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Coretta Scott King was born Coretta Scott on April 27, 1927, in Marion, Alabama. Her parents, Obadiah and Bernice Scott, were farmers. The Scott family owned land in the area since the American Civil War (1861–65). Even though the Scotts were more successful than most African Americans in the area, life for them and their three children was difficult. Coretta, along with her mother and sister, tended the family garden and crops, fed the chickens and hogs, and milked the cows[1]. Scott's early schooling was affected by the system of segregation, which kept people of different races apart. She walked six miles a day to and from school while white students traveled by bus to schools with better facilities and teachers. After completing six grades at the elementary school that "did not do much to prepare" her, Scott enrolled in Lincoln High School in Marion, Alabama, graduating as the valedictorian in 1945. Lincoln "was as good as any school, white or black, in the area," said Scott. She developed an interest in music at Lincoln and, with encouragement from her teachers, decided to pursue a career in it[1]. Coretta was as well known for her singing and violin playing as her civil rights activism. She 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 was awarded a fellowship to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, the city where she would meet her future husband, famed civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr[2]. Coretta earned her second collegiate degree, in voice and violin, from the New England Conservatory of Music in the early 1950s. Not long after, on June 18, 1953, Coretta and Martin married and moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where he served as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and she, subsequently, oversaw the various tasks of a pastor's wife[1].

Civil Rights and Civil Rights and Peace MovementsPeace Movements

Coretta Scott King: Queen of the Civil Coretta Scott King: Queen of the Civil Rights MovementRights Movement

ReferencesReferences

It was in Boston that she met Martin Luther King Jr. They were married on June 18, 1953. Her decision to marry the young minister meant giving up her career as a performing concert musician[2].

In 1954 the Kings moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where they led the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. It was in Montgomery that they were pushed into the leadership of the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was recognized as the movement's leader, but Coretta Scott King was very much a part of it as well. She was actively involved in organizing and participating in the marches and boycotts (a form of protest in which organizers refuse to have dealings with a person, a store, or an organization until policies or positions are changed). She also gave "freedom concerts," in which she sang, read poetry, and gave lectures on the history of civil rights, to raise funds for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC; an organization that was founded by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957 to help local groups in their efforts to gain equality for African Americans) and for the civil rights movement. She also gave speeches all over the country, often standing in for her husband[2].

1. "Coretta Scott King Biography." Notable Biographies. Encyclopedia of World Biography, n.d. Web. 01 July 2015.

2. “Coretta Scott King Biography.” Bio.com A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 01 July 2015.

3. “Coretta Scott King Biography.” – Academy of Achievement. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 July 2015.

4. “In honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Civil Rights Icon.” Brooklyn Legends. N.p., 04 Apr. 2013. Web. 01 July 2015

Early LifeEarly Life

•Accomplishments, Awards and Recognition

•Personal LifeI.Marriage/Family InvolvementII.ChildrenIII.Personal Hobbies

Personal LifePersonal Life

Coretta Scott King shows her timeless beauty in a black and white portrait in 1950[2].

Coretta Scott King delivers a speech in support of voter’s rights at the ‘Stars for Freedom’ rally while her husband, Martin Luther King Jr. and singer/ activist Harry Balefonte, both stand behind her in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 24, 1965[2].

After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, Coretta Scott King continued to work for the civil rights movement. Four days after the violent murder of her husband, the grieving widow and three of her four children returned to Memphis to lead the march Martin had organized. In June 1968 she spoke at the Poor People's Campaign in Washington, D.C., a rally her husband had been planning before his death. Then, in May 1969 she led a demonstration of striking hospital workers in Charleston, South Carolina.

In addition to her role in the civil rights movement, King was active in the peace movement. She called the Vietnam War (1955–75), "the most cruel and evil war in the history of mankind." In 1961 as a representative for the Women's Strike for Peace, she attended a seventeen-nation arms-reduction conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Later, King was concerned with full employment (or providing access to jobs for all people who are able to work). She testified in Washington in favor of the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978, which was aimed at reducing both unemployment and rates of price increases. She also supported equal rights and justice for women.King also led and worked on several national committees and continued to serve on the board of directors of the SCLC.

Coretta speaks out about inequality in the nation after the assassination of her husband on the set of CBS program ‘Face the

Nation,’ on September 28, 1969[2].

The Kings had four children in all: Yolanda Denise; Martin Luther, III; Dexter Scott; and Bernice Albertine[3].

The King family prays over Sunday dinner[4].

In 1981, The King Center (established by Coretta Scott King), the first institution built in memory of an African American leader, opened to the public[3]. Mrs. King continued to serve the cause of justice and human rights; her travels took her throughout the world on goodwill missions to Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia. In 1983, she marked the 20th anniversary of the historic March on Washington, by leading a gathering of more than 800 human rights organizations, the Coalition of Conscience, in the largest demonstration the capital city had seen up to that time. Coretta Scott King led the successful campaign to establish Dr. King's birthday, January 15, as a national holiday in the United States. By an Act of Congress, the first national observance of the holiday took place in 1986. Dr. King's birthday is now marked by annual celebrations in over 100 countries. Mrs. King was invited by President Clinton to witness the historic handshake between Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Chairman Yassir Arafat at the signing of the Middle East Peace Accords in 1993[3].

After 27 years at the helm of The King Center, Mrs. King turned over leadership of the Center to her son, Dexter Scott King, in 1995. She remained active in the causes of racial and economic justice, and in her remaining years devoted much of her energy to AIDS education and curbing gun violence. Although she died in 2006 at the age of 78, she remains an inspirational figure to men and women around the world[3].

Coretta Scott King posing with her book, My Life With Martin Luther King Jr., published in 1969[3].