January 31, 2006

Remembering Coretta Scott King

The civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King Jr. dies peacefully at age 78

By Jill Egan

Retrace Martin Luther King, Jr.'s steps during his historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama

Hear Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King sit with three of their children in their Atlanta, Georgia home in 1963.

Civil rights activist Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King Jr., died peacefully Monday at a clinic in Mexico. King was 78. She had been sick for a few months.

Like her husband, King devoted her life to improving the rights of all people.

Keeping the Dream Alive
"For decades, she proudly bore the torch of her husband's legacy," said Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. "Now she has passed it on to a new generation to keep the dream alive."

President Bush called her "a remarkable and courageous woman and a great civil rights leader." Hundreds of mourners visited the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, Georgia to pay their respects to King. A moment of silence was held at the Georgia Capitol. Flags were ordered to be flown at half-staff in her memory.

A Life Devoted to Equality
King was born in Marion, Alabama on April 27, 1927. She graduated at the top of her high school class. At Antioch College in Ohio, she studied music and education. She met Martin Luther King Jr. in Boston, Massachusetts, where she studied voice and violin. She and Dr. King married on June 18, 1953. The couple moved to Montgomery, Alabama in 1954.

King worked alongside her husband for years fighting for civil rights. She helped organize peaceful meetings, marches and sit-ins. Sit-ins are a form of protest in which demonstrators are seated and refuse to move. She also sang at Freedom Concerts to help promote civil rights.

Five days after the her husband was killed, Coretta Scott King led a "March on Memphis."

After Dr. King was killed in 1968, she continued fighting for equality. She also worked tirelessly for women's and children's rights, religious freedom, health care, and education.

A Day to Remember a Hero
King also wanted to make sure her husband's legacy was not forgotten. She campaigned to create an official federal holiday in Dr. King's memory. Today, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the third Monday of January.

King also founded the King Center in Atlanta as a memorial to her husband's work. The Kings had four children: Yolanda Denise, Martin Luther III, Dexter Scott and Bernice Albertine.

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