Timeline of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Ian Ochoa [STUDENT]

January 15, 1929 The Birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, GA on January 15, 1929. His name was "Michael" when he was born, but was changed shortly afterwards. He was the second of three children born to his college educated parents.

1951 Enters Boston University

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In 1951 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. goes to study in Boston University was influenced by his increasing interest in personalism, a philosophy that emphasizes the necessity of personal religious experience in understanding God. Harold DeWolf, taught at Boston University and helped to refine King’s concept of the theory. King stated in his graduate application that Crozer professor and Boston University graduate Raymond Bean’s “great influence over me has turned my eyes toward his former school“.

1944 College Graduated

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Graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1948 and was admitted to Morehouse College at age 15. At college the summer before his last year at Morehouse, in 1947, the 18-year-old King chose to enter the ministry. He would later credit the college's president, Baptist minister Benjamin Mays.

1953 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marries Coretta Scott

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Coretta Scott was not interested in dating preachers but eventually agreed to allow King to telephone her based on Powell's description and vouching. On their first call, King told Scott, "I am like Napoleon at Waterloo before your charms," to which she replied, "You haven't even met me." King married Scott on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parents' house, in Heiberger, Alabama.

June 5, 1955 Received Doctorate of Philosophy in Systematic Theology

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received Doctorate of Philosophy in Systematic Theology from Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts on June 5, 1955. His Dissertation Title: A Comparison of the Conception of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Weiman. Later, he joins the bus boycott after Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1. On December 5, he is elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, making him the official spokesperson for the boycott.

First Book: Stride Toward Freedom

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In 1958 King’s first book, Stride Toward Freedom, was published. It was officially released on 17 September 1958. It was lauded by both the general public and literary critics, who repeatedly labeled it “‘must’ reading” (Mays, “My View”). In describing the book in 1958, Benjamin Mays wrote, “Americans who believe in justice and equality for all cannot afford to miss the book. Negroes can not afford to miss it because it tells us again how we can work against evil with dignity, pride and self-respect” (“My View”)

1960 Martin Luther King became a co-pastor with his father

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In 1960, King became a co-pastor with his father at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. As a child, Martin Luther King, Jr. had something special that set the stage for his greatness: a father who mentored him.

As a young man, he watched his father stand up to institutional injustice, watched him speak against the embedded behaviors of racism and intolerance, and walked with his father through the persecution and dangers of fighting for freedom. He relayed the story of his father telling a policeman who stopped them: “The policeman called my dad ‘boy.’ My father pointed to me and told him, ‘This is a boy. I'm a man, and until you call me one, I will not listen to you.’”

March 28, 1968 King's Last March

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On March 28 1967, King leads a march that turns violent. This was the first time one of his events had turned violent. He then delivered "I’ve Been to the Mountaintop" speech.

King announces that the Poor People’s Campaign will culminate in a March on Washington demanding a $12 billion Economic Bill of Rights guaranteeing employment to the able-bodied, income to those unable to work, and an end to housing discrimination.

April 4 1968,The Assassination

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At sunset on April 4 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. is fatally shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

There are riots and disturbances in 130 American cities. There were twenty thousand arrests. King’s funeral on April 9 is an international event. Within a week of the assassination, the Open Housing Act is passed by Congress.

Monday, January 20Martin Luther King Jr. Day

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On November 2, 1986, a national holiday was proclaimed in King’s honor.

President Ronald Reagan signed a bill in the White House Rose Garden designating a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., to be observed on the third Monday of January.