King, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was one of America’s most renowned Christian leaders. After earning his Ph.D. from Boston University, King became minister of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama, where he led the successful non-violent bus boycott, bringing about an end to the segregation of the city’s transportation system. He is remembered for his strong role in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (beginning in 1957), in the Selma to Montgomery March (1965), in the March on Washington (1965), and for his leadership in the Civil Rights movement throughout the 1950s and 1960s. His Biblical faith decisively shaped his commitment to social justice. King was assassinated in 1968.