Coretta Scott King
#blackhistoryProfiles
Coretta Scott was born in Heiberger, Alabama, where inspired by her mother, she sang in her church and school choir, while also learning to play the piano, trumpet, and violin. Her musical talents led her to earn music and education degrees from Antioch College in Ohio and the New England Conservatory of Music. It was during her time in Boston that she met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
She put her musical skills to work in the Civil Rights Movement by organizing Freedom Concerts that combined poetry, narration, and music to tell the story of the struggle for racial equality.
Mother to Dr. King, Jr.’s four children, she remained mostly in the background during his political career, though she joined him in demonstrations and his travels to Africa, Europe, and India.
After her husband’s assassination in 1968, Coretta Scott King worked to carry on his legacy, leading marches, advocating for full equality and mobilizing support for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, where she served as founding president, guiding its construction.
In 1983, she brought together more than 800 human rights organizations to form the Coalition of Conscience and organized the 20th Anniversary March on Washington. Marchers called for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday to be recognized as a federal holiday, which happened just three years later.
Corretta Scott King died on Jan. 30, 2006. She was the first woman and the first African American to lay in honor in the rotunda of the Georgia state capitol. Her funeral a few days later was attended by four living U.S. presidents.