Martin Luther King Biography and Facts.
                     MARTIN LUTHER 
KING, JR.: 
BIOGRAPHY AND 
FACTS
INTRODUCTION
Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist 
minister and civil-rights activist who had 
a seismic impact on race relations in the 
United States, beginning in the mid-
1950s. 
Source: www.biography.com
EARLY LIFE
Born as Michael King Jr. on January 15, 
1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was the 
middle child of Michael King Sr. and 
Alberta Williams King. 
The King and Williams families had roots 
in rural Georgia. Martin Jr.'s grandfather, 
A.D. Williams, was a rural minister for 
years and then moved to Atlanta in 
1893. 
Source: www.biography.com
EDUCATION 
In 1948, King earned a sociology degree 
from Morehouse College and attended 
the liberal Crozer Theological Seminary 
in Chester, Pennsylvania. 
He thrived in all his studies, and was 
valedictorian of his class in 1951, and 
elected student body president. 
Source: www.biography.com
SPIRITUAL GROWTH
During his last year in seminary, King 
came under the guidance of Morehouse 
College President Benjamin E. Mays who 
influenced King’s spiritual development. 
Source: www.biography.com
THE MONTGOMERY BUS 
BOYCOTT
On March 2, 1955, a 15-year-old girl 
refused to give up her seat to a white 
man on a Montgomery city bus in 
violation of local law. 
Activists formed the Montgomery 
Improvement Association to boycott the 
transit system and chose King as their 
leader.
Source: www.biography.com
THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN 
LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Recognizing the need for a mass 
movement to capitalize on the successful 
Montgomery action, King set about 
organizing the Southern Christian 
Leadership Conference (SCLC), which 
gave him a base of operation throughout 
the South, as well as a national platform 
from which to speak.
Source: www.britannica.com
THE LETTER FROM THE 
BIRMINGHAM JAIL
King was jailed along with large numbers 
of his supporters, including hundreds of 
schoolchildren. 
From the Birmingham jail, King wrote a 
letter of great eloquence in which he 
spelled out his philosophy of 
nonviolence.
Source: www.britannica.com
DEMAND FOR EQUAL 
JUSTICE
On August 28, 1963, an interracial 
assembly of more than 200,000 gathered 
peaceably in the shadow of the Lincoln 
Memorial to demand equal justice for all 
citizens under the law. 
Source: www.britannica.com
CHALLENGES OF THE FINAL 
YEARS
King organized an initial march from 
Selma to the state capitol building in 
Montgomery but did not lead it himself. 
The marchers were turned back by state 
troopers with nightsticks and tear gas.
Source: www.britannica.com
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
In the years after his death, King 
remained the most widely known African 
American leader of his era. 
His stature as a major historical figure 
was confirmed by the successful 
campaign to establish a national holiday 
in his honour in the United States.
Source: www.britannica.com