Historical Figure
Martin Luther King
1929–1968
American civil rights activist (1929–1968)
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"Press Conference in Amsterdam" — August 1964
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Biography
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister who was a leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. He advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through the use of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience against Jim Crow laws and other forms of legalized discrimination, which most commonly affected African Americans.
Timeline
The story of Martin Luther King, told in moments.
Born Michael King Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia. His father, a Baptist minister, changes both their names to Martin Luther after visiting Germany in 1934 and being inspired by the Protestant reformer. The family lives in a large Victorian house on Auburn Avenue, known as "Sweet Auburn," the richest Black neighborhood in America.
Rosa Parks is arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her bus seat. King, a 26-year-old pastor newly arrived in Montgomery, is chosen to lead the bus boycott that follows. He is picked partly because he's new in town and has no local enemies. The boycott lasts 381 days. It is his first campaign.
Writes his Letter from Birmingham Jail on scraps of newspaper, the margins of a legal pad, and toilet paper smuggled out by his lawyers. Eight white clergymen had called his protests "unwise and untimely." His reply runs to 7,000 words. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Delivers the "I Have a Dream" speech to 250,000 people at the March on Washington. He is standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The prepared text doesn't include the dream sequence. Mahalia Jackson, standing behind him, shouts: "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" He pushes his notes aside.
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at age 35. He donates the entire ,123 prize to the civil rights movement. At the time, J. Edgar Hoover's FBI is wiretapping his phones, monitoring his travel, and attempting to blackmail him.
Leads the third Selma-to-Montgomery march. Two earlier attempts were stopped by state troopers and tear gas. This time, 3,200 marchers set out under federal protection. By the time they reach the Alabama capitol four days later, 25,000 people are walking with them.
Delivers "Beyond Vietnam" at Riverside Church in New York. He calls the United States "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." The speech costs him allies. The NAACP distances itself. The Washington Post says he has "diminished his usefulness." He doesn't back down.
Shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis at 6:01 p.m. A single .30-06 bullet severs his spinal cord. His last words are to the musician Ben Branch, who's scheduled to perform that evening: "Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty." He is 39.
Launches the Poor People's Campaign, expanding his focus from racial injustice to economic inequality. He plans to bring thousands of poor Americans of all races to Washington. He is killed before the march happens. The campaign goes forward without him. 3,000 people build Resurrection City on the National Mall.
The first federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed. The campaign for the holiday took 15 years. Coretta Scott King collected six million signatures. Ronald Reagan signed it into law in 1983 despite having initially opposed it. All 50 states now observe it.
In Their Own Words (20)
Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God's children.
Speech to the Negro American Labor Council (May 1965), as quoted in From Civil Rights to Human Rights : Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Struggle for Economic Justice (2009), by Thomas F. Jackson, p. 230, 2009
We know that there are many things wrong in the white world, but there are many things wrong in the black world too. We can't keep on blaming the white man. There are things we must do for ourselves.
Address to a black congregation in St. Louis, published in "The Dangerous Road Before Martin Luther King", Harper's magazine (February 1961); quoted by James Baldwin, in "Highroad to Destiny," a chapter in Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Profile, edited by C. Eric Lincoln (1993), p. 97, 1993
I feel that segregation is totally unchristian, and that it is against everything the Christian religion stands for.
In his letter to Sally Canada (19 September 1956), as quoted in The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr (1992), by Carson & Holloran, Volumes 2-3, p. 373, 1992
True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.
In a 1955 response to an accusation that he was "disturbing the peace" by his activism during the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, as quoted in Let the Trumpet Sound : A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr (1982) by Stephen B. Oates, 1982
Above all he did not content himself with hurling invectives for emotional release and then to retire into smug, passive satisfaction. History had taught him it is not enough for people to be angry — the supreme task is to organize and unite people so that their anger becomes a transforming force.
"Honoring Dr. DuBois", speech at International Cultural Evening at Carnegie Hall, 23 February 1968, published in Freedomways: A Quarterly Review of the Negro Freedom Movement, compiled in Esther Cooper Jackson (ed.), Freedomways Reader: Prophets In Their Own Country, p. 36, 1968
Artifacts (15)
Documents about Martin Luther King, Jr., Executive Order 14176, 00026483 8 articles relating to th
Federal Government of the United States (Q48525)
Documents about Martin Luther King, Jr., Executive Order 14176, 00378517 newspaper clippings 104-10429-10049
Federal Government of the United States (Q48525)
Documents about Martin Luther King, Jr., Executive Order 14176, 00465113 garrisons investigation 104-10189-10361
Federal Government of the United States (Q48525)
Documents about Martin Luther King, Jr., Executive Order 14176, 00549613 description of individual 104-10067-10237
Federal Government of the United States (Q48525)
Documents about Martin Luther King, Jr., Executive Order 14176, 44-hq-38861 hs1-233652821 31-06
Federal Government of the United States (Q48525)
Martin Luther King Memorial: 1,000 persons march to statehouse. Topekans hold memorial for King, Topeka, Kansas
Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc./Concurrence-dissent Cook
COOK, Senior District Judge, concurring in part and dissenting in part: I concur in the result that was reached by my distinguished colleague, Chief Judge Anderson. Nevertheless, I write separately...
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