LifeTimeline
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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JAN 15
Born
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Becomes spokesman for Montgomery Bus Boycott
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"March on Washington"
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JUL 02
Signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
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DEC 10
Wins Nobel Peace Prize
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APR 03
"I've Been to the Mountaintop" Speech
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APR 04
Assassinated at the Lorraine Motel
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APR 09
A Family, and a Nation, Mourns
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Dr. King with Rosa Parks during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Credit: Ebony Magazine Source: U.S. Information Agency
Becomes spokesman for Montgomery Bus Boycott
Montgomery, Alabama
Dr. King with Rosa Parks during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. After the boycott had gone on for 381 days, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregation in public transportation was unconstitutional.
Credit: Ebony Magazine
Source: U.S. Information Agency
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Signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Washington, District of Columbia
President Lyndon B. Johnson shakes hands with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. after giving him one of the pens used to sign the Civil Rights Act of July 2, 1964, at the White House.
Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division
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Wins Nobel Peace Prize
Oslo
NorwayDr. King became the youngest man to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1964. Some scholars refer to his speech upon acceptance of the award as one of his best.
Excerpt from the speech:
“I accept the Nobel Prize for Peace at a moment when 22 million Negroes of the United States of America are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice,” he began. “I accept this award on behalf of a civil rights movement, which is moving with determination and a majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom and a rule of justice. I am mindful that only yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, our children, crying out for brotherhood, were answered with fire hoses, snarling dogs and even death. I am mindful that only yesterday in Philadelphia, Mississippi, young people seeking to secure the right to vote were brutalized and murdered. And only yesterday more than 40 houses of worship in the State of Mississippi alone were bombed or burned because they offered a sanctuary to those who would not accept segregation. I am mindful that debilitating and grinding poverty afflicts my people and chains them to the lowest rung of the economic ladder.” -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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"I've Been to the Mountaintop" Speech
Memphis, Tennessee
Excerpt:
"Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live - a long life; longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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Coretta Scott King consoles her 5-year-old daughter, Bernice, at the funeral for her husband at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Credit: Moneta Sleet Jr., Ebony Magazine
A Family, and a Nation, Mourns
Atlanta, Georgia
Coretta Scott King consoles her 5-year-old daughter, Bernice, at the funeral for her husband at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
Credit: Moneta Sleet Jr., Ebony Magazine
