Coretta Scott was born in Marion, Alabama. She received a bachelor’s degree from Antioch College in Antioch, Ohio, in 1951 and a music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1954. In 1953 Scott married Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and during the next 10 years they had four children. In 1962 Coretta Scott King became a voice instructor at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia. After her husband’s death in 1968, she became the president of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center. She also joined the board of directors of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which Dr. King had founded. Coretta Scott King continued to work for civil rights and social change. In 1969 the American Library Association established the Coretta Scott King Award to honor her for her courage and determination in continuing to work for peace and social change.
