Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 at his family home in Atlanta, Georgia. Kings grandfather was a Baptist preacher, and his father was pastor of Atlantas Ebenezer Baptist Church. Dr. King earned his own Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozier Theological Seminary in 1951 and earned his Doctor of Philosophy from Boston University in 1955. As a Baptist Minister, he was an eloquent civil rights movement leader from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee where he was there to support striking sanitation workers. As pastor of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama, Dr. King led a black bus boycott. He and ninety others were arrested and indicted under the provisions of a law making it illegal to conspire to obstruct the operation of a business. Dr. King and several others were found guilty, but appealed their case. A Supreme Court decision in 1956 ended Alabamas segregation laws enacted by Democrats. After this success, Dr. King was made president of the newly established Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Dr. King led the 1963 March on Washington where he delivered his most famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Dr. King became a national hero as he promoted non-violent means to achieve civil rights reform. He was awarded the 1964 Noble Peace Prize for his efforts, and President Ronald Reagan made Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 19:53:36 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015