 1968, when she took on the leadership of the struggle for racial equality herself and became active in the Women's Movement. King founded the King Center, and sought to make his birthday a national holiday. She finally succeeded when Ronald Reagan signed legislation which established Martin Luther King, Jr., Day on November 2, 1983. She later broadened her scope to include both advocacy for LGBTQ rights and opposition to apartheid. King became friends with many politicians before and after Martin's death, including John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Robert F. Kennedy. Her telephone conversation with John F. Kennedy during the 1960 presidential election has been credited by historians for mobilizing African-American voters.[1]
In August 2005, King suffered a stroke which paralyzed her right side and left her unable to speak; five months later, she died of respiratory failure due to complications from ovarian cancer. Her funeral was attended by some 10,000 people, including U.S. presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush and Jimmy Carter. She was temporarily buried on the grounds of the King Center until being interred next to her husband. She was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame, the National Women's Hall of Fame, and was the first African American to lie in state at the Georgia State Capitol.[2] King has been referred to as "First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement".[3]
^"JFK's famous phone call to Coretta Scott King". NBC News. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
^"Coretta Scott King honored at church where husband preached". Lodi News-Sentinel. February 6, 2006. Archived from the original on May 15, 2016.
^Waxman, Laura Hamilton (January 2008). "Coretta Scott King". Lerner Publications. ISBN 9780761340003. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
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