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<br />MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. <br />BIOGRAPHY <br /> <br />by John Hope Franklin, Historian <br /> <br />Martin Luther King, <br /> <br />Jr., <br /> <br />was born on January 15, <br /> <br />1929, <br /> <br />at <br /> <br />501 <br /> <br />Auburn Avenue, NE, in Atlanta, Ga. <br /> <br />His father was a Baptist minister, <br /> <br />and hi s <br /> <br />mother <br /> <br />was <br /> <br />a <br /> <br />musician. <br /> <br />His <br /> <br />childhood <br /> <br />was <br /> <br />not <br /> <br />especially <br /> <br />eventful. <br /> <br />He <br /> <br />grew up <br /> <br />as <br /> <br />the <br /> <br />second <br /> <br />of <br /> <br />three <br /> <br />children <br /> <br />in <br /> <br />a black <br /> <br />neighborhood, attending all-black schools. <br /> <br />At 19 he graduated in 1948 <br /> <br />from Morehouse College in Atlanta. <br /> <br />Before he turned 27 he had earned <br /> <br />two other degrees, a B.D. from Crozer Theological Seminary and a PhD in <br /> <br />systematic theology from Boston University. <br /> <br />From the time that he and his bride, <br /> <br />the former Coret ta Scott, <br /> <br />moved to Montgomery, <br /> <br />Ala. , <br /> <br />to accept the pastorate of Dexter Avenue <br /> <br />Baptist Church in 1954, King was destined to play an important role in <br /> <br />the <br /> <br />history <br /> <br />of <br /> <br />the <br /> <br />United <br /> <br />States. <br /> <br />The <br /> <br />year <br /> <br />after <br /> <br />he <br /> <br />arrived <br /> <br />in <br /> <br />Montgomery, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to move to the back of <br /> <br />a bus, and the support group that was organized to defend her and to <br /> <br />boycott the bus company, the Montgomery Improvement Association, chose <br /> <br />King <br /> <br />as <br /> <br />its <br /> <br />leader. <br /> <br />Soon <br /> <br />his <br /> <br />eloquent <br /> <br />voice <br /> <br />on <br /> <br />behalf <br /> <br />of <br /> <br />the <br /> <br />disadvantaged was heard not only in Montgomery but in many parts of the <br /> <br />United States, and, ultimately, around the world. <br /> <br />Perhaps King was always committed to non-violence. <br /> <br />But his visit <br /> <br />to <br /> <br />India <br /> <br />in <br /> <br />1957 <br /> <br />and <br /> <br />his <br /> <br />personal <br /> <br />encounter <br /> <br />with <br /> <br />Prime <br /> <br />Minister <br /> <br />Jawaharlal Nehru and his Indian teachings of non-violence strengthened <br /> <br />his resolve to use them in his quest for racial justice. <br /> <br />This resolve <br /> <br />is set forth in his first book Stride Toward Freedom, an account of the <br /> <br />successful Montgomery bus boycott. <br /> <br />EXHIBIT "A" <br />