History will remember Coretta Scott King, who died Tuesday, not only as the widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. but also as a tireless advocate for peace and human dignity in her own right.
After Dr. King’s assassination in April 1968, Mrs. King worked to extend her husband’s legacy of non-violent opposition to racial discrimination.
As a child in Alabama, Mrs. King saw bigotry first hand and recognized that education was essential. After graduating from Antioch College in Ohio, she went on to advanced music studies at the New England Conservatory, where she met Dr. King, then studying at Boston University. They were married in 1953.
Dr. King’s first assignment was to the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., where he became a leader of the bus boycott. Supporting her husband’s activities took courage: Segregationist fanatics often used violence, such as the bombing of the King home in 1956.
Mrs. King remained committed to her husband’s principles, founding the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-violent Social Change in Atlanta and becoming an icon of the struggle for human rights from the American South to South Africa. Her passing is a large loss for the country.
