Martin Luther King

“Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 Atlanta, Georgia, United States - April 4, 1968 at Memphis, Tennessee, United States) was the middle child of the Reverend Martin Luther King and AlbertaWilliams King. Growing up in Atlanta, King skipped ninth and twelfth grade and entered Morehouse College at age fifteen without formally graduating from high school. In 1948, he graduated from Morehousewith a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology, and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1951.
King marriedCoretta Scott on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parents' house in her hometown of Heiberger, Alabama. They became the parents of four children; Yolanda King, Martin Luther King III, Dexter ScottKing and Bernice King. King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, when he was twenty-five years old, in 1954. King then began doctoral studies in systematic theologyat Boston University and received his Doctor of Philosophy on June 5, 1955.
American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for hisrole in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. King has become a national icon in the history ofmodern American liberalism. King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in1957, serving as its first president. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he expanded American values to include the vision of acolor blind society, and established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history. He never publicly supported a political party or candidate for president. In 1964, King became...