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Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Occupation: Civil Rights Leader
• Born: January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, GA
• Died: April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN
• Best known for: Advancing the Civil Rights Movement and his "I Have a Dream" speech

• King was the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a national holiday.
• At the Atlanta premier of the movie Gone with the Wind , Martin sang with his church choir.
• There are over 730 streets in the United States named after Martin Luther King, Jr.
• One of his main influences was Mohandas Gandhi who taught people to protest in a non-violent manner.
• He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• The name on his original birth certificate is Michael King. This was a mistake, however. He was supposed to be named after his father who was named for Martin Luther, the leader of the Christian reformation movement.
• He is often referred to by his initials MLK.
• Listen to a recorded reading of this page:
• Civil Rights Timeline
• African-American Civil Rights Timeline
• Magna Carta
• Bill of Rights
• Emancipation Proclamation
• Glossary and Terms

• African American Heroes

Hero for All: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., never backed down in his stand against racism. Learn more about the life of this courageous hero who inspired millions of people to right a historical wrong.

A hero is born

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was born in Atlanta, Georgia , in 1929. At the time in that part of the country, segregation—or the separation of races in places like schools, buses, and restaurants—was the law. He experienced racial predjudice from the time he was very young, which inspired him to dedicate his life to achieving equality and justice for Americans of all colors. King believed that peaceful refusal to obey unjust law was the best way to bring about social change.

Marching Forward

King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, lead demonstrators on the fourth day of a historic five-day march in 1965. Starting in Selma, Alabama , where local African Americans had been campaigning for the right to vote, King led thousands of nonviolent demonstrators 54 miles to the state capitol of Montgomery.

Brave sacrifices

King was arrested several times during his lifetime. In 1960, he joined Black college students in a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter. Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy interceded to have King released from jail, an action that is credited with helping Kennedy win the presidency.

speaking out

King inspires a large crowd with one of his many speeches. Raised in a family of preachers, he's considered one of the greatest speakers in U.S. history.

INSPIRING OTHERS

King waves to supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. during the March on Washington . There, he delivered the "I Have a Dream" speech, which boosted public support for civil rights.

making history

President Lyndon B. Johnson shakes King's hand at the signing of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act, which outlawed racial segregation in publicly owned facilities.

FAMILY LIFE

King his wife, Coretta Scott King, sit with three of their four children in their Atlanta, Georgia, home in 1963. His wife shared the same commitment to ending the racist system they had both grown up under.

A win for peace

King receives the Nobel Prize for Peace from Gunnar Jahn, president of the Nobel Prize Committee, in Oslo, Norway , on December 10, 1964.

Remembering a hero

A crowd of mourners follows the casket of King through the streets of Atlanta, Georgia, after his assassination in April 4, 1968. King was shot by James Earl Ray on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. Americans honor the civil rights activist on the third Monday of January each year, Martin Luther King Day.

Learn more at National Geographic.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY: COURTESY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS; BEN MARTIN, TIME LIFE PICTURES / GETTY IMAGES; HORACE CORT; JULIAN WASSER, TIME LIFE PICTURES / GETTY IMAGES; AFP, GETTY IMAGES; HULTON ARCHIVE / GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY ASSOCIATED PRESS; COURTESY KEYSTONE / GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY HULTON ARCHIVE / GETTY IMAGES

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Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and major leader of the Civil Rights Movement. After his assassination, he was memorialized by Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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In Focus: Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Days after his 1968 assassination , a campaign for a holiday in King’s honor began. U.S. Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan first proposed a bill on April 8, 1968, but the first vote on the legislation didn’t happen until 1979. King’s widow, Coretta Scott King , led the lobbying effort to drum up public support. Fifteen years after its introduction, the bill finally became law.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan ’s signature created Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service as a federal holiday. It’s celebrated annually on the third Monday in January. The only national day of service, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first celebrated in 1986. The first time all 50 states recognized the holiday was in 2000.

See Martin Luther King Jr.’s life depicted onscreen in the 2018 documentary I Am MLK Jr. or the Oscar-winning movie Selma .

Quick Facts

Where did martin luther king jr. go to school, philosophy of nonviolence, civil rights accomplishments, "i have a dream" and other famous speeches, wife and kids, fbi surveillance, later activism, assassination, who was martin luther king jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and civil rights activist who had a seismic impact on race relations in the United States, beginning in the mid-1950s. Among his many efforts, King headed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Through his nonviolent activism and inspirational speeches , he played a pivotal role in ending legal segregation of Black Americans, as well as the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 . King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, among several other honors. He was assassinated by James Earl Ray and died on April 4, 1968, at age 39. King continues to be remembered as one of the most influential and inspirational Black leaders in history.

FULL NAME: Martin Luther King Jr. BIRTHDAY: January 15, 1929 DIED: April 4, 1968 BIRTHPLACE: Atlanta, Georgia SPOUSE: Coretta Scott King (1953-1968) CHILDREN: Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter, and Bernice King ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn

Martin Luther King Jr. was born as Michael Luther King Jr. in Atlanta. His birthday was January 15, 1929.

His parents were Michael Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. The Williams and King families had roots in rural Georgia. Martin’s maternal grandfather, A.D. Williams, was a rural minister for years and then moved to Atlanta in 1893. He took over the small, struggling Ebenezer Baptist Church with around 13 members and made it into a forceful congregation. He married Jennie Celeste Parks, and they had one child who survived, Alberta.

Michael Sr. came from a family of sharecroppers in a poor farming community. He married Alberta in 1926 after an eight-year courtship. The newlyweds moved to A.D.’s home in Atlanta. Michael stepped in as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church upon the death of his father-in-law in 1931. He, too, became a successful minister and adopted the name Martin Luther King Sr. in honor of the German Protestant religious leader Martin Luther . In due time, Michael Jr. followed his father’s lead and adopt the name himself to become Martin Luther King Jr.

A middle child, Martin Jr. had an older sister, Willie, and a younger brother, Alfred. The King children grew up in a secure and loving environment. Martin Sr. was more the disciplinarian, while Alberta’s gentleness easily balanced out their father’s strict hand.

Although they undoubtedly tried, Martin Jr.’s parents couldn’t shield him completely from racism. His father fought against racial prejudice, not just because his race suffered, but also because he considered racism and segregation to be an affront to God’s will. He strongly discouraged any sense of class superiority in his children, which left a lasting impression on Martin Jr.

Growing up in Atlanta, King entered public school at age 5. In May 1936, he was baptized, but the event made little impression on him.

In May 1941, King was 12 years old when his grandmother Jennie died of a heart attack. The event was traumatic for the boy, more so because he was out watching a parade against his parents’ wishes when she died. Distraught at the news, young King jumped from a second-story window at the family home, allegedly attempting suicide.

King attended Booker T. Washington High School, where he was said to be a precocious student. He skipped both the ninth and eleventh grades and, at age 15, entered Morehouse College in Atlanta in 1944. He was a popular student, especially with his female classmates, but largely unmotivated, floating through his first two years.

Influenced by his experiences with racism, King began planting the seeds for a future as a social activist early in his time at Morehouse. “I was at the point where I was deeply interested in political matters and social ills,” he recalled in The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr . “I could envision myself playing a part in breaking down the legal barriers to Negro rights.”

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

At the time, King felt that the best way to serve that purpose was as a lawyer or a doctor. Although his family was deeply involved in the church and worship, King questioned religion in general and felt uncomfortable with overly emotional displays of religious worship. This discomfort had continued through much of his adolescence, initially leading him to decide against entering the ministry, much to his father’s dismay.

But in his junior year, King took a Bible class, renewed his faith, and began to envision a career in the ministry. In the fall of his senior year, he told his father of his decision, and he was ordained at Ebenezer Baptist Church in February 1948.

Later that year, King earned a sociology degree from Morehouse College and began attended the liberal Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. He thrived in all his studies, was elected student body president, and was valedictorian of his class in 1951. He also earned a fellowship for graduate study.

Even though King was following his father’s footsteps, he rebelled against Martin Sr.’s more conservative influence by drinking beer and playing pool while at college. He became romantically involved with a white woman and went through a difficult time before he could break off the relationship.

During his last year in seminary, King came under the guidance of Morehouse College President Benjamin E. Mays, who influenced King’s spiritual development. Mays was an outspoken advocate for racial equality and encouraged King to view Christianity as a potential force for social change.

After being accepted at several colleges for his doctoral study, King enrolled at Boston University. In 1954, while still working on his dissertation, King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church of Montgomery, Alabama. He completed his doctorate and earned his degree in 1955 at age 25.

Decades after King’s death, in the late 1980s, researchers at Stanford University’s King Papers Project began to note similarities between passages of King’s doctoral dissertation and those of another student’s work. A committee of scholars appointed by Boston University determined that King was guilty of plagiarism in 1991, though it also recommended against the revocation of his degree.

First exposed to the concept of nonviolent resistance while reading Henry David Thoreau ’s On Civil Disobedience at Morehouse, King later discovered a powerful exemplar of the method’s possibilities through his research into the life of Mahatma Gandhi . Fellow civil rights activist Bayard Rustin , who had also studied Gandhi’s teachings, became one of King’s associates in the 1950s and counseled him to dedicate himself to the principles of nonviolence.

As explained in his autobiography , King previously felt that the peaceful teachings of Jesus applied mainly to individual relationships, not large-scale confrontations. But he came to realize: “Love for Gandhi was a potent instrument for social and collective transformation. It was in this Gandhian emphasis on love and nonviolence that I discovered the method for social reform that I had been seeking.”

It led to the formation of King’s six principles of nonviolence :

• Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.
• Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding.
• Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people.
• Nonviolence holds that suffering for a just cause can educate and transform.
• Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate.
• Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice.

In the years to come, King also frequently cited the “ Beloved Community ”—a world in which a shared spirit of compassion brings an end to the evils of racism, poverty, inequality, and violence—as the end goal of his activist efforts.

Led by his religious convictions and philosophy of nonviolence, King became one of the most prominent figures of the Civil Rights Movement . He was a founding member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and played key roles in several major demonstrations that transformed society. This included the Montgomery Bus Boycott that integrated Alabama’s public transit, the Greensboro Sit-In movement that desegregated lunch counters across the South, the March on Washington that led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the Selma-to-Montgomery marches in Alabama that culminated in the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

King’s efforts earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 when he was 35.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

King’s first leadership role within the Civil Rights Movement was during the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955–1956. The 381-day protest integrated the Alabama city’s public transit in one of the largest and most successful mass movements against racial segregation in history.

The effort began on December 1, 1955, when 42-year-old Rosa Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus to go home after an exhausting day at work. She sat in the first row of the “colored” section in the middle of the bus. As the bus traveled its route, all the seats in the white section filled up, then several more white passengers boarded the bus.

The bus driver noted that there were several white men standing and demanded that Parks and several other African Americans give up their seats. Three other Black passengers reluctantly gave up their places, but Parks remained seated.

The driver asked her again to give up her seat, and again she refused. Parks was arrested and booked for violating the Montgomery City Code. At her trial a week later, in a 30-minute hearing, Parks was found guilty and fined $10 and assessed $4 court fee.

The local NAACP chapter had been looking to challenge Montgomery’s segregated bus policy and had almost made 15-year-old Claudette Colvin the face of the campaign months earlier. She similarly refused to give up her bus seat to a white man on March 2, 1955, but after organizers learned Colvin was pregnant, they feared it would scandalize the deeply religious Black community and make Colvin, along with the group’s efforts, less credible in the eyes of sympathetic white people. Parks’ experience of discrimination provided another opportunity.

On the night Parks was arrested, E.D. Nixon , head of the local NAACP chapter, met with King and other local civil rights leaders to plan a Montgomery Bus Boycott. King was elected to lead the boycott because he was young, well-trained, and had solid family connections and professional standing. He was also new to the community and had few enemies, so organizers felt he would have strong credibility with the Black community.

In his first speech as the group’s president, King declared:

“We have no alternative but to protest. For many years, we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.”

King’s skillful rhetoric put new energy into the civil rights struggle in Alabama. The Montgomery Bus Boycott began December 5, 1955, and for more than a year, the local Black community walked to work, coordinated ride sharing, and faced harassment, violence, and intimidation. Both King’s and Nixon’s homes were attacked.

In addition to the boycott, members of the Black community took legal action against the city ordinance that outlined the segregated transit system. They argued it was unconstitutional based on the U.S. Supreme Court ’s “separate is never equal” decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Several lower courts agreed, and the nation’s Supreme Court upheld the ruling in a November 13, 1956, decision that also ruled the state of Alabama’s bus segregation laws were unconstitutional.

After the legal defeats and large financial losses, the city of Montgomery lifted the law that mandated segregated public transportation. The boycott ended on December 20, 1956.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Flush with victory, African American civil rights leaders recognized the need for a national organization to help coordinate their efforts. In January 1957, King, Ralph Abernathy , and 60 ministers and civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to harness the moral authority and organizing power of Black churches. The SCLC helped conduct nonviolent protests to promote civil rights reform.

King’s participation in the organization gave him a base of operation throughout the South, as well as a national platform. The SCLC felt the best place to start to give African Americans a voice was to enfranchise them in the voting process. In February 1958, the SCLC sponsored more than 20 mass meetings in key southern cities to register Black voters. King met with religious and civil rights leaders and lectured all over the country on race-related issues.

Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story

That September, King survived an attempt on his life when a woman with mental illness stabbed him in the chest as he signed copies of his book Stride Toward Freedom in a New York City department store. Saved by quick medical attention, King expressed sympathy for his assailant’s condition in the aftermath .

In 1959, with the help of the American Friends Service Committee, King visited Gandhi ’s birthplace in India. The trip affected him in a profound way, increasing his commitment to America’s civil rights struggle.

Greensboro Sit-In

By 1960, King was gaining national exposure. He returned to Atlanta to become co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church but also continued his civil rights efforts. His next activist campaign was the student-led Greensboro Sit-In movement.

In February 1960, a group of Black students in Greensboro, North Carolina , began sitting at racially segregated lunch counters in the city’s stores. When asked to leave or sit in the “colored” section, they just remained seated, subjecting themselves to verbal and sometimes physical abuse.

The movement quickly gained traction in several other cities. That April, the SCLC held a conference at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, with local sit-in leaders. King encouraged students to continue to use nonviolent methods during their protests. Out of this meeting, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) formed and, for a time, worked closely with the SCLC. By August 1960, the sit-ins had successfully ended segregation at lunch counters in 27 southern cities. But the movement wasn’t done yet.

On October 19, 1960, King and 75 students entered a local department store and requested lunch-counter service but were denied. When they refused to leave the counter area, King and 36 others were arrested. Realizing the incident would hurt the city’s reputation, Atlanta’s mayor negotiated a truce, and charges were eventually dropped.

Soon after, King was imprisoned for violating his probation on a traffic conviction. The news of his imprisonment entered the 1960 presidential campaign when candidate John F. Kennedy made a phone call to Martin’s wife, Coretta Scott King . Kennedy expressed his concern over the harsh treatment Martin received for the traffic ticket, and political pressure was quickly set in motion. King was soon released.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

In the spring of 1963, King organized a demonstration in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. With entire families in attendance, city police turned dogs and fire hoses on demonstrators. King was jailed, along with large numbers of his supporters.

The event drew nationwide attention. However, King was personally criticized by Black and white clergy alike for taking risks and endangering the children who attended the demonstration.

In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail , King eloquently spelled out his theory of nonviolence: “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community, which has constantly refused to negotiate, is forced to confront the issue.”

1963 March on Washington

By the end of the Birmingham campaign, King and his supporters were making plans for a massive demonstration on the nation’s capital composed of multiple organizations, all asking for peaceful change. The demonstration was the brainchild of labor leader A. Philip Randolph and King’s one-time mentor Bayard Rustin .

On August 28, 1963, the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom drew an estimated 250,000 people in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial. It remains one of the largest peaceful demonstrations in American history. During the demonstration, King delivered his famed “I Have a Dream” speech .

The rising tide of civil rights agitation that had culminated in the March on Washington produced a strong effect on public opinion. Many people in cities not experiencing racial tension began to question the nation’s Jim Crow laws and the near-century of second-class treatment of African American citizens since the end of slavery. This resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , authorizing the federal government to enforce desegregation of public accommodations and outlawing discrimination in publicly owned facilities.

Selma March

Continuing to focus on voting rights, King, the SCLC, SNCC, and local organizers planned to march peacefully from Selma, Alabama, to the state’s capital, Montgomery.

Led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams , demonstrators set out on March 7, 1965. But the Selma march quickly turned violent as police with nightsticks and tear gas met the demonstrators as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. The attack was televised, broadcasting the horrifying images of marchers being bloodied and severely injured to a wide audience. Of the 600 demonstrators, 58 were hospitalized in a day that became known as “ Bloody Sunday .” King, however, was spared because he was in Atlanta.

Not to be deterred, activists attempted the Selma-to-Montgomery march again. This time, King made sure he was part of it. Because a federal judge had issued a temporary restraining order on another march, a different approach was taken.

On March 9, 1965, a procession of 2,500 marchers, both Black and white, set out once again to cross the Pettus Bridge and confronted barricades and state troopers. Instead of forcing a confrontation, King led his followers to kneel in prayer, then they turned back. This became known as “Turnaround Tuesday.”

Alabama Governor George Wallace continued to try to prevent another march until President Lyndon B. Johnson pledged his support and ordered U.S. Army troops and the Alabama National Guard to protect the protestors.

On March 21, 1965, approximately 2,000 people began a march from Selma to Montgomery. On March 25, the number of marchers, which had grown to an estimated 25,000 gathered in front of the state capitol where King delivered a televised speech. Five months after the historic peaceful protest, President Johnson signed the 1965 Voting Rights Act .

Along with his “I Have a Dream” and “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speeches, King delivered several acclaimed addresses over the course of his life in the public eye.

“I Have A Dream” Speech

Date: august 28, 1963.

King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech during the 1963 March on Washington. Standing at the Lincoln Memorial, he emphasized his belief that someday all men could be brothers to the 250,000-strong crowd.

Notable Quote: “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

“Give Us the Ballot” Speech

Date: may 17, 1957.

Six years before he told the world of his dream, King stood at the same Lincoln Memorial steps as the final speaker of the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom. Dismayed by the ongoing obstacles to registering Black voters, King urged leaders from various backgrounds—Republican and Democrat, Black and white—to work together in the name of justice.

Notable Quote: “Give us the ballot, and we will no longer have to worry the federal government about our basic rights. Give us the ballot, and we will no longer plead to the federal government for passage of an anti-lynching law... Give us the ballot, and we will transform the salient misdeeds of bloodthirsty mobs into the calculated good deeds of orderly citizens.”

Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech

Date: december 10, 1964.

Speaking at the University of Oslo in Norway, King pondered why he was receiving the Nobel Prize when the battle for racial justice was far from over, before acknowledging that it was in recognition of the power of nonviolent resistance. He then compared the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement to the ground crew at an airport who do the unheralded-yet-necessary work to keep planes running on schedule.

Notable Quote: “I think Alfred Nobel would know what I mean when I say that I accept this award in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its true owners—all those to whom beauty is truth and truth, beauty—and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.”

“Our God is Marching On (How Long? Not Long)” Speech

Date: march 25, 1965.

At the end of the bitterly fought Selma-to-Montgomery march, King addressed a crowd of 25,000 supporters from the Alabama State Capitol. Offering a brief history lesson on the roots of segregation, King emphasized that there would be no stopping the effort to secure full voting rights, while suggesting a more expansive agenda to come with a call to march on poverty.

Notable Quote: “I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because ‘truth crushed to earth will rise again.’ How long? Not long, because ‘no lie can live forever.’... How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

“Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” Speech

Date: april 4, 1967.

One year before his assassination, King delivered a controversial sermon at New York City’s Riverside Church in which he condemned the Vietnam War. Explaining why his conscience had forced him to speak up, King expressed concern for the poor American soldiers pressed into conflict thousands of miles from home, while pointedly faulting the U.S. government’s role in escalating the war.

Notable Quote: “We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. We must move past indecision to action. We must find new ways to speak for peace in Vietnam and justice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our doors. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.”

“I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” Speech

Date: april 3, 1968.

The well-known orator delivered his final speech the day before he died at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee. King reflected on major moments of progress in history and his own life, in addition to encouraging the city’s striking sanitation workers.

Notable Quote: “I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”

While working on his doctorate at Boston University, King met Coretta Scott , an aspiring singer and musician at the New England Conservatory school in Boston. They were married on June 18, 1953, and had four children—two daughters and two sons—over the next decade. Their oldest, Yolanda, was born in 1955, followed by sons Martin Luther King III in 1957 and Dexter in 1961. The couple welcomed Bernice King in 1963.

Although she accepted the responsibility to raise the children while King travelled the country, Coretta opened their home to organizational meetings and served as an advisor and sounding board for her husband. “I am convinced that if I had not had a wife with the fortitude, strength, and calmness of Corrie, I could not have withstood the ordeals and tensions surrounding the movement,” King wrote in his autobiography.

His lengthy absences became a way of life for their children, but Martin III remembered his father returning from the road to join the kids playing in the yard or bring them to the local YMCA for swimming. King also fostered discussions at mealtimes to make sure everyone understood the important issues he was seeking to resolve.

Leery of accumulating wealth as a high-profile figure, King insisted his family live off his salary as a pastor. However, he was known to splurge on good suits and fine dining, while contrasting his serious public image with a lively sense of humor among friends and family.

Due to his relationships with alleged Communists, King became a target of FBI surveillance and, from late 1963 until his death, a campaign to discredit the civil rights activist. While FBI wiretaps failed to produce evidence of Communist sympathies, they captured the civil rights leader’s engagement in extramarital dalliances. This led to the infamous “suicide letter” of 1964, later confirmed to be from the FBI and authorized by then-Director J. Edgar Hoover , which urged King to kill himself if he wanted to prevent news of his affairs from going public.

In 2019, historian David Garrow wrote of explosive new allegations against King following his review of recently released FBI documents. Among the discoveries was a memo suggesting that King had encouraged the rape of a parishioner in a hotel room, as well as evidence that he might have fathered a daughter with a mistress. Other historians questioned the veracity of the documentation, especially given the FBI’s known attempts to damage King’s reputation. The original surveillance tapes regarding these allegations are under judicial seal until 2027.

From late 1965 through 1967, King expanded his civil rights efforts into other larger American cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles. But he met with increasing criticism and public challenges from young Black power leaders. King’s patient, non-violent approach and appeal to white middle-class citizens alienated many Black militants who considered his methods too weak, too late, and ineffective.

To address this criticism, King began making a link between discrimination and poverty, and he began to speak out against the Vietnam War . He felt America’s involvement in Vietnam was politically untenable and the government’s conduct in the war was discriminatory to the poor. He sought to broaden his base by forming a multiracial coalition to address the economic and unemployment problems of all disadvantaged people. To that end, plans were in the works for another march on Washington to highlight the Poor People’s Campaign, a movement intended to pressure the government into improving living and working conditions for the economically disadvantaged.

By 1968, the years of demonstrations and confrontations were beginning to wear on King. He had grown tired of marches, going to jail, and living under the constant threat of death. He was becoming discouraged at the slow progress of civil rights in America and the increasing criticism from other African American leaders.

In the spring of 1968, a labor strike by Memphis, Tennessee, sanitation workers drew King to one last crusade. On April 3, 1968, he gave his final and what proved to be an eerily prophetic speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” in which he told supporters, “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now… I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

While standing on a balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by a sniper’s bullet on April 4, 1968. King died at age 39. The shocking assassination sparked riots and demonstrations in more than 100 cities across the country.

The shooter was James Earl Ray , a malcontent drifter and former convict. He initially escaped authorities but was apprehended after a two-month international manhunt. In 1969, Ray pleaded guilty to assassinating King and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

The identity of King’s assassin has been the source of some controversy. Ray recanted his confession shortly after he was sentenced, and King’s son Dexter publicly defended Ray’s innocence after meeting with the convicted gunman in 1997. Another complicating factor is the 1993 confession of tavern owner Loyd Jowers, who said he contracted a different hit man to kill King. In June 2000, the U.S. Justice Department released a report that dismissed the alternative theories of King’s death. Ray died in prison on April 23, 1998.

King’s life had a seismic impact on race relations in the United States. Years after his death, he is the most widely known Black leader of his era.

His life and work have been honored with a national holiday, schools and public buildings named after him, and a memorial on Independence Mall in Washington, D.C.

Over the years, extensive archival studies have led to a more balanced and comprehensive assessment of his life, portraying him as a complex figure: flawed, fallible, and limited in his control over the mass movements with which he was associated, yet a visionary leader who was deeply committed to achieving social justice through nonviolent means.

• But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.
• There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of injustice where they experience the bleakness of corroding despair.
• Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.
• The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
• Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
• The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others.
• We must all learn to live together as brothers, or we will all perish together as fools.
• Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude.
• I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
• The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason but with no morals.
• I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.
• Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.
• A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.
• At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.
• Right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
• In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
• Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
• Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

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Martin luther king jr., january 1, 2020, stephanie kraus.

Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929—April 4, 1968) is considered one of history’s greatest speakers and social activists. His leadership in peaceful protests helped end segregation during the American civil rights movement.

When Martin Luther King Jr. was born, his parents, Michael and Alberta, gave him a different name from the one we know today. They called him Michael. But Michael Sr. later changed his name and his son’s to Martin Luther, after the famous religious leader. The middle-class family was very religious. Both Martin’s father and grandfather were pastors in Atlanta, Georgia. The King children grew up in a loving home but experienced racism from an early age.

Separate Is Never Equal

King attended segregated public schools in Georgia. He skipped the ninth and eleventh grades and graduated from high school at 15. It was around that time that he joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a civil rights organization. King’s father led the NAACP’s Atlanta chapter.

In 1948, King graduated from Morehouse College, in Atlanta. He went on to study religion at Crozer Theological Seminary, in Chester, Pennsylvania. In 1951, he graduated with honors and was class valedictorian. Soon after, he enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Boston University (B.U.), in Massachusetts. He met music student Coretta Scott in Boston. The couple married in 1953 and later had two sons and two daughters.

In 1954, while completing his degree, King moved to Montgomery, Alabama. He became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Soon after, on December 1, 1955, a woman named Rosa Parks was arrested after refusing to give her seat to white passengers on a Montgomery city bus. In response, the NAACP chose King to lead a citywide bus boycott. For 381 days, members of the black community walked or carpooled to work. Many of them were attacked.

The NAACP filed a lawsuit against the city of Montgomery. They argued that segregation on city buses was unconstitutional. On November 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that such segregation was indeed illegal. The court based its decision, in part, on Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas . In that case, the court concluded that “separate is never equal.”

One year later, King, along with 60 ministers and activists, founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

King waves to the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial during his “I Have a Dream” speech. King said 1963 was “not an end but a beginning.”

“I Have a Dream”

In the spring of 1963, King organized a protest in Birmingham, Alabama. The event drew nationwide attention. That’s because city police officers blasted participants with fire hoses and let attack dogs loose. King and others were jailed.

After their release, King and other civil rights leaders laid plans for a demonstration in the nation’s capital. The March on Washington attracted more than 200,000 people. On August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. He spoke of a day when all men would be treated equally. King went on to win the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. He was 35 years old and the youngest person to have received the honor.

Reaching the Promised Land

The fight for equal rights, however, was far from over. On March 7, 1965, demonstrators set off on a 54-mile march, organized by King, from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The event became violent when police met marchers with nightsticks and tear gas on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, in Selma. Seventeen people ended up in the hospital. King was not present, but he watched the scene unfold on TV. Soon after, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The law stated that all citizens had a right to vote, no matter the color of their skin.

On April 3, 1968, King traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of striking sanitation workers. In a speech there, he said, “I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.” The next day, he was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, where he was staying. The assassination ended King’s life. He was 39 years old. It sparked riots in more than 100 cities. The accused shooter, James Earl Ray, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

“I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

In the United States, King’s birthday is observed as a national holiday on the third Monday in January. On that day, many Americans volunteer at shelters, schools, hospitals, and other community organizations to honor the civil rights leader’s legacy of service and commitment.

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Lyndon B. Johnson

President Lyndon B. Johnson (August 27, 1908—January 22, 1973) advanced equality through major civil rights legislation and social service programs. He is also remembered for expanding U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. Lyndon B. Johnson was vice president when…

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Fannie Lou Hamer (October 6, 1917—March 14, 1977) was a civil rights activist. She fought to expand voting rights for African Americans and raise awareness of the terrible impact of segregation. As an African American born in the South…

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John F. Kennedy (May 29, 1917—November 22, 1963) was the 35th president of the United States. While in office, he led the country though several international crises. He also worked to achieve major civil rights reforms and promoted public service.…

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10 facts about Martin Luther King

Learn about the world-famous civil rights campaigner….

Meet the civil rights leader in our Martin Luther King facts and discover how he changed history for millions of African-American people during the Civil Rights Movement…

Martin Luther King facts

Full name: Dr Martin Luther King Jr Born:  15 January 1929. Hometown:  Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Occupation:  Minister and activist. Died:  4 April 1968. Best known for:  Campaigning for the rights of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

1) Martin Luther King Jr was born in the United States of America to African American parents. At birth he was named Michael King, but his father later changed his name to Martin Luther King Jr.

2) When Martin Luther King was growing up, life was hard for African Americans. The Southern United States operated under the ‘Jim Crow laws’ that kept black and white people separated in what was called ‘segregation’. Black people had different schools, toilets and even sections of the bus to white people. They were also denied the right to vote in elections.

3)  Martin Luther King had his first experience of segregation at just six years old, when he was told he wasn’t allowed to play with his white friend anymore – his friend’s father wouldn’t allow it!

4) His first major role in the Civil Rights Movement came in 1955, after an African American lady – Rosa Parks – was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus. This sparked outrage in the African American community and Martin helped to organise a boycott of the city’s buses. After 381 days of protest, a court finally ruled that such segregation laws should no longer be recognised.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable  Martin Luther King primary resource ? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

5) Martin was a great believer in peaceful protest, inspired by the Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi. His protests used no-violent tactics, even when the protesters themselves were met with violence from the police.

6) In 1963, Martin gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, at a famous rally named ‘March on Washington.’ Over 250,000 people gathered in the country’s capital to hear Martin and other activists speak about the importance of civil rights. It has become one of the most famous speeches in history and focuses on Martin’s dream of a society where black people and white people live together in harmony.

7) In 1964 – 99 years after the abolition of slavery – the Civil Rights Act was passed, outlawing racial segregation and discrimination in the USA.

8) In October 1964, Martin won the Nobel Peace Prize! He was told over the phone whilst he was in bed suffering from exhaustion – it had been a long, hard fight for civil rights!

9) Tragically, Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in 1968 in Tennessee, where he had given a speech the day before. He was standing on the balcony his hotel when he was shot. James Earl Ray was convicted of his murder and spent the rest of his life in prison, despite claiming to be innocent. James died in 1998.

10) Martin Luther King Jr is remembered for his tireless work during the Civil Rights Movement and his dream that one day everyone would be treated as equals. A statue built in his memory now stands in Washington D.C. and each year, the third Monday in January is celebrated as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an American federal holiday.

Want to know more? Check out Nat Geo Kids’ Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela   articles to learn about the vital work of these incredible activists.

 What do you think of our Martin Luther King facts? Let us know by leaving a comment, below!

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I love this story because it gives so much information about Martin Luther King, Jr.

i loved all the facts

dr.marther luther king helped the world alot because he stoped rasist pepole and now the world is verey nice now becasue of one man

He was a great man

Martin Luther King Jr is a courageous man and a good outstanding person

This was interesting. Let’s stop racism ✊.

[…] 10 facts about Martin Luther King […]

wow this is god facts but me did't lik the recisn

I liked the fact that he stood up the people

this is cool

this a great person who changed the world

WOW! Such a cool guy

Thanks for teaching me all this stuff.

my teacher was very touched by this story. i'm very glad we had someone helping to work out the world :)

Cant wait to do my biography at school about Martain Luther King Jr. my teacher is going to be so proud of me!

I'm happy that there was a man who had a strong dream and made a difference in the world.

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About Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. king jr..

Drawing inspiration from both his Christian faith and the peaceful teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. King led a nonviolent movement in the late 1950s and ‘ 60s to achieve legal equality for African-Americans in the United States. While others were advocating for freedom by “any means necessary,” including violence, Martin Luther King, Jr. used the power of words and acts of nonviolent resistance, such as protests, grassroots organizing, and civil disobedience to achieve seemingly-impossible goals. He went on to lead similar campaigns against poverty and international conflict, always maintaining fidelity to his principles that men and women everywhere, regardless of color or creed, are equal members of the human family.

Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Nobel Peace Prize lecture and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” are among the most revered orations and writings in the English language. His accomplishments are now taught to American children of all races, and his teachings are studied by scholars and students worldwide. He is the only non-president to have a national holiday dedicated in his honor and is the only non-president memorialized on the Great Mall in the nation’s capital. He is memorialized in hundreds of statues, parks, streets, squares, churches and other public facilities around the world as a leader whose teachings are increasingly-relevant to the progress of humankind.

Some of Dr. King’s Most Important Achievements

In 1957 , Dr. King was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an organization designed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. He would serve as head of the SCLC until his assassination in 1968, a period during which he would emerge as the most important social leader of the modern American civil rights movement.

In 1963 , he led a coalition of numerous civil rights groups in a nonviolent campaign aimed at Birmingham, Alabama, which at the time was described as the “most segregated city in America.” The subsequent brutality of the city’s police, illustrated most vividly by television images of young blacks being assaulted by dogs and water hoses, led to a national outrage resulting in a push for unprecedented civil rights legislation. It was during this campaign that Dr. King drafted the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” the manifesto of Dr. King’s philosophy and tactics, which is today required-reading in universities worldwide.

Later in 1963 , Dr. King was one of the driving forces behind the March for Jobs and Freedom, more commonly known as the “March on Washington,” which drew over a quarter-million people to the national mall. It was at this march that Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, which cemented his status as a social change leader and helped inspire the nation to act on civil rights. Dr. King was later named Time magazine’s “Man of the Year.”

Also in 1964 , partly due to the March on Washington, Congress passed the landmark Civil Rights Act, essentially eliminating legalized racial segregation in the United States. The legislation made it illegal to discriminate against blacks or other minorities in hiring, public accommodations, education or transportation, areas which at the time were still very segregated in many places.

The next year, 1965 , Congress went on to pass the Voting Rights Act, which was an equally-important set of laws that eliminated the remaining barriers to voting for African-Americans, who in some locales had been almost completely disenfranchised. This legislation resulted directly from the Selma to Montgomery, AL March for Voting Rights lead by Dr. King.

Between 1965 and 1968, Dr. King shifted his focus toward economic justice – which he highlighted by leading several campaigns in Chicago, Illinois – and international peace – which he championed by speaking out strongly against the Vietnam War. His work in these years culminated in the “Poor Peoples Campaign,” which was a broad effort to assemble a multiracial coalition of impoverished Americans who would advocate for economic change.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s less than thirteen years of nonviolent leadership ended abruptly and tragically on April 4th, 1968 , when he was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King’s body was returned to his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, where his funeral ceremony was attended by high-level leaders of all races and political stripes.

• For more information regarding the Transcription of the King Family Press Conference on the MLK Assassination Trial Verdict December 9, 1999, Atlanta, GA. Click Here
• For more information regarding the Civil Case: King family versus Jowers. Click here .
• Later in 1968, Dr. King’s wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, officially founded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, which she dedicated to being a “living memorial” aimed at continuing Dr. King’s work on important social ills around the world.

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Martin Luther King Jr.

By: History.com Editors

Updated: January 25, 2024 | Original: November 9, 2009

Martin Luther King Jr. was a social activist and Baptist minister who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. King sought equality and human rights for African Americans, the economically disadvantaged and all victims of injustice through peaceful protest. He was the driving force behind watershed events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the 1963 March on Washington , which helped bring about such landmark legislation as the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act . King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and is remembered each year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day , a U.S. federal holiday since 1986.

When Was Martin Luther King Born?

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia , the second child of Martin Luther King Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former schoolteacher.

Along with his older sister Christine and younger brother Alfred Daniel Williams, he grew up in the city’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood, then home to some of the most prominent and prosperous African Americans in the country.

Did you know? The final section of Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech is believed to have been largely improvised.

A gifted student, King attended segregated public schools and at the age of 15 was admitted to Morehouse College , the alma mater of both his father and maternal grandfather, where he studied medicine and law.

Although he had not intended to follow in his father’s footsteps by joining the ministry, he changed his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse’s president, Dr. Benjamin Mays, an influential theologian and outspoken advocate for racial equality. After graduating in 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his predominantly white senior class.

King then enrolled in a graduate program at Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning a doctorate in systematic theology two years later. While in Boston he met Coretta Scott, a young singer from Alabama who was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music . The couple wed in 1953 and settled in Montgomery, Alabama, where King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church .

The Kings had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott King and Bernice Albertine King.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

The King family had been living in Montgomery for less than a year when the highly segregated city became the epicenter of the burgeoning struggle for civil rights in America, galvanized by the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks , secretary of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ), refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a bus boycott that would continue for 381 days. The Montgomery Bus Boycott placed a severe economic strain on the public transit system and downtown business owners. They chose Martin Luther King Jr. as the protest’s leader and official spokesman.

By the time the Supreme Court ruled segregated seating on public buses unconstitutional in November 1956, King—heavily influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and the activist Bayard Rustin —had entered the national spotlight as an inspirational proponent of organized, nonviolent resistance.

King had also become a target for white supremacists, who firebombed his family home that January.

On September 20, 1958, Izola Ware Curry walked into a Harlem department store where King was signing books and asked, “Are you Martin Luther King?” When he replied “yes,” she stabbed him in the chest with a knife. King survived, and the attempted assassination only reinforced his dedication to nonviolence: “The experience of these last few days has deepened my faith in the relevance of the spirit of nonviolence if necessary social change is peacefully to take place.”

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Emboldened by the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, in 1957 he and other civil rights activists—most of them fellow ministers—founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a group committed to achieving full equality for African Americans through nonviolent protest.

The SCLC motto was “Not one hair of one head of one person should be harmed.” King would remain at the helm of this influential organization until his death.

In his role as SCLC president, Martin Luther King Jr. traveled across the country and around the world, giving lectures on nonviolent protest and civil rights as well as meeting with religious figures, activists and political leaders.

During a month-long trip to India in 1959, he had the opportunity to meet family members and followers of Gandhi, the man he described in his autobiography as “the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change.” King also authored several books and articles during this time.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

In 1960 King and his family moved to Atlanta, his native city, where he joined his father as co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church . This new position did not stop King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players in many of the most significant civil rights battles of the 1960s.

Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a particularly severe test during the Birmingham campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest segregation, unfair hiring practices and other injustices in one of America’s most racially divided cities.

Arrested for his involvement on April 12, King penned the civil rights manifesto known as the “ Letter from Birmingham Jail ,” an eloquent defense of civil disobedience addressed to a group of white clergymen who had criticized his tactics.

March on Washington

Later that year, Martin Luther King Jr. worked with a number of civil rights and religious groups to organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a peaceful political rally designed to shed light on the injustices Black Americans continued to face across the country.

Held on August 28 and attended by some 200,000 to 300,000 participants, the event is widely regarded as a watershed moment in the history of the American civil rights movement and a factor in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 .

"I Have a Dream" Speech

The March on Washington culminated in King’s most famous address, known as the “I Have a Dream” speech, a spirited call for peace and equality that many consider a masterpiece of rhetoric.

Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial —a monument to the president who a century earlier had brought down the institution of slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of a future in which “this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'”

The speech and march cemented King’s reputation at home and abroad; later that year he was named “Man of the Year” by TIME magazine and in 1964 became, at the time, the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize .

In the spring of 1965, King’s elevated profile drew international attention to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and peaceful demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, where the SCLC and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had organized a voter registration campaign.

Captured on television, the brutal scene outraged many Americans and inspired supporters from across the country to gather in Alabama and take part in the Selma to Montgomery march led by King and supported by President Lyndon B. Johnson , who sent in federal troops to keep the peace.

That August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act , which guaranteed the right to vote—first awarded by the 15th Amendment—to all African Americans.

Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

The events in Selma deepened a growing rift between Martin Luther King Jr. and young radicals who repudiated his nonviolent methods and commitment to working within the established political framework.

As more militant Black leaders such as Stokely Carmichael rose to prominence, King broadened the scope of his activism to address issues such as the Vietnam War and poverty among Americans of all races. In 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious program known as the Poor People’s Campaign, which was to include a massive march on the capital.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated . He was fatally shot while standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis, where King had traveled to support a sanitation workers’ strike. In the wake of his death, a wave of riots swept major cities across the country, while President Johnson declared a national day of mourning.

James Earl Ray , an escaped convict and known racist, pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He later recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including members of the King family, before his death in 1998.

After years of campaigning by activists, members of Congress and Coretta Scott King, among others, in 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a U.S. federal holiday in honor of King.

Observed on the third Monday of January, Martin Luther King Day was first celebrated in 1986.

Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

While his “I Have a Dream” speech is the most well-known piece of his writing, Martin Luther King Jr. was the author of multiple books, include “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” “Why We Can’t Wait,” “Strength to Love,” “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” and the posthumously published “Trumpet of Conscience” with a foreword by Coretta Scott King. Here are some of the most famous Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.”

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

“Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.”

“Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?’”

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Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our Martin Luther King, Jr. lesson plan teaches students about this incredible civil rights leader. Students will learn interesting facts about his early life, his accomplishments, and his lasting legacy.

The lesson includes an “Options for Lesson” section that lists suggestions for activities to add to the lesson. Students can complete an extra research assignment on a specific event from MLK’s life or create a poster to advertise one or more of the events that MLK helped organize, such as sit-ins, boycotts, or marches. There are numerous ways to add to this lesson!

Description

Additional information, what our martin luther king, jr. lesson plan includes.

Our Martin Luther King, Jr. lesson plan introduces students to a great Civil Rights leader in the United States. Students are taken on a journey of King’s life and learn about the significance, influence, and impact he had on America during his time as a leader for the Civil Rights movement in America during the 1950s and 1960s. Most students are aware that we celebrate MLK Day in February of each year, but may not know the story behind this incredible role model and leader, and how his words and actions have changed many lives. At the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify Martin Luther King, explain how his fight for Civil Rights changed America, list facts about his life, and discuss his significance in history. This lesson is for students in 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th grade.

Classroom Procedure

Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the orange box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand. For this lesson, the only supplies you need are the handouts. To prepare for this lesson ahead of time, you can group students for the activity and copy the handouts.

Options for Lesson

Included with this lesson is an “Options for Lesson” section that lists a number of suggestions for activities to add to the lesson or substitutions for the ones already in the lesson. For this lesson, there are many options. You can have students do an extra research assignment on a specific event from MLK’s life. Students can create a poster to advertise one or more of the events that MLK helped organize, such as sit-ins, boycotts, or marches. You can also have students create a timeline of King’s life. You can find additional suggestions and options on the Classroom Procedure page of the lesson.

Teacher Notes

The teacher notes page includes a paragraph with additional guidelines and things to think about as you begin to plan your lesson. This page also includes lines that you can use to add your own notes as you’re preparing for this lesson.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES

The early years.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. lesson plan contains five content pages. Students will first learn that MLK (his initials) have come to represent the civil rights movement in America during the 1950s and 1960s. Martin Luther King, Jr., was born in 1929 on January 15 in the city of Atlanta, Georgia. His given name at birth was actually Michael King, Jr., after his father.

Both MLK’s father and grandfather had been pastors at Baptist churches, and the family had strong roots in rural Georgia. King’s father became a pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1931 and became a successful minister. In honor of a German Protestant religious leader named Martin Luther, King’s father adopted the name Martin Luther King, Sr. Not too long after, MLK adopted the name himself and became Martin Luther King, Jr.

MLK’s parents always tried to shield their children from racism, discrimination and prejudice against people based on race or skin color. Martin’s father fought against racism for two reasons: his own race suffered for it, and it was against God’s will. He knew that all people were created equal, that no one was better than another person.

MLK was a very intelligent young man. While attending Booker T. Washington High School, he skipped ninth and eleventh grades. He was only 15 in 1944 when he began attending Morehouse College in Atlanta. He was unmotivated but very popular with his female classmates. For the first two years at the college, Martin began to question his religion and felt uncomfortable with displays of religious worship.

Though his parents were not happy, Martin chose not to enter the ministry or follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. A couple years later, during his junior year in college, Martin attended a Bible class, which led him to change his mind. It strengthened his faith, and he looked forward to a career in the ministry.

In 1948, King graduated from the college, earning a degree in sociology. He attended Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. Once again, the intelligent young man excelled in his studies, became class president, and was the valedictorian of his class. At the same time, though, he began to rebel against his father’s influence and started to drink beer, play pool, and became involved with a white woman at the school. These were all things that were against his upbringing.

Things changed for King during his last year at the seminary when the president of the college began to influence his spiritual development. Benjamin E. Mays advocated for racial equality and encouraged King to see Christianity as a force for positive changes in society. After graduation from the seminary, King entered Boston University to work on his doctorate.

It was in Boston where he met his future wife, Coretta Scott, who was an aspiring musician and singer. In June of 1953, Martin and Coretta married and later had four children. He then became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Two years following his marriage, King received his PhD at age 25, thus becoming Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Bus Boycott

December 1, 1955, is often the day we recognize as King’s entry into the civil rights movement in America. On that day, Rosa Parks at 42 years old boarded a bus following a day at work. She sat in the first row of the “colored” section of the bus. Segregation laws were numerous throughout the South. The bus began to fill with white passengers, and Rosa was ordered by the driver to give up her seat to a white person. She refused and remained seated. As a result, she was arrested and later found guilty and fined $10.

On the night of the arrest, Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights leaders met and decided to plan a boycott of the city’s bus system. Since many African-Americans used the buses, it would cause a financial loss for the city of Montgomery. King was chosen to lead the boycott. He was young, well trained, and had family connections. The group believed he had credibility with the black community.

The boycott lasted for 382 days. King’s and other leaders’ homes were vandalized. Blacks were harassed and intimidated and had to face violence. The bus boycott itself, however, was peaceful. The African-American community took legal action against the city, stating the law was unconstitutional based on the recent desegregation of schools that “separate is never equal.” Montgomery indeed suffered financially. After several lower court rulings against them, the law was lifted, and people could sit anywhere on buses.

MLK—A Leader for Civil Rights

It was King’s first victory in the civil rights movement, but the road ahead would not be easy. Several of the leaders decided a national organization was necessary. King and others formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in January of 1957 as a result. Their purpose was to organize black churches, conduct non-violent protests, and promote civil rights reforms.

The first goal of the group was to register black voters in cities throughout the South. At the same time, King met with religious and civil rights leaders throughout the country and lectured listeners on race-related issues. While in India in 1959, King was inspired during a visit to Gandhi’s birthplace. He became further committed to non-violent activism and the American civil rights struggle.

In 1960, non-violent protests called “sit-ins” by African-American college students at racially segregated lunch counters took place in Greensboro, North Carolina. The students refused to leave their seats when asked, which led to their being verbally and physically abused. The movement grew to other areas of the South. King continued to encourage the students to use non-violence for protests. The sit-ins were successful in 27 cities, effectively ending segregation.

Demonstrations and Marches

In the Spring of 1963, King organized a demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama, which included entire families. The city police aggressively dispelled the peaceful protestors using dogs and fire hoses. King was jailed, and while there, he wrote out his theory of non-violence: Non-violent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community, which has constantly refused to negotiate, is forced to confront the issue.

Students will learn that the greatest moment in King’s life was most likely his “I Have a Dream” speech, following the historic March on Washington that drew a crowd of more than 200,000 people. The march inspired and changed the minds of many people throughout the country, leading to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The act authorized the federal government to enforce desegregation of all public places and outlawed discrimination. For his efforts, King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

Throughout the 1960s, the struggle continued, however. On March 7, 1965, a march from Selma to Montgomery, AL, turned violent. Police officers used night sticks and tear gas to prevent the marchers from crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Marchers suffered terrible treatment and injuries, and many were hospitalized. King participated in another march that took place three days later. About 2,500 others accompanied him. Instead of trying to cross the same bridge, King led the marchers to kneel in prayer and then turn back.

The governor of Alabama, George Wallace, tried to prevent further marches, but President Lyndon Johnson intervened and ordered the US Army and Alabama National Guard to protect the protestors. A final march took place between Selma and Montgomery. Roughly 25,000 protestors arrived to the state capitol building where King gave a televised speech. Five months later, Johnson signed the 1965 Voting Rights Act, giving African-Americans the same opportunity to vote as all Americans.

Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King’s civil rights activism continued to spread throughout America. However, there was an increase of challenges to King from young black power leaders. His non-violent approach was criticized by those who thought King was too weak, and they wanted to stage more aggressive protests.

King began to speak out against the Vietnam War and linked discrimination with poverty. He wanted to bring together all races and form a group of people to address the problems of all disadvantaged people. By 1968, King became tired of the marches, the arrests, and the death threats. He was becoming discouraged, but there were plans for one final march.

On April 3, he gave another famous speech titled, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” He assured the listeners that one day they will arrive “to the promised land” but that he may not be there with them. Tragically, while standing on the balcony outside a motel room just three days later in Memphis, Tennessee, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated by a sniper’s bullet. The shooter was a dissatisfied transient and ex-convict, James Earl Ray. He was arrested following a nationwide two-month search. The shooting led to riots and chaos in more than 100 cities across the country.

King died at age 39 on April 3, 1968. Though a young man, he had a huge impact on race relations throughout America and was the most well-known African-American during his lifetime and beyond. He will always be remembered as an influential leader who was committed to non-violent protests to achieve social justice for all people.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS

The Martin Luther King, Jr. lesson plan includes three worksheets: an activity worksheet, a practice worksheet, and a homework assignment. You can refer to the guide on the classroom procedure page to determine when to hand out each worksheet. All of these worksheets test the student’s knowledge and understanding of the lesson material.

QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES ACTIVITY WORKSHEET

The activity worksheet for this lesson will require students to work with their group members to review and discuss five different questions/responses. Each group member will have an equal amount of time to share their thoughts on each question and will write those thoughts down. Once students have discussed within their groups, they will share with the class during a class discussion.

MATCHING PRACTICE WORKSHEET

There are several sections on the practice worksheet. The first requires students to match descriptions with the person they represent. There are eight descriptions and options in the word bank. For the next section, students will match descriptions to places or things. This section contains seven prompts and seven options. Finally, students will place events in chronological order from 1 (earliest) to 10 (latest).

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

For the homework assignment, students will first read 10 statements and decide whether they are true (T) or false (F). They will then read various quotes from MLK’s life and write down what those quotes mean to them.

Worksheet Answer Keys

This lesson plan includes answer keys for the the practice worksheet and the homework assignment. Correct answers are in red to make it easy to compare them with students’ work. Given the nature of the second section of the homework assignment, students’ responses will vary. If you choose to administer the lesson pages to your students via PDF, you will need to save a new file that omits these pages. Otherwise, you can simply print out the applicable pages and keep these as reference for yourself when grading assignments.

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MLK Materials

This was a great resource. It was exactly what I needed to teach my students more about MLK and to provide them with a basis for writing a paragraph about MLK.

Very clear and easy

Decent, with one glaring typo

Good overview of his life, but one of the last instances of King's name in the final paragraph is spelled 'Kind'. I appreciated the photographs.

Great Content

I really love the resources that Learn Bright offers to homeschoolers like us. The resources are exceptional.

Always great material and activities!

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Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a prominent leader and activist of the civil rights movement whose legacy lives on more than 50 years after his death. He is known for helping organize the 1963 March on Washington where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, a year before he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to combat racial inequality through nonviolent resistance.

Teaching students about Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy is a great way to show how courage and resilience can change the world. The inspirational message of Dr. King and the stories of his efforts to end segregation and racism in America will have a tremendous impact on students as they recognize how Dr. King’s words still resonate today. 

The following books are excellent resources for students in grades K-8 and can be used to teach about Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and the civil rights movement in America and as part of larger Black History Month and social studies curriculums.

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A Sweet Picture Book for Little Readers

Little readers in grades 1-3 will love learning about Dr. King's life and legacy in  I Am Martin Luther King Jr.  Filled with colorful illustrations and easy to understand facts, this title will tell the story of the remarkable work of the famous civil rights leader and how it shaped our nation. 

A First Biography for Young Readers

In Let's Read About... Martin Luther King, Jr. , readers in grades K-1 will learn about how racism shaped Martin Luther King Jr.’s childhood as he grew up in the South. This biography is a great introduction to Martin Luther King Jr. and how his courage led him to stand up for what he believed in as he fought for justice and racial equality.

Dr. King’s Sister Shares Memories of a Boy Who Became a Leader

Renowned educator Christine King Farris, older sister of the late Dr. King, wrote about her brother’s life and activism, for readers in grades 1-4.  

In March On!, Farris presents her account of the 1963 March on Washington in the definitive tribute to the man, the march, and the speech that changed a nation. London Ladd's beautiful full-color illustrations bring to life the thousands of people from all over the country who came to the nation's capitol to inspire social change, culminating in Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

Celebration of a Peaceful Warrior 

In Martin Luther King: The Peaceful Warrior  (grades 4-7), readers are given a clear-eyed history of the trials, achievements, and murder of the civil rights icon. His life, work, and death are traced in poignant and personalized moments from his childhood through his career as a minister and organizer of the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, freedom rides, sit-ins, and protest marches. The biography doesn’t shy away from the hardships and violence activists faced and covers Dr. King’s assassination and the establishment of a national holiday in his memory, ensuring that his legacy lives on.

A Fresh and Emotional Tribute 

In Martin Rising (grades 5-8), Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney present a rich embroidery of visions, musical cadence, and deep emotion to convey the final months of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life, and of his assassination, through metaphor, spirituality, and multi-layers of meaning. This fresh perspective of Martin Luther King Jr. reminds students that courage and conviction can make dreams a reality and that even after his death, Dr. King continues to transform and inspire everyone who shares his dream.

Whether students are reading about Dr. King’s early life or the impact his legacy has had on America, they will learn just how important Martin Luther King Jr. was in shaping the world they live in today. And readers of all ages will be inspired to follow his lead and make their own impact on the world through courage and conviction.

Shop more books about Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. below! You can find all books and activities at  The Teacher Store .

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37 Inspiring Martin Luther King Jr. Books for Kids of All Ages

Great books for every day!

Our classrooms are filled with heroes in the making, which is why it’s so important to nurture and encourage kids to dream big and follow their hearts. What better way to do that than to introduce them to one of the most influential and inspiring people in history? It’s never too early to share the powerful story and legacy of this incredible man, which is why we’ve put together this list of captivating Martin Luther King, Jr. books for kids of all ages. Remember—these great books are for every day, not just Martin Luther King Day!

(Just a heads up, WeAreTeachers may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. We only recommend items our team loves!)

Martin Luther King Jr. Books for Elementary School

1. i am martin luther king, jr. by brad meltzer & christopher eliopoulos.

Perfect for younger students, this picture book biography tells the story of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. This book shares the timeline of his history and childhood moments that inspired him.

2. When Martin Luther King Jr. Wore Roller Skates by Mark Andrew Weakland & Patrick Ballesteros

What was Martin Luther King Jr. like as a little kid? This heartwarming and playful story shares a glimpse into a childhood filled with roller skating and football to help younger readers connect with a historic figure who will inspire them to want to achieve greatness.

3. I am Brave: A Little Book about Martin Luther King, Jr. by Brad Meltzer & Christopher Eliopoulos

What makes a hero? This friendly, fun biography series focuses on the traits that make our heroes great—the traits that kids can also find within themselves! This book will help even the very youngest readers learn about one of America’s most influential icons.

4. My Little Golden Book About Martin Luther King Jr. by Bonnie Bader & Sue Cornelison

This Little Golden Book biography is the perfect introduction to nonfiction for young kids and captures the essence of Martin Luther King, Jr. for the littlest readers. Readers will learn how MLK was shaped by his childhood in segregated Atlanta and in his father’s church and went on to become one of the most powerful voices in this nation’s history.

5. Good Night Martin Luther King Jr. by Adam Gamble, Mark Jasper, and Julissa Mora

This installment in the popular Good Night Our World series introduces kids to the iconic civil rights leader’s childhood, education, and family members, as well as the Great March on Washington, speeches, peaceful protests, Rosa Parks and the bus boycott, winning the Nobel Peace Prize, and more.

6. Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? by Lisbeth Kaiser and Stanley Chow

This board book biography offers the chronology and themes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s meaningful life in just a few sentences per page. The eye-catching illustrations are sure to captivate young readers and adults alike.

7. Martin Luther King Jr Coloring Book

A great way to encourage students to express themselves creatively, this set of coloring pages introduces Martin Luther King, Jr. to younger students. Each poster contains MLK quotes that reflect peace and love.

8. Holly Celebrates MLK Day by Kimberly Kendall-Drucker

Holly absolutely adores a celebration, because all her days are Holly-Days! She especially enjoys Martin Luther King Day, because she spends the day gathering her friends and marching in the MLK Day parade to honor Dr. King’s service and sacrifice.

9. Martin Luther King Jr. by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara  (Author), Mai Ly Degnan (Illustrator)

Discover the childhood experiences that led Martin Luther King Jr. to become an inspiring minister and civil rights activist. After facing injustice and discrimination at a young age, little Martin promised himself he’d fight against injustice using the most powerful weapon of all—his words.

10. Be a King: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream and You by Carole Boston Weatherford & James E. Ransome

“You can be a King. Stamp out hatred. Put your foot down and walk tall. You can be a King. Beat the drum for justice. March to your own conscience.” This captivating and moving book features a dual narrative of the key moments of Dr. King’s life alongside a modern classroom as the students learn about him. As times change, Dr. King’s example remains, encouraging a new generation of children to take charge and change the world … to be a King.

11. My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr by Martin Luther King III & AG Ford

What was it like growing up as a son of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? This picture book memoir written by Martin Luther King III provides insight into one of history’s most fascinating families and the special bond between father and son.

12. The Story of Martin Luther King Jr. by Johnny Ray Moore

Ideal for very young readers, this sweet little board book tells how Martin Luther King, Jr. grew up, became a minister, and worked to end segregation in America.

13. What Was the March on Washington? by Kathleen Krull

On August 28, 1963, as Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, more than 200,000 people gathered in Washington, DC, to demand equal rights for all races. With black-and-white artwork throughout and sixteen pages of photographs, this book brings that incredible moment to life.

14. The Story of Martin Luther King Jr. by Christine Platt

Before Martin Luther King, Jr. became one of the most important figures in American history, he was a dedicated, smart little boy who loved to learn. This book helps kids explore how MLK went from being a kid with a dream to an inspiring leader who made America a better place for everyone.

15. Martin Luther King Jr. by Inspired Inner Genius

Courage, honor, and unlimited possibilities take center stage in this kid-friendly biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Beautifully illustrated and written like a storybook, this addition to your library also includes a gallery and glossary.

16. Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport & Bryan Collier

Through his own words, this picture book shares the life and message of Martin Luther King, Jr. This biography contains quotes from some of the most beloved speeches of one of the most gifted and influential speakers of our time interwoven with a stunning collage art combining remarkable watercolor paintings with vibrant patterns and textures.

17. I Have a Dream  by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. & Kadir Nelson

Experience history with this picture book of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s best-known speech, including an audio CD. From daughter, Dr. Bernice A. King: “My father’s dream continues to live on from generation to generation, and this beautiful and powerful illustrated edition of his world-changing ‘I Have a Dream’ speech brings his inspiring message of freedom, equality, and peace to the youngest among us—those who will one day carry his dream forward for everyone.”

18. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (Color and Learn)

These high-resolution coloring pages introduce kids to key events, people, and places that were important for the civil rights movement in the United States. Also find interesting “Did You Know?” trivia with surprising information about how he won the Nobel Peace Prize, a 381-day bus boycott, and much more!

19. My Brother Martin  by Christine King Farris & Chris Soentpiet

Renowned educator Christine King Farris, older sister of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., collaborated with celebrated illustrator Chris Soentpiet to tell the inspirational story of how one boyhood experience inspired a movement that would change the world as we know it.

20. A Place to Land by Barry Wittenstein & Jerry Pinkney

As a new generation of activists demands an end to racism, A Place to Land reflects on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and the movement that it galvanized. Much has been written about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the 1963 March on Washington, but how much do we know about how he came to write it? This book tells the story.

21. National Geographic Readers: Martin Luther King, Jr. by Kitson Jazynka

In this level three biography, difficult concepts are made understandable and transitioned into a more approachable manner. This includes the use of sidebars, timetables, diagrams, and fun facts to hold the interest of the young reader.

22. Free At Last: The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Angela Bull

Level 4 readers’ Free at Last! is a biography of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., who encouraged nonviolent protest to fulfill his dream of an America where people would be judged by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin.

23. Martin Luther King Jr.: A Peaceful Leader by Sarah Albee & Chin Ko

Geared for kids who read on their own, but still need a little help, this book offers an introduction to the life of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is introduced in this early reader biography, which combines a traditional narrative with historical photographs at the back, complete with a timeline, illustrations, and interesting facts.

24. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the March on Washington by Frances E. Ruffin & Stephen Marchesi

On August 28, 1963, more than 250,000 people flocked to the nation’s capital by plane, bus, car, and even on roller-skates. The shared goal? To speak out against segregation and to demand equal rights for everyone. Told with a wonderful immediacy, this book captures the spirit of this landmark day in American history and brings Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech to vivid life for kids.

25. Dream March by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson & Sally Wern Comport

Set against Dr. King’s historic march on Washington in the summer of 1963, a moving story and powerful illustrations combine to remember not only one of America’s most celebrated leaders but also one of America’s most celebrated moments.

Martin Luther King Jr. Books for Middle & High School

26. stride toward freedom: the montgomery story by martin luther king & clayborne carson.

Comprehensive and intimate, Stride Toward Freedom emphasizes the collective nature of the first successful large-scale act of nonviolent resistance in America: the Montgomery bus boycott. A young Dr. King wrote this book, which includes his experiences learning from fellow activities, Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin, just two years after the groundbreaking event.

27. Dear Martin by Nic Stone

This stunning novel follows Justyce McAllister, a good kid, honor student, and loyal friend. When police officers put him in handcuffs, though, everything changes. Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.

28. Martin Luther King Jr.: A Life From Beginning to End by Hourly History

While the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. was tragically cut short, his legacy lives on. Through nonviolent direct action and love, he helped pioneer the civil rights movement and changed the world. This book provides a look at his early life, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a brush with death, the March on Washington, and so much more.

29. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Clayborne Carson

Written in his own words, this history-making autobiography tells the story of Martin Luther King, a mild-mannered, inquisitive child and student who chafed under and eventually rebelled against segregation as a young minister, husband, and father. This book also offers King’s seldom disclosed views on some of the world’s greatest and most controversial figures, including John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Lyndon B. Johnson, Mahatma Gandhi, and Richard Nixon.

30. A Time to Break Silence  by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. & Walter Dean Myers

The first collection of King’s essential writings for high school students and young people, A Time to Break Silence , presents Martin Luther King, Jr.’s most important writings and speeches which have been carefully selected by teachers across a variety of disciplines. Arranged thematically in five parts, the collection includes nineteen selections, including “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a Dream,” as well as lesser-known pieces such as “The Sword that Heals” and “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?”

31. I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

This fortieth-anniversary edition honors Martin Luther King Jr.’s courageous dream and his immeasurable contribution. As Coretta Scott King says in her foreword, “This collection includes many of what I consider to be my husband’s most important writings and orations.” In addition to the famed keynote address, readers will find the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” the essay “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence,” and his last sermon, “I See the Promised Land.”

32. My Life With Martin Luther King, Jr. by Coretta Scott King

In the words of Coretta Scott King, the widow of the dynamic and beloved civil rights leader, this book recounts the history of the movement and offers an inside look at Dr. King, his sermons and speeches, her relationship to him, their children and family life, and more.

33. Strength to Love by Martin Luther King Jr.

This is the most comprehensive, must-read narrative from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressing civil rights. His widow, Coretta Scott King, wrote, “I believe it is because this book best explains the central element of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s philosophy of nonviolence. His belief in a divine, loving presence that binds all life.” The insight luminously conveyed in this classic text hints at a personal transformation at the root of social justice. Dr. King states, “By reaching into and beyond ourselves and tapping the transcendent moral ethic of love, we shall overcome these evils.”

34. Why We Can’t Wait by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. & Jesse Jackson

In this remarkable book—winner of the Nobel Peace Prize—Dr. King recounts the story of Birmingham in vivid detail, tracing the history of the struggle for civil rights back to its beginnings and looking to the future. Above all, Dr. King offers an eloquent and penetrating analysis of the events and pressures that propelled the civil rights movement from lunch counter sit-ins and prayer marches to the forefront of American consciousness.

35. All Labor Has Dignity by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. & Michael K. Honey

Dr. King had a dream of economic equality and spoke out about labor rights and justice. Gathered in one volume for the first time, the majority of these speeches will be new to most readers and begins with King’s lectures to unions in the 1960s, including addresses made during his Poor People’s Campaign.

36. My Life with Charles Billups and Martin Luther King  by Rene Billups Baker & Keith D. Miller

Despite being a pivotal leader during the climax of the entire civil rights movement, little has been said about Charles Billups—until now. Daughter, Rene Billups Baker, relates his torture by the Ku Klux Klan and reveals his participation in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s key strategy sessions at the Gaston Motel.

37. Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Vincent Harding & Coretta Scott King

In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., rented a house in Jamaica and isolated himself from the demands of the civil rights movement as he labored over his final manuscript. In this prophetic work, which has been unavailable for more than ten years, he lays out his thoughts, plans, and dreams for America’s future, including the need for better jobs, higher wages, decent housing, and quality education. With a universal message of hope that continues to resonate, King demanded an end to global suffering, asserting that humankind has the resources and technology to eradicate poverty.

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Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

Civil Rights and Martin Luther King Jr. Worksheets

Print these civil rights and Martin Luther King Jr. worksheets to study and celebrate Martin Luther King Day, which is always observed on the third Monday of January. The worksheets below include a Martin Luther King Jr. biography questions, Rosa Parks biography questions, word searches, a personal narrative worksheet based on the famous “I have a Dream” speech, a glossary of non-violence, and more. All worksheets are free to print for classroom or home use.