(b. 15 January 1929; d. 4 April 1968) Major leader in civil rights and antiwar movements in twentieth century; advocated militant nonviolent social protest.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Martin Luther King, Sr., pastor of the city's Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Alberta Christine Williams King, whose father had been pastor of the church for almost forty years, King, Jr., followed his father and grandfather in the Baptist ministry and became the leading spokesman for the civil rights movement.

Early Achievements

Encouraged by his parents, who were a part of the city's black elite, young King skipped three grades through public schools, graduating from high school and entering Atlanta's Morehouse College at fifteen. He was ordained a Baptist minister in 1947 and graduated from Morehouse in 1948, with a major in sociology. From 1948 to 1951, King studied at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. He was president of...