Coretta Scott King: Civil Rights Leader and Widow of Martin Luther King

Coretta Scott King was an American author and civil rights leader. Born on April 27, 1927, in Heiberger, Alabama, she studied music at the New England Conservatory in Boston, where she met Martin Luther King Jr.

After her husband's assassination in 1968, she founded the King Center in Atlanta and led a campaign that made his birthday a national holiday, signed into law by President Reagan in 1983. She also campaigned against apartheid and for LGBTQ rights.

The couple married in 1953 and had four children: Yolanda, Martin, Dexter and Bernice. Coretta died of respiratory failure from complications of ovarian cancer at a clinic in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, on January 30, 2006, at age 78. She was the first Black American to lie in state at the Georgia State Capitol.

Achievements: Founder of the King Center, led the campaign for the MLK national holiday (1983).

Birth: April 27, 1927 - Heiberger, Alabama.

Profession: Civil rights leader.

Interesting Facts: She sang concerts to raise funds for the civil rights movement.