Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King

Brea Burks

Photo Credit: Carla Thomas 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most famous Civil Rights Activist throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for his famous march, “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” as well as his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Dr. King was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929. His wife, Coretta Scott King was born in Marion, Alabama in 1927. The couple first met by a mutual friend named Mary Powell. They had their first conversation over the telephone and the two were inseparable from that point on. They married on June 18, 1953. Martin and Coretta had four children.

King worked as a co-founder for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As well as a preacher, activist, and teacher. He was awarded a Noble Peace Prize in 1964. Coretta worked beside her husband to further the idea of nonviolence and social change.

The famous couple never left each other’s side throughout their journey until tragedy struck. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Coretta helped her husband’s dream continue to grow after his death. When Coretta Scott King passed away on August 16, 2005, she passed on the legacy to her children.