2008 Woodie Awards
First Lady of civil rights movement waves farewell
Christina Voss
Issue date: 2/9/06 Section: Feature
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"Segregation was wrong when it was forced by white people and I believe it is still wrong when it is requested by black people."
- Coretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King was born April 27, 1927, in Heiberger, Ala. She spent her childhood in Heiberger on her parent's farm. Years later she went on to study at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. There she met Martin Luther King Jr., who was also a student in Boston. They married in 1953. The following year, after Coretta Scott King graduated from the conservatory, they moved to Montgomery, Ala. where Martin Luther King Jr. began his work as a minister.
After marrying a man committed to civil rights, King knew she would not live the life of a quiet minister's wife. Their first child, Yolanda, was born in 1955 - two weeks before the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott. With the boycott came danger - the King house was bombed in 1956 and from then on King had to be constantly alert on behalf of her children as well as her husband.
Unfortunately, King was the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. much longer than she was his wife. When he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. in 1968, as a widow she could have retired from public life and devoted herself to raising her children. Instead, King carried on her husband's work, trying to fulfill his dream of an America in which all people had equal rights.
Just four days after his death, she led a march of 50,000 people through the streets of Memphis and later that year she took his place in the Poor People's March to Washington.
She kept Dr. King's ideas alive through her campaign to create a national holiday in his honor. That mission took her to Utah in 1986 where she addressed both houses of the Legislature. Utah became the 48th state to officially designate the third Monday in January to commemorate Dr. King's birthday.
The woman called, "the first lady of the civil rights movement," devoted her entire life, after her husband's death, to carrying on his legacy. On Jan. 31 she passed that legacy onto her four children.
The 78-year-old mother of equality died at an alternative medicine clinic in Mexico. Doctors at the clinic told The Associated Press that "King was battling advanced ovarian cancer when she arrived on Thursday, Jan. 26. " They said the cause of death was respiratory failure.
The body of Coretta Scott King arrived in her hometown of Heiberger Feb. 1. President Bush honored King in his State of the Union address Jan. 31, stating she was a "beloved, graceful, courageous" woman who carried on a "noble dream."
According to KRT, King's funeral was held at the Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta. Over 10,000 mourners attended, including President Bush, former President Clinton and Maya Angelou.
- Coretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King was born April 27, 1927, in Heiberger, Ala. She spent her childhood in Heiberger on her parent's farm. Years later she went on to study at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. There she met Martin Luther King Jr., who was also a student in Boston. They married in 1953. The following year, after Coretta Scott King graduated from the conservatory, they moved to Montgomery, Ala. where Martin Luther King Jr. began his work as a minister.
After marrying a man committed to civil rights, King knew she would not live the life of a quiet minister's wife. Their first child, Yolanda, was born in 1955 - two weeks before the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott. With the boycott came danger - the King house was bombed in 1956 and from then on King had to be constantly alert on behalf of her children as well as her husband.
Unfortunately, King was the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. much longer than she was his wife. When he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. in 1968, as a widow she could have retired from public life and devoted herself to raising her children. Instead, King carried on her husband's work, trying to fulfill his dream of an America in which all people had equal rights.
Just four days after his death, she led a march of 50,000 people through the streets of Memphis and later that year she took his place in the Poor People's March to Washington.
She kept Dr. King's ideas alive through her campaign to create a national holiday in his honor. That mission took her to Utah in 1986 where she addressed both houses of the Legislature. Utah became the 48th state to officially designate the third Monday in January to commemorate Dr. King's birthday.
The woman called, "the first lady of the civil rights movement," devoted her entire life, after her husband's death, to carrying on his legacy. On Jan. 31 she passed that legacy onto her four children.
The 78-year-old mother of equality died at an alternative medicine clinic in Mexico. Doctors at the clinic told The Associated Press that "King was battling advanced ovarian cancer when she arrived on Thursday, Jan. 26. " They said the cause of death was respiratory failure.
The body of Coretta Scott King arrived in her hometown of Heiberger Feb. 1. President Bush honored King in his State of the Union address Jan. 31, stating she was a "beloved, graceful, courageous" woman who carried on a "noble dream."
According to KRT, King's funeral was held at the Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta. Over 10,000 mourners attended, including President Bush, former President Clinton and Maya Angelou.