His life was cut short, but his actions and words live on to inspire generations. This is a brief biography of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with writing prompts and study units for kids PreK-Elementary. There is a list of resources at the bottom for further reading and study.
Early Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Michael King was born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He later changed his name to Martin after his father decided to adopt the name Martin in honor of the Protestant leader Martin Luther. King began his freshman year at Morehouse College in September of 1944. Two years later he wrote a letter to the editor of the Atlanta Constitution that black people “are entitled to the basic rights and opportunities of American citizens.” In 1948 he was ordained and appointed assistant pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church. That same year, he received his bachelor of arts degree in sociology and started his studies at Crozer Theological Seminary, graduating with a bachelor of divinity degree in 1951.
Family Life and ‘Spiritual Revelation’
He married Coretta Scott in 1953 in Marion, Alabama and began his pastorate at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery the following year. The couple’s first child, Yolanda, was born in 1955, just a few weeks before Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to vacate her seat and move to the rear of the city bus. Dr. King became the president of the newly formed Montgomery Improvement Association and within a few weeks received a threatening phone call that he said prompted a spiritual revelation to carry on in his fight for equal rights. On January 30, three days after the call, his home was bombed. His infant daughter and wife were unharmed. He pleaded with the gathering crowd for nonviolence.
Nonviolent resistance is not a method for cowards; it does resist. If one uses this method because he is afraid or merely because he lacks the instrument of violence, he is not truly nonviolent.”
Standing Firm
In 1957, he appeared on the cover of Time magazine for his tireless efforts and his second child, Martin, III was born in October. The following year, he was stabbed at a book signing in Harlem, New York. In 1960, the growing King family move to Atlanta. The Kings third child, Dexter, is born in January 1961. Later that year, King met with President John F. Kennedy and urged the Emancipation Proclamation to eliminate racial segregation. In 1963, his fourth child was born, Bernice. In 1964, he is arrested in Augustine, Florida for demanding service at a white-only restaurant days after his book “Why We Can’t Wait” is published.
“Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality.”
In 1965, the King family moved to Atlanta but soon move on to Chicago to draw attention to that city’s atrocious housing conditions. His book “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community” is published in 1967. In March of 1968, he leads six thousand protestors in Memphis, Tennessee, which become violent. He returns in April, determined to lead the protestors in peace. He delivers his final speech at a rally in Mason Temple, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” on April 3. He is shot and killed on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
Further Reference and Readings
Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” are moving pieces for kids of all ages to explore.
Martin Luther King, Jr. The History Channel
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