Martin Luther King Jr Contributions

1063 Words3 Pages

Many people know Martin Luther King Jr. as very influential historian due to his involvement during his civil rights movement in the mid 1950’s. At a young age, King was concerned about civil rights as it became a growing issue. As he became older, he became a well known activist for his protest and speeches leading to his many accomplishments throughout his lifetime. Martin Luther King Jr was born January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia (McGill). He married Coretta Scott King June 18, 1953 and had 4 children (About Dr. King) His first name was originally supposed to be “Michael King Jr” but his father Martin Luther King Sr. changed it (20 Interesting Dr. Martin Luther King Facts). He was very smart, he skipped grades 9 and 11 and graduated In 1948 he ordained as a Baptist minister (Martin Luther King Jr. Fast Facts). He became a pastor of a Church in Montgomery, Alabama named Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in 1954 (Martin Luther King Jr.- Biography). The Southern Christian Leadership Conference which was a african american civil rights organization was founded in 1957 by King (Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1968). SCLC was developed to advance the nonviolent way to handle the civil rights (Martin Luther King and The Global Freedom Struggle). He wanted African Americans to be able to have the right to vote so he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration(Martin Luther King Jr.- Biography). King traveled over 6 million miles and spoke over 2500 times throughout 1957 - 1968 (Martin Luther King Jr. - Biography). He ended up writing 5 books and many articles to follow (Martin Luther King Jr. - Biography). Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law (Martin Luther King Jr. Fast Facts) . He was known as Man of the Year in Time Magazine in 1964 (History.com). King always had good intentions of trying to help and make a change. He was 30 years old when he received the Nobel Peace Prize which made him the youngest man to be awarded this important award (Martin Luther King Jr. - Biography). After he was awarded this prize he told everyone he was going to turn over the prize money of $54,123 1929-1968). The gun was found on the sidewalk a couple of blocks away from the hotel he was staying at (McGill). A man of the name James Earl Ray was the suspect of the killing (Martin Luther King Jr. 1929-1968). He was pleaded guilty of the killing yet many people including King’s family believe it was a conspiracy. Ray was sentenced 99 years in prison. King was buried in his hometown Atlanta, Georgia. All different races attended his funeral and show respect (About Dr. King). His wife was the founder of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (About Dr.

Open Document