MARTIN LUTHER KING JR 1929 1968 CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER KING MARTIN LUTHER JR 1929 1968 CIVIL RIGHTS/EQUALITY HUMAN RIGHTS SOUTH LABOR/LABOR UNIONS AFRICAN AMERICANS AMERICAN CULTURE ELECTIONS AND POLITICS MARTIN LUTHER KING JR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR WAS BORN IN ATLANTA HIS FATHER WAS A PASTOR AT EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCHES IN ATLANTA KING ENTERED MOREHOUSE COLLEGE AT AGE 15 HE WAS ORDAINED A MINISTER AT HIS FATHER'S CHURCH IN 1947 AND IN 1948 HE RECEIVED A BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN SOCIOLOGY FROM MOREHOUSE KING ENROLLED IN CROZER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN PENNSYLVANIA WHERE HE WAS INTRODUCED TO THE TEACHINGS OF MAHATMA GANDHI AN INDIAN LEADER WHO PROMOTED SOCIAL CHANGE THROUGH NONVIOLENT CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE KING EARNED A DOCTORAL DEGREE FROM BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY IN 1954 KING MOVED TO MONTGOMERY ALABAMA WHERE HE BECAME PASTOR OF DEXTER AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH KING SOON BECAME A LEADER OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT HE HELPED LEAD THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT IN 1955 IN 1957 HE FORMED THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE WHICH PROMOTED NONVIOLENCE AND CHRISTIAN BELIEFS IN THE FIGHT TO DESEGREGATE THE SOUTH KING LED NUMEROUS NONVIOLENT DEMONSTRATIONS THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH IN THE 1950S AND 1960S IN 1963 KING LED THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON DURING WHICH HE DELIVERED HIS FAMOUS I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH KING WAS LATER SELECTED AS TIME MAGAZINE'S MAN OF THE YEAR AND IN 1964 HE WAS AWARDED THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE ON APRIL 4 1968 KING WAS ASSASSINATED IN MEMPHIS TENNESSEE WHERE HE HAD COME TO HELP LOCAL SANITATION WORKERS IN THEIR STRIKE FOR HIGHER WAGES IN 1986 A NATIONAL HOLIDAY IN HIS HONOR WAS ESTABLISHED
