Coretta Scott King
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Coretta Scott was born and raised in Alabama, where she lived on her parents� farm and in a world segregated by Jim Crow laws. Coretta persevered at her studies to become an exceptional student, particularly at music and singing, and was high school valedictorian in 1945. She attended Antioch College in Ohio, where she was involved with the local chapter of the NAACP and race relations committees at the college. Upon receiving her bachelor�s degree in music and education, young Miss Scott accepted a scholarship to study concert singing at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
It was in Boston that Coretta Scott met Martin Luther King, Jr., who was working toward his doctorate in Systematic Theology at Boston University. They were married in 1953, and after each receiving their graduate degrees, moved to Birmingham, Ala., so Dr. King could begin his ministry. Only two years later, Coretta was thrust into the national spotlight as Dr. King led the Birmingham bus boycott. Inspired by Rosa Parks� refusal to give up her seat for a white man on a Birmingham bus, the boycott opened the eyes of the world to segregation in the Southern United States.
As the U.S. Civil Rights movement picked up and Dr. King�s national profile grew during the 1960s, so too did the resistance by white segregationists. Despite constant death threats and attempts on the lives of her and her family, Mrs. King never wavered from the side of her husband. That did not change when Dr. King was struck down by an assassin�s bullet in 1968. In the wake of her husband�s death, Mrs. King continued to raise their four children, commemorate his life and continue his work toward social change through nonviolent means.
Only one year later, in 1969, Mrs. King published the first part of her autobiography, �My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr.� She founded The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, behind which she was the driving force well into the 1990s and made her an international champion for social, political and economical equality for people of all creeds and colors.
Though Americans and people in more than 100 countries now commemorate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. each year, it is important to remember Coretta Scott King as well. The establishment of Dr. King�s birthday as a national holiday did not come overnight. It took years of change in public opinion and the tireless efforts of Mrs. King before President Ronald Reagan signed an act of Congress in 1986 that declared Jan. 15 to be Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
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