English Poster

1. www.postersession.com
Coretta Scott King was born Coretta Scott on
April 27, 1927, in Marion, Alabama. Her parents,
Obadiah and Bernice Scott, were farmers. The Scott
family owned land in the area since the American
Civil War (1861–65). Even though the Scotts were
more successful than most African Americans in
the area, life for them and their three children was
difficult. Coretta, along with her mother and sister,
tended the family garden and crops, fed the
chickens and hogs, and milked the cows[1]
.
Scott's early schooling was affected by the
system of segregation, which kept people of
different races apart. She walked six miles a day to
and from school while white students traveled by
bus to schools with better facilities and teachers.
After completing six grades at the elementary
school that "did not do much to prepare" her, Scott
enrolled in Lincoln High School in Marion,
Alabama, graduating as the valedictorian in 1945.
Lincoln "was as good as any school, white or black,
in the area," said Scott. She developed an interest in
music at Lincoln and, with encouragement from
her teachers, decided to pursue a career in it[1]
.
Coretta was as well known for her singing and
violin playing as her civil rights activism. She
enrolled at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio,
where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in
music and education. After graduating from
Antioch, Coretta was awarded a fellowship to the
New England Conservatory of Music in Boston,
Massachusetts, the city where she would meet her
future husband, famed civil rights leader Martin
Luther King Jr[2]
.
Coretta earned her second collegiate degree, in
voice and violin, from the New England
Conservatory of Music in the early 1950s. Not long
after, on June 18, 1953, Coretta and Martin married
and moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where he
served as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
and she, subsequently, oversaw the various tasks
of a pastor's wife[1]
.
Civil Rights and PeaceCivil Rights and Peace
MovementsMovements
Coretta Scott King: Queen of the CivilCoretta Scott King: Queen of the Civil
Rights MovementRights Movement
ReferencesReferences
It was in Boston that she met Martin Luther King
Jr. They were married on June 18, 1953. Her decision
to marry the young minister meant giving up her
career as a performing concert musician[2]
.
In 1954 the Kings moved to Montgomery,
Alabama, where they led the Dexter Avenue Baptist
Church. It was in Montgomery that they were pushed
into the leadership of the civil rights movement.
Martin Luther King Jr. was recognized as the
movement's leader, but Coretta Scott King was very
much a part of it as well. She was actively involved in
organizing and participating in the marches and
boycotts (a form of protest in which organizers
refuse to have dealings with a person, a store, or an
organization until policies or positions are changed).
She also gave "freedom concerts," in which she sang,
read poetry, and gave lectures on the history of civil
rights, to raise funds for the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC; an organization that
was founded by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957 to
help local groups in their efforts to gain equality for
African Americans) and for the civil rights
movement. She also gave speeches all over the
country, often standing in for her husband[2]
.
1. "Coretta Scott King Biography." Notable Biographies. Encyclopedia of
World Biography, n.d. Web. 01 July 2015.
2. “Coretta Scott King Biography.” Bio.com A&E Networks Television, n.d.
Web. 01 July 2015.
3. “Coretta Scott King Biography.” – Academy of Achievement. N.p., n.d.
Web. 01 July 2015.
4. “In honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Civil Rights Icon.”
Brooklyn Legends. N.p., 04 Apr. 2013. Web. 01 July 2015
Early LifeEarly Life
•Accomplishments, Awards and Recognition
•Personal Life
I.Marriage/Family Involvement
II.Children
III.Personal Hobbies
Personal LifePersonal Life
Coretta Scott King shows
her timeless beauty in a
black and white portrait in
1950[2]
.
Coretta Scott King
delivers a speech in
support of voter’s
rights at the ‘Stars for
Freedom’ rally while
her husband, Martin
Luther King Jr. and
singer/ activist Harry
Balefonte, both stand
behind her in
Montgomery,
Alabama, on March
24, 1965[2]
.
After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, Coretta
Scott King continued to work for the civil rights
movement. Four days after the violent murder of her
husband, the grieving widow and three of her four
children returned to Memphis to lead the march
Martin had organized. In June 1968 she spoke at the
Poor People's Campaign in Washington, D.C., a rally
her husband had been planning before his death.
Then, in May 1969 she led a demonstration of
striking hospital workers in Charleston, South
Carolina.
In addition to her role in the civil rights
movement, King was active in the peace
movement. She called the Vietnam War (1955–75),
"the most cruel and evil war in the history of
mankind." In 1961 as a representative for the
Women's Strike for Peace, she attended a
seventeen-nation arms-reduction conference in
Geneva, Switzerland. Later, King was concerned
with full employment (or providing access to jobs
for all people who are able to work). She testified
in Washington in favor of the Humphrey-Hawkins
Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of
1978, which was aimed at reducing both
unemployment and rates of price increases. She
also supported equal rights and justice for women.
King also led and worked on several national
committees and continued to serve on the board
of directors of the SCLC.
Coretta speaks out about inequality in the nation after the assassination of her
husband on the set of CBS program ‘Face the Nation,’ on September 28, 1969[2]
.
The Kings had four children in all: Yolanda
Denise; Martin Luther, III; Dexter Scott; and Bernice
Albertine[3]
.
The King family
prays over
Sunday dinner[4]
.
In 1981, The King Center (established by
Coretta Scott King), the first institution built in
memory of an African American leader, opened to
the public[3]
.
Mrs. King continued to serve the cause of
justice and human rights; her travels took her
throughout the world on goodwill missions to
Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia. In 1983,
she marked the 20th anniversary of the historic
March on Washington, by leading a gathering of
more than 800 human rights organizations, the
Coalition of Conscience, in the largest
demonstration the capital city had seen up to that
time. Coretta Scott King led the successful
campaign to establish Dr. King's birthday, January
15, as a national holiday in the United States. By an
Act of Congress, the first national observance of
the holiday took place in 1986. Dr. King's birthday
is now marked by annual celebrations in over 100
countries. Mrs. King was invited by President
Clinton to witness the historic handshake between
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Chairman Yassir
Arafat at the signing of the Middle East Peace
Accords in 1993[3]
. After 27 years at
the helm of The King
Center, Mrs. King
turned over leadership
of the Center to her son,
Dexter Scott King, in
1995. She remained
active in the causes of
racial and economic
justice, and in her
remaining years
devoted much of her
energy to AIDS
education and curbing
gun violence. Although
she died in 2006 at the
age of 78, she remains
an inspirational figure
to men and women
around the world[3]
.
Coretta Scott King posing with
her book, My Life With Martin
Luther King Jr., published in
1969[3]
.