Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, son of a Baptist minister. Educated at Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary, and Boston University, he absorbed Gandhi's ideas of nonviolent resistance and Christian social gospel teaching. In 1955 he rose to national prominence leading the Montgomery bus boycott after Rosa Parks's arrest.

As first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King organized campaigns against segregation in Birmingham, marched on Washington in 1963, and advocated for voting rights legislation. His letter from Birmingham Jail and speeches linked moral argument to direct action. The 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act followed years of protest, arrests, and white violence.

King expanded focus to economic justice and opposition to the Vietnam War, drawing criticism from moderates and the FBI. On April 4, 1968, he was assassinated in Memphis, where he had come to support striking sanitation workers. A federal holiday honoring him, established in 1983, marks his place as the most visible leader of America's twentieth-century freedom struggle.

1929 — Birth in Atlanta. Born Michael King Jr., he later received his father's adopted name honoring the Protestant reformer Martin Luther.

1955 — Montgomery Leadership. After Rosa Parks's arrest, King helped coordinate a year-long boycott that desegregated city buses.

1963 — Birmingham and Washington. Children's marches and national media coverage of police dogs preceded the August March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

1964 — Civil Rights Act. Landmark federal law banned segregation in public places and employment discrimination— a major goal of King's campaigns.

1968 — Assassination in Memphis. James Earl Ray shot King at the Lorraine Motel; riots erupted in cities nationwide as mourners gathered for his funeral.

1. 1929

   Birth in Atlanta

   Born Michael King Jr., he later received his father's adopted name honoring the Protestant reformer Martin Luther.

2. 1955

   Montgomery Leadership

   After Rosa Parks's arrest, King helped coordinate a year-long boycott that desegregated city buses.

3. 1963

   Birmingham and Washington

   Children's marches and national media coverage of police dogs preceded the August March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

4. 1964

   Civil Rights Act

   Landmark federal law banned segregation in public places and employment discrimination— a major goal of King's campaigns.

5. 1968

   Assassination in Memphis

   James Earl Ray shot King at the Lorraine Motel; riots erupted in cities nationwide as mourners gathered for his funeral.

King's fusion of Christian ethics and Gandhian nonviolence gave moral language to dismantling Jim Crow segregation. His martyrdom accelerated fair housing legislation and fixed civil rights at the center of American civic identity, even as later activists debated his strategies and unfinished economic agenda.

King's fusion of Christian ethics and Gandhian nonviolence gave moral language to dismantling Jim Crow segregation. His martyrdom accelerated fair housing legislation and fixed civil rights at the center of American civic identity, even as later activists debated his strategies and unfinished economic agenda. Assassination in Memphis (1968) remains a defining moment in Martin Luther King Jr.'s enduring reputation.