Dr.

Martin Luther King

Jr.
Jan 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968
 Timeline

1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Dexter Avenue Baptist Church Photo Gallery

in Montgomery, Alabama
 Martin is Born

Martin Luther King, Jr. is born to Rev. and Mrs.

Martin Luther King, Sr. (former Alberta Christine
Williams) in Atlanta, Georgia.

January 15, 1929

 Segregation Laws
Confederate Flag

Largely because of Plessy v. Ferguson, racial segregation

reigned supreme in the South from the 1890's until the 1950's.
 Martin’s Childhood
As a young boy, Martin had to see the
inequality, injustice and racial tension
that was in America. He did not like
this.

Martin and his big

sister Christine.

1935 – 1944

Dr. King attends David T. Howard Elementary School,

Atlanta University Laboratory School, and Booker T. Washington
High School. He passes the entrance examination to Morehouse
College in Atlanta, Georgia without graduating from high school.
 Pastor King
1947

Dr. King is licensed to preach.

1948

February 25
Dr. King is ordained to the Baptist ministry and appointed
associate pastor at Ebenezer.

June 8
Dr. King graduates from Morehouse College with a BA degree in Sociology.
September
Dr. King enters Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania.
After hearing Dr. A. J. Muste and Dr. Mordecai W. Johnson preach on
the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, he begins to study Gandhi
seriously.
Influenced by Gandhi
…Nonviolent Disobedience

Dr. King with wife Coretta

Rosa Parks - 1955

Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat

on the bus to a white - she was arrested.
Dr. King is Arrested

For travelling 30 mph

in a 25 mph zone.
The government lies about
Martin Luther King Jr. to
attempt to stop him from
fighting back against racial
discrimination.
Bobby Kennedy

Dr. King Marches for Civil Rights

Martin Luther King Jr. vs. Malcolm X
I Have A Dream Today
Every man must decide whether he will walk in
the light of creative altruism or the darkness of
destructive selfishness. This is the judgment.
Life's most persistent and urgent question is:
What are you doing for others?
-- Martin L. King
"Violence as a way of achieving racial
justice is both impractical and
immoral. It is impractical because it is
a descending spiral ending in
destruction for all. The old law of an
eye for an eye leaves everybody blind.
It is immoral because it seeks to
humiliate the opponent rather than
win his understanding; it seeks to
annihilate rather than to convert.
Violence is immoral because it thrives
on hatred rather than love. It destroys
community and makes brotherhood
impossible. It leaves society in
monologue rather than dialogue.
Violence ends by defeating itself. It
creates bitterness in the survivors and
brutality in the destroyers."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I think there are plenty of good
people in America, but there
are also plenty of bad people in
America and the bad ones are
the ones who seem to have all
the power and be in these
positions to block things that
you and I need. Because this is
the situation, you and I have to
preserve the right to do what is
necessary to bring an end to
that situation, and it doesn't
mean that I advocate violence,
but at the same time I am not
against using violence in self-
defense. I don't even call it
violence when it's self-defense,
I call it intelligence."
Malcolm X
Racial Demonstration
1960’s Olympics

Black Panthers…Nation of Islam

“I Have a Dream”
Speech - 1963
Lorraine Hotel
Memphis, Tennesee

April 4, 1968, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated.
MLK Day is Signed Into Law

President Ronald Reagan signs a law making MLK day.

 Awards – 1950’s
1957 - Time - One of the Most Outstanding
Personalities
1957 - Who's Who in America - Listed
1957 - NAACP - Spingarn Medal
1957 - National Newspaper Publishers - The
Russwurm Award
1958 - Guardian Association of the
Police Department of New York - The Second
Annual Achievement Award
1959 - Link Magazine of New Delhi - one of
sixteen world leaders who had contributed most
to the advancement of freedom during that year
 Awards – 1960’s
1963 - Time - Man of the Year
1963 - Laundry, Dry Cleaning, and Die Workers
International Union - American of the Decade
1964 - United Federation of Teachers - John
Dewey Award
1964 - Catholic Interracial Council of Chicago -
John F. Kennedy Award
1964 - Nobel Foundation - Nobel Peace Prize
1968 - Jamaican Government - Marcus Garvey
Prize for Human Rights
1968 - Southern Christian Leadership Conference -
Rosa L. Parks Award
How will YOU improve the
world?

Dr. King helped make America a fairer place.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
 Web Sites
•"I Have a Dream: Martin Luther King Day on the Net
This Martin Luther King Day site has sound, pictures and information
on Dr. King and the holiday that celebrates his birth.
•The Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers Project
Stanford University maintains a large and authoritative collection of
works by and about Dr. King
•The Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change
"The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change is
dedicated to carrying forward the legacy and work of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. through research, education and training in the
principles, philosophy and methods of nonviolence."
•Salute to Martin Luther King
AfroAmeric@'a tribute page includes photographs and articles
about Dr. King.
•Martin Luther King
The Seattle Times has developed this site about Martin Luther
King and the holiday.