Coretta Scott King

Coretta Scott King (born April 27, 1927 in Heiberger, Perry County - died January 30, 2006 in Rosarito Beach, Mexico) was a Civil Rights activist and the wife of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Coretta Scott was born in Perry County and graduated as valedictorian from Lincoln High School in 1945. She attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio before enrolling in Boston's New England Conservatory of Music as a vocalist. While there she met Martin Luther King, Jr who was working on his PhD at Boston University. They married at her parent's house in Marion on June 18, 1953 and settled in Montgomery the following year.

After Dr King's death in 1968 she founded the Martin Luther King Jr Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta and continued to work for social justice and equal rights, as well as to secure a national holiday in honor of her former husband.

King had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and had suffered a stroke by the time she checked into a holistic clinic in Mexico in January 2006. She died there of respiratory failure on January 30. Her funeral at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia drew over 14,000 mourners. Her remains are interred next to her husband's at the King Center.

In 2008 King was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.

References

• Jones, Adam (November 24, 2008) "Mrs. King chosen for hall of fame." Tuscaloosa News
• "Coretta Scott King." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Nov 2008, 03:32 UTC. 25 Nov 2008 [1].