The Life of Dr. King

The Life of Dr. King

A great man was born… • January 15, 1929 Michael Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. • He later changed his name to Martin. He is also known as MLK. • The house he grew up in was on 501 Auburn Avenue. It is now a historic site that you can visit. • Martin had a brother, Alfred, and a sister, Christine. • His father was Martin Senior. He was a minister. • His mother was Alberta Williams King. She was a teacher. 501 Auburn Avenue http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/MLK/

Childhood… • Young Martin was an excellent student in school. • He skipped grades in both elementary school and high school. • He enjoyed reading books, singing, riding a bicycle, and playing football and baseball. • Martin went Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He was only 15 years old. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/MLK/

Alice Gatewood-Waddell depicts the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his early childhood years, parents and family. It reflects the influence of his father’s church.

The college years… • King received diplomas from: • Morehouse College in 1948 • Crozer Theological Seminary in 1951 • Boston University in 1955 • Coretta Scott and Martin met over the phone in 1952. http://marriage.about.com/od/politics/p/martincoretta.htm

Marriage & children… • Martin and Coretta were married on June 18, 1953 in Marion, Alabama. Martin's father, the Reverend King, Sr., married them. • Martin and Coretta had four children: • Yolanda "Yoki" Denise King: Born November 17, 1955. • Martin Luther III: Born on October 23, 1957. • Dexter Scott King: Born on January 30, 1961. • Bernice Albertine King: Born on March 28, 1963 in. • Dr. King became a minister. He moved to Alabama. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, sit with three of their four children in their Atlanta, GA, home, on March 17, 1963. http://marriage.about.com/od/politics/p/martincoretta.htm

Vonda Victor shows Dr. King’s education. Represented also are his marriage to Coretta Scott and his four children.

Civil Rights…1950’s • Martin experienced racism early in life. He decided to do to something to make the world a better and fairer place. • During the 1950's, Dr. King became active in the movement for civil rights and racial equality. • Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955. King joins the bus boycotts. • On December 5, 1955, he is elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association. This makes him the official spokesman for the boycott. • On November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court rules that bus segregation is illegal. Mass meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church calls for a bus boycott, December, 1955. http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html

Civil Rights…1950’s • On May 17, 1957, Dr. King speaks to a crowd of 15,000 in Washington, D.C. • In 1958, the U.S. Congress passed the first Civil Rights Act. This is the first act passed since the 1870’s. • In 1958, King's first book is published. It is called Stride Toward Freedom. • Martin Luther King, Jr. went on a speaking tour. He is nearly killed when a woman in Harlem stabs him. • In 1959, Dr. King visited India to study Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence. • He resigns from pastoring to concentrate on civil rights full time. • He moved to Atlanta to direct the activities of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. 1958 Cover of Stride Toward Freedom. http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html

Civil Rights…1960 • King and his father become co-pastors at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. • Lunch counter sit-ins began in Greensboro, North Carolina. • In Atlanta, King is arrested during a sit-in. He was waiting to be served at a restaurant. • He is sentenced to four months in jail. John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy help. Dr. King is let out of jail. • Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee is founded. They organize protests at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Students attempting to get service in Woolworths' white lunch-counter in Greensboro, North Carolina (1963). http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAnaacp.htm

Civil Rights…1961 • In November, the Interstate Commerce Commission bans segregation on buses. This is because of the work of Dr. King and the Freedom Riders. • During the spring of 1961, student from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) started the Freedom Rides. They did this to end segregation on buses and in stations like Greyhound. Freedom Riders waiting to board a bus. http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html http://www.crmvet.org/images/imgcoll.htm

The Freedom Riders… • Dr. King and others faced violence along the way from Washington D.C. to Jackson Mississippi. • On May 14, 1961, a bus was bombed by the Klu Klux Klan. They were stopped in Anniston, Alabama. • Dr. King, and all others of the campaign, saw acts of violence from whites in the south. This proved to them that nonviolent confrontations could attract national attention and force federal action. 1961 Greyhound bus bombing in Anniston, Alabama. http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html http://www.crmvet.org/images/imgcoll.htm

Granville Mitchell’s canvas shows historic Freedom Riders civil rights activities and the violent action taken against them.

Civil Rights…1963 • On Good Friday (April 12) Dr. King is arrested with Ralph Abernathy for demonstrating without a permit. • On April 13, the Birmingham campaign begins. This would prove to be the turning point to end segregation in the South. • During the eleven days he spent in jail, MLK writes his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail. • On May 10, the Birmingham agreement is announced. The stores, restaurants, and schools will be desegregated. • On June 23, MLK leads 125,000 people on a Freedom Walk in Detroit. • The March on Washington held August 28, is the largest civil rights demonstration in history. There were almost 250,000 people in attendance. Dr. King is arrested more than once for demonstrating without a permit. http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html http://www.thechiefsource.com/2006_01_01_chiefsource_archive.html

Thomas Withrow’s work illustrates King’s civil rights work with marches, sit-ins, and protests as well as images of atrocities inflicted on King and other civil rights supporters.

Civil Rights…1964 • At the August 1963, March on Washington, King makes his famous I Have a Dream speech. • On January 3, King appears on the cover of Time magazine as Man of the Year. • King attends the signing ceremony of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at the White House on July 2. • During the summer, King experiences his first hurtful rejection by black people when he is stoned by Black Muslims in Harlem. • King is awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace on December 10. Dr. King is the youngest person to receive that award at age 35. Time Man of the Year cover. http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html

Civil Rights…1965 1966 • On February 2, 1965, King is arrested in Selma, Alabama during a voting rights demonstration. • After President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act into law, Martin Luther King, Jr. turns to the problems of poor blacks. • On January 22, 1966, King moves into a Chicago slum to show the living conditions of the poor. • In June, 1966, King and others begin the March Against Fear through the South. • On July 10, 1966, King starts a campaign to end discrimination in Chicago. Floyd McKissick, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Stokely Carmichael during the March Against Fear in Mississippi, June 1966. http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html

Civil Rights…1967 • Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? is published. • The Supreme Court upholds a conviction of MLK by a Birmingham court. He was demonstrating without a permit. King spends four days in Birmingham jail. • On November 27, King announces the creation of the Poor People's Campaign. It focuses on jobs and freedom for the poor of all races. 1967 Cover of Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html

Glenn Bolling paints of historic speeches, King’s accolades including the Nobel Peace Prize. The work also shows men who influenced and were influenced by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Civil Rights…1968 • King declares that the Poor People's Campaign will end in a march on Washington. They will demand a $12 billion Economic Bill of Rights. This would promise employment to those who can work, money for those who can’t, and an end to housing discrimination. • Dr. King marches in support of sanitation workers on strike in Memphis, Tennessee. • On March 28, King lead a march that turns violent. This was the first time this happened. • Dr. King gives his I've Been to the Mountaintop speech. Dr. King’s I've Been To The Mountain Top speech. http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html

Assassination…1968 • At sunset on April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot and killed. He was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. • There are riots and disturbances in 130 American cities. There were twenty thousand arrests. • Dr. King's funeral on April 9 is a global event. • Within a week of the assassination, the Open Housing Act is passed by Congress. Mourners at Dr. King’s funeral. http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs216.html

Thelma Green’s painting with an image of the Lorraine Hotel where King was shot is also an epitaph as she depicts King in front of the "mountain top."

Dr. King’s Legacy… • On October 19, 1983, the Senate voted to make Reverend, Dr. Martin Luther King’s Jr. birthday a national holiday. It is the third Monday of January. President Regan signed the bill into law on November 2. • 1986 was the first year to celebrate. A week of concerts, church services, school activities and parades took place in cities all across the country. • It wasn’t until 1993 that all fifty states observed the holiday. Arizona and New Hampshire were the last to celebrate the holiday. http://www.nyking.org/celebration/nationalholiday.html

Meet the Artists… • The mural “I Have A Dream: A Salute To The Life Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is a collaboration of six local African American artists: Glen Bolling, Thelma Green, Granville Mitchell, Vonda Victor, Alice Gatewood-Waddell and Thomas Whitrow. • The mural is an 18 ft. long acrylic painting on canvas, and each artist painted a 36 X 45 section of the mural representing different times in the life of Dr.King.

Alice Gatewood-Waddell • A native of Bowling Green, KY, Alice Gatewood Waddell has developed an artistic style that appears to a variety of collectors. Primarily known for her mixed media designs, Waddell seeks to incorporate positive messages regarding family, unity, and spiritual celebration to both move and inspire the viewer. A formally trained artist, Waddell obtained a BFA, with a concentration in painting, from Western Kentucky University. Waddell teaches art classes, gives private lessons, and conducts workshops for children and adults. Waddell’s work is included in many local and national corporate and organizational collections.

Vonda K. Victor • Victor has been part of the Bowling Green community for 18 years. She is a 1990 WKU graduate with a BA in graphic design and has participated in several local art exhibitions. She owns Monograms and More in down-town Bowling Green, which offers monogramming, glass etching and graphic design services. Victor works in several mediums including, acrylic paint, calligraphy, stained glass, and fabrics. She receives incredible joy from calligraphy of inspirational scriptures for homes and churches. She also produced a commissioned stained glass pieces for a business in her hometown of Hopkinsville and worked for her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta. One of her proudest moments was to provide a piece for Bishop Vashti McKenzie.

Granville Mitchell • Mitchell, a Bowling Green native, is a self-taught artist. He is an assistant ticket agent at the Bowling Green Greyhound Bus Lines. Mitchell discovered his love of painting in high school and he prefers working in oil. Mitchell’s vibrant work captures movement, the dynamic of life. You can see other examples of Mitchell’s work on display at Barnes and Noble through the month of February.

Thomas Withrow • Withrow has had many different jobs in his lifetime but art has always been an important part of his life. He received formal art education at Western Kentucky University, but developed a reputation as a portrait artist through trial and error, working mostly with pastels and charcoals.Withrow enjoys working with oils and acrylics, as well as screen-printing and occasionally sign painting. Withrow feels fortunate to possess a God-given gift that he will enjoy all his life.

Glen Bolling • Bolling is a Bowling Green native and is part of the Western Kentucky University family. He has enjoyed doing art all his life. He considers himself a muralist and became interested in mural work while working as a wall painter in Michigan. Bolling took a couple of basic art classes when living in Michigan.Examples of Bolling’s work can be viewed inside at Trinity Baptist Church and on a wall at Ragland Lane. Bolling has collaborated with local artists doing mural work in Bowling Green including working with Delaire Rowe at Parker Bennett Community Center.

Thelma L. Green • A self taught artist, Green, a native of Warren County was born in Woodburn, KY. She always loved drawing and would practice on any found material including brown paper bags, cardboard, plaster board, and even the bedroom walls. After graduating from Warren Central High School she finished two semesters at Western Kentucky University.In 2004 Green took a painting class under Neil Peperis. The painting class reaffirmed her love of art as she has been painting and entering local art exhibitions since. Green’s work is part of the Kentucky Museum’s collection and currently on display on the 5th Floor of Cravens.

I Have A Dream: A Salute To The Life Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This was a collaborative mural honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was on exhibit at the Kentucky Library and Museum Jan. 6th – Feb. 26th 2006 in Bowling Green, KY.

The Life of Dr. King