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ANSWER #1

C. Atlanta Georgia

*Heiberger, Alabama – birthplace of Coretta Scott King

*Stockbridge, Georgia - birthplace of Martin Luther King Sr.

Born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia

Father was assistant pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, founded by MLK’s maternal grandfather in 1894

Mother Alberta Williams King was the church musical director

MLK sang in the choir and studied violin and piano in middle school

MLK made two suicide attempts as a child by attempting to jump from second story window

First when knocked grandmother unconscious and thought had killed her
Second after grandmother Jennie’s death in 1941

Childhood home, owned by grandparents Adam Daniel Williams and Jennie Celeste Parks Williams

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QUESTION #2

At what age was King’s name changed from Michael to Martin Luther?

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ANSWER #2

B. Age 5

In 1934, MLK’s father traveled to Germany and became so inspired by the Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther that King Sr. changed his own name as well as that of his five-year-old son.

Alberta Williams King (mother), Martin Luther King Sr.,

Jeannie C. Parks Williams (grandmother),

MLK (age 10), Christine (sister) and Alfred Daniel (brother). 1939.

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QUESTION #3

In 1944, at age 15, MLK entered Morehouse College. What was his major in college?

History
Sociology
Philosophy
Theology

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ANSWER #3

B. Sociology

1948 Morehouse College, Atlanta

Known as “M.L.” at Morehouse

At 13, skipped 9^th grade and entered 10^th grade at the only high school for Black students in Atlanta, Booker T. Washington HS (established 1924)

At 15, passed entrance exams, skipped 12^th grade and was admitted to Morehouse, under a wartime program intended to boost enrollment by admitting promising high school juniors.

Summer of 1944 worked at a tobacco farm in Connecticut through a Morehouse program to pay tuition – first experience outside the segregated south

At Morehouse, MLK was a member of the

sociology club (president)
debate team
freshman football team
student council
glee club
Morehouse chapter of the NAACP
Butler Street YMCA basketball team

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QUESTION #4

MLK received his doctorate in theology from what university?

A. Boston University

B. Crozer Theological Seminary

C. Harvard

D. University of Edinburgh

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ANSWER #4

A. Boston University

Married June 18, 1953

Marion, Alabama

Ceremony by Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr.

Spent wedding night in guest room at a funeral parlor

Honeymoon in 1958 in Mexico

1948 - 1951 Attended Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, obtaining a Bachelor of Divinity

One of six black students
Elected president of his senior class
C and C+ grades in two terms of public speaking

1951 - 1954 Attended Boston University, obtaining his PhD in Systematic Theology in 1955

Took philosophy classes at Harvard
Accepted at University of Edinburgh but chose Boston University

January 1952 - Met Coretta Scott King through a friend

Coretta had a B.A. in music and education from Akron College and won a Fellowship at New England Conservatory of Music to study concert singing (and violin)
In the 1960’s Coretta held Freedom Concerts, combining poetry, narration and music, to raise money for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

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QUESTION #5

MLK began his career as a pastor in 1954 in what city?

A. Atlanta, Georgia

B. Montgomery, Alabama

C. Jackson, Mississippi

D. Birmingham, Alabama

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ANSWER #5

B. Montgomery, Alabama.

Sept 1954 - 1959 MLK was pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery

Dec 1955 – Following the Dec 1 arrest of Rosa Parks, local activists met at the church on Dec 5 to form the Montgomery Improvement Association. King was elected to lead the group, as his newness to city meant he had less enemies.

Dec 1955 – Dec 1956 - The Montgomery Bus Boycott, lasting 382 days, brought MLK to national prominence.

Jan 26 1956 - MLK’s first arrest
Jan 30, 1956 – MLK’s house bombed

Martin Luther King Jr. speaks to members of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), including Ralph Abernathy and Rosa Parks

The election “happened so quickly that I did not even have time to think it through, it is probable that if I had, I would have declined the nomination.” - MLK’s 1958 memoir

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QUESTION #6

How many children did MLK and Coretta Scott King have?

Two
Three
Four
Five

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ANSWER #6

C. Four

Yolanda Denise King (1955 – 2007)

Actress and activist

Martin Luther King III (b. 1957)

Human rights activist
President of Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1997- 2004)
Father of Yolanda Renee King, MLK’s only grandchild

Dexter Scott King (b. 1961)

Civil rights activist, actor, documentary filmmaker
Chairman of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change

Bernice Albertine King (b. 1963)

Lawyer, minister, activist
CEO of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change

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QUESTION #7

How many times was MLK arrested?

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ANSWER #7

C. 29

Most arrests were for misdemeanor acts of civil disobedience but also experienced harassment arrests.

Only felony charge was state tax evasion and perjury – acquitted by all white jury.

1963

Birmingham

Crime: leading a march against racial segregation

1958

Montgomery

Crime: Loitering

3^rd arrest

1956

Montgomery

Jan 26 – jailed for driving 30 in 25 mph zone

Feb 21 - boycott

1960

Atlanta, Georgia

Crime: participating in a sit-in

Sent to Reid prison for probation violation for 1960 traffic case

Released on bond after Robert Kennedy intervened

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QUESTION #8

When was the first attempt to assassinate Martin Luther King, Jr?

(excluding the 1956 bombing of his house)

A. 1957

B. 1958

C. 1964

D. 1968

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ANSWER #8

B. 1958

On September 20, 1958, Izola Ware Curry stabbed MLK with a letter opener at a Harlem book signing of Stride Toward Freedom.

MLK required emergency surgery and several weeks of hospitalization. The steel tip of the blade rested a fraction of an inch away from King’s aorta.

Curry believed MLK and the NAACP were conspiring with Communists to keep her under surveillance and keep her from holding a steady job. When arrested, she was also concealing a loaded pistol in her bra.

Curry was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and found mentally incompetent to stand trial. Curry spent the remainder of her life in mental health facilities until her death in 2015.

Note knife lodged in King’s sternum

Izola Ware Curry

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QUESTION #9

What other member of Martin Luther King, Jr. family was murdered?

A. His grandfather, A.D. Williams

B. His grandmother, Jeannie Parks Williams

C. His father, Martin Luther King, Sr.

D. His mother, Alberta Williams King

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ANSWER #9

D. His mother Alberta Williams King

Alberta Williams King with MLK

On June 30th, 1974 21 year old Marcus Wayne Chenault Jr. strode into the Ebenezer Baptist Church during Sunday service and emptied his two handguns into the crowd. Alberta King was shot while she while she played the organ for the "Lord's Prayer“. Chenault’s original intended target was Martin Luther King Sr. but Alberta King was closer.

As a youth, Chenault adopted the theology of the Black Hebrew Israelites under Rev. Hananiah E. Israel of Cincinnati who castigated black civil rights activists and black church leaders as evil and deceptive. Chenault said he shot King because black ministers were a menace to black people and "all Christians are my enemies”

Chenault was sentenced to the electric chair despite his diagnosis of schizophrenia. In 1995, a judge commuted his sentence to life in prison shortly before his death from natural causes.

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QUESTION #10

MLK received which of the following awards during his lifetime?

Choose all that apply

Nobel Peace Prize

B. Grammy Award

C. Congressional Gold Medal

D. Presidential Medal of Freedom

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ANSWER #10�A. Nobel Peace Prize - 1964

Posthumous Awards

1971 – Spoken Word Gammy for his 1967 address: "Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam“

"I Have a Dream“ recording lost in 1969 but inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2012

1977 - Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by President Jimmy Carter

1978 - United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights

1986 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day established

2003 - Congressional Gold Medal awarded to MLK and Coretta Scott King

2011 – Martin Luther King, Jr National Memorial, Washington DC

2017 - Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, Atlanta, Georgia

United Nations Human Rights Award

Named American of the Decade by Laundry, Dry Cleaning, and Die Workers International Union, 1963. Nobel Peace Prize, 1964. The John Dewey Award, from the United Federation of Teachers, 1964.

At age 35, he was youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize

Donated the prize money of $54,123 to civil rights organizations

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