This Week in History: The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
April 8, 2022
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By: Kaysey A. Richardson
This Week in History: On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was shot and killed at only 39 years old. I think back to when Betty White died at the end of last year at the age of 99 and cannot believe that King would be younger than Betty White if he were alive today—only 93 years old. When we reflect on the Civil Rights Movement in our history classes, it seems so far away. However, the fight for equality in the 60s and 70s is something that our living grandparents experienced firsthand. The story of Martin Luther King and his legacy is known across the country, but here are a few tidbits of information that you might not know about King and his life.
1. Not Born Martin Luther
Born on January 15, 1929 as Michael King, his name was not changed to Martin Luther until he was five years old. King was named after his father, Michael King Sr. who, in 1934, attended an international Baptist conference in Germany. It was there that King Sr. became moved by the teachings of renaissance religious scholar, Martin Luther, and changed both him and his son’s name.
King’s family and upbringing was quite pleasant, consisting of piano lessons from his mother with his siblings and the spiritual direction of his grandfather’s and father’s religious teachings. Although his home life was happy, the King family was not exempt from the harsh realities of Jim Crow laws in the South. One of King’s first run-ins with racial discrimination was during a family outing to a shoe store which ended in the family being kicked out of the store due to the fact that blacks were not allowed in that store.
In King’s autobiography, he voices the moment that shaped his fight for social injustice: When he was young, his white, childhood best friend suddenly refused to play with him any longer. It was in that moment that he first found an interest in fighting against racism, and the MLK that we know today was born.
2. Martin Luther King Jr.: Boy Genius
Martin Luther King Jr. graduated high school and entered college at the age of only fifteen. Before this happened, though, King was kicked out of first grade at the age of five due to the school’s age requirements to enter. Ironically, he was able to skip both ninth and twelfth grade, enrolling into Morehouse College where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in sociology.
Although King grew up in a religious family with a father who was a minister, King’s own interest in religion did not shape until his college years. It was not until he took a Bible course with Dr. George D. Kelsey that he was inspired to use spirituality as an outlet for social and racial equality. Following his Bachelor’s degree, King graduated as valedictorian of his class at Crozer Theological Seminary, which would help to pay for graduate school. From there, King went to Boston University where he earned his Ph.D. in systematic theology, making him a doctor of philosophy. This title was earned at only the age twenty-six.
3. Youngest Male Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Martin Luther King Jr. was only 35 when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize which honored his commitment toward civil rights, nonviolence, and assisting the United States government move toward outlawing discrimination. Although there have been several women who have won the Nobel Peace Prize that are younger than King, he is still the youngest male winner of this award.
In addition to winning the Nobel Peace Prize, King has been celebrated internationally through the innumerable schools and street signs named after him plus several statues and monuments around the world. Along with that, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that made King’s birthday a federal holiday in 1983, making him only one of four Americans to have that honor. (The others include Cesar Chavez, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln.)
4. MLK’s Imprisonments
With protesting and activism, there are always consequences. This is something that King was well aware of and chose to continue speaking out for civil rights regardless. That being said, during King’s years as a civil rights activist, he was imprisoned nearly thirty times with charges that ranged from disobeying police to civic unrest.
In one instance, Martin Luther King’s imprisonment directly affected the election of 1960 between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. On October 26, 1960, weeks before the election, King was imprisoned in Dekalb, Georgia when a phone call was made on King’s behalf to get him out of jail. This phone call was made by Senator John F. Kennedy to the governor of Georgia, Ernest Vandiver. The two worked in secrecy to help King to be released.
According to a later interview with Vandiver, Kennedy requested on the phone: “Governor, is there any way that you think you could get Martin Luther King out of jail? It would be of tremendous benefit to me.”
Reportedly, as the news spread of King being imprisoned, both presidential candidates received a call from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and approximately twenty other organizations petitioning for the candidates to speak out against the imprisonment. As opposed to Kennedy’s call to action, the Nixon party decided to keep quiet fearing that if they acted on the imprisonment, it would upset white voters of the South and cost Nixon the election.
Not only did Kennedy make the call to the governor of Georgia to have King released from jail, but he also made a call to King’s wife, Coretta. Although the conversation lasted less than two minutes, many historians believe that this deed led to the large Black voter turnout in the election of 1960 and Kennedy’s victory. Whether it was goodwill or a political move, the imprisonment of King during that October would hold significance in the history of presidential elections.
5. King of Words
We all know the famous words from King's “I Have a Dream” speech. However, this is only a small sliver of King’s public speaking career. In the twelve years of King’s public speaking career, he delivered over 2,500 speeches worldwide. As president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King traveled the globe to give speeches about the importance of fighting racial equality. Most remarkably was King’s visit to Ghana, where he celebrated the country’s independence. Additionally, he received an honorary degree from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom and met the followers of Mahatma and Gandhi in India.
King’s most controversial speech, “Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam,” was recorded on vinyl and resulted in a postmortem Grammy for best spoken-word recording in 1970. Another famous speech that was given in Memphis, Tennessee the day before his assassination, goes down in history due to its eerie foreshadowing of his death. The speech was regarding support for sanitation workers who were receiving unfair treatment by their employers.
In this speech he stated, “We’ve got some difficult days ahead, but it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. 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.”
Not only did King have a way with words in front of crowds, but he also wrote six books throughout his lifetime. His books included an autobiography, collected works which document the rise of the civil-rights movements in the United States, and even a book of his most requested sermons.
Resources and further reading:
https://time.com/4817240/martin-luther-king-john-kennedy-phone-call/
https://www.insider.com/martin-luther-king-jr-facts-2019-1#his-imprisonment-helped-jfk-get-elected-24
