1810
Willis Williams--one of King, Jr.'s maternal great-grandfathers--is born in Georgia.
1825
February
William Parks--one of King, Jr.'s maternal great-grandfathers--is born in Georgia.
1830
January
Fannie--later wife of William Parks--is born in Georgia.
1840
Lucretia (Creecy)--later wife of Willis Williams--is born in Georgia.
1842 or 1844
Jim Long--one of King, Jr.'s paternal great-grandfathers--is born in Virginia.
1855
Jane Linsey--one of King, Jr.'s paternal great-grandmothers--is born in Henry County, Georgia.
1863
2 January
Adam Daniel (A. D.) Williams--the son of Lucretia and Willis Williams--is born near the town of Penfield in Greene County, Georgia.
1864
December
James Albert King--King, Jr.'s paternal grandfather--is born in Ohio.
1873
April
Jennie Celeste Parks--the daughter of Fannie and William Parks--is born in Atlanta, Georgia.
1874
Willis Williams dies.
1875
July
Delia Linsey--the daughter of Jane Linsey and Jim Long--is born in Henry County, Georgia.
1894
March
A. D. Williams becomes pastor of Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, a small and financially troubled church with a congregation of thirteen and no permanent place of worship. Serving as pastor until his death in 1931, Reverend Williams helps build Ebenezer into one of Atlanta's largest and most prominent black churches.
1895
20 August
James Albert King marries Delia Linsey in Stockbridge, Georgia.
1897
19 December
Martin Luther King, Sr.--son of Delia and James Albert King--is born in Stockbridge, Georgia.
1899
29 October
A. D. Williams marries Jennie Celeste Parks in Fulton County, Georgia.
1903
13 September
Alberta Christine Williams--daughter of Jennie Celeste and A. D. Williams--is born in Atlanta.
1926
25 November
Martin Luther King, Sr., marries Alberta Christine Williams at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
1927
27 April
Coretta Scott is born in Heiberger, Alabama. Her parents are Obie and Bernice Scott.
11 September
Willie Christine King--King, Jr.'s sister--is born in Atlanta.
1929
15 January
Martin Luther King, Jr., is born at home, 501 Auburn Avenue, in Atlanta, Georgia.
1930
June
King, Sr., receives bachelor of arts degree in theology from Morehouse College.
30 July
Alfred Daniel Williams King--King, Jr.'s brother, A. D.--is born in Atlanta.
1931
21 March
A. D. Williams dies of a heart attack.
October
King, Sr., is chosen to succeed his father-in-law, A. D. Williams, as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
1932
January
King, Jr., enters nursery school.
April
King, Sr., is officially installed as pastor of Ebenezer.
3 September
King, Sr., attends the National Baptist Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
1933
5 July
King, Sr., attends the first interdenominational institute for black clergymen at Atlanta University.
Fall
King, Jr., enters the first grade at Yonge Street Elementary School with his six-year-old sister, Christine.
18 November
1934
January
King, Jr., reveals to his first-grade teacher that he is only five years old and is expelled from school.
20 January
Atlanta's black Baptists join local white Baptists in inviting the Baptist World Alliance to meet in the city but insist that they will tolerate no segregation at the conference.
March
Atlanta's black public school teachers demand the same pay scale as that of the city's white public school teachers.
King, Sr., is elected first vice president of the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union.
12 April
King, Jr.'s birth certificate is filed, under the name Michael King.
14 July-10 August
King, Sr., tours the Middle East and Europe with ten other Baptist ministers from the United States. They attend the Baptist World Alliance in Berlin.
4 September
King, Sr., attends the National Baptist Convention in Oklahoma.
24 October
The Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union holds mock elections to instruct potential black voters on voting procedures.
14 November
King, Jr., accompanied by mother, Alberta Williams King, sings at a meeting of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Newnan, Georgia.
1935
28 January
King, Jr., reenters the first grade at Yonge Street Elementary School and after half a year advances to the second grade.
30 January
King, Sr., stages a protest against the segregation of elevators at the Fulton County Courthouse.
27 March
King, Sr., becomes president of the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union.
11 April
King, Sr., preaches at a service commemorating the fifty-third anniversary of the Reverend E. R. Carter's ministry at Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta.
11 May
King, Sr., and other leaders of the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union call for black voter registration.
9 June
King, Sr., is elected president of the Atlanta District Baptist Young Peoples Union and Sunday School Convention.
2 July
King, Sr., becomes acting moderator of the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association.
August-September
King, Sr., and the Atlanta branch of the NAACP lead a voter registration drive in anticipation of a local school bond referendum.
3 September
King, Sr., attends the National Baptist Convention in New York.
11 September
King, Jr., enters the second grade at Yonge Street Elementary School.
17 October
King, Sr., is elected moderator of the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association.
1936
7 January
King, Sr., is reelected president of the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union.
26 February
King, Sr., is chosen to lead the NAACP membership drive in Atlanta.
6 March
King, Sr., joins other speakers in addressing a mass meeting of the NAACP at Wheat Street Baptist Church.
9 April
King, Sr., addresses the annual Lenten service at the Butler Street YMCA, speaking on "The Compelling Vision of the Kingdom of God."
3 May
King, Jr., is baptized after Ebenezer's two-week annual revival, led by guest evangelist Rev. H. H. Coleman of Macedonia Baptist Church in Detroit.
1 June
King, Sr., steps down as president of the Atlanta District Baptist Young Peoples Union and Sunday School Convention.
21-26 July
King, Sr., attends the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Augusta.
8 September
King, Jr., enters the third grade at Atlanta's David T. Howard Colored Elementary Schoo
11 September
King, Sr., has an automobile accident en route to the National Baptist Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. His mother-in-law, Jennie Celeste Parks Williams, suffers minor injuries.
4 November
Howard Thurman, dean of the chapel at Howard University, addresses Morehouse students on Mahatma Gandhi's campaign against British imperialism in India.
1937
King, Jr., begins delivering the Atlanta Journal.
March
King, Sr., completes term as president of the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union.
September
Alberta Williams King initiates a series of annual musicals by Ebenezer's choirs.
4 September
King, Sr., and Alberta Williams King attend the National Baptist Convention in Los Angeles, California.
10 September
King, Jr., enters the fourth grade at Howard Elementary School.
10 November
Robed Ku Klux Klansmen parade on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta.
19 November
King, Sr., is defeated by the Reverend L. A. Pinkston of Augusta in a bid for the presidency of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia. Six months earlier, Pinkston was the visiting evangelist at Ebenezer's spring revival.
1938
2 February
King, Sr., speaks at Atlanta's annual Lincoln-Douglas Day celebration.
2 March
King, Sr., is elected to the executive committee of the Atlanta Civic and Political League and pledges to seek the support of black ministers for the League's voter registration drive.
20 March
The Reverend Melvin Watson delivers the anniversary sermon, which culminates the weeklong celebration of Ebenezer's fifty-first anniversary.
3 May
King, Sr., speaks at a meeting of the Atlanta Civic and Political League.
June
Alberta Williams King graduates from Morris Brown College with a bachelor of arts degree.
7 June
King, Sr., again urges black ministers to cooperate with voter registration efforts at a meeting of the Atlanta Civic and Political League at Ebenezer.
4 September
The Atlanta Civic and Political League issues a report criticizing the inadequate facilities of the city's black schools.
10 September
King, Jr., enters the fifth grade at Howard Elementary School.
October
The Atlanta Civic and Political League and the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association lead black opposition to the passage of a school bond issue that provides inadequate funds for black schools. The bond issue is defeated in November.
5 December
King, Sr., is reappointed to the executive committee of the Atlanta branch of the NAACP.
1939
1 April
King, Sr., is the featured speaker for father's night at Howard Elementary School.
7 April
King, Sr., is elected president of the Atlanta Ministers Council, an interdenominational organization of ministers dedicated to fighting "the Negroes' battles along civic, political, and educational lines."
June
King, Sr., makes an extended tour of the western states following the National Baptist Sunday School and Young Peoples Union Congress in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
July
King, Sr., attends the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia in Savannah.
22-28 July
King, Sr., chairs the committee on local arrangements as Atlanta hosts the quadrennial meeting of the Baptist World Alliance.
11 September
King, Jr., enters the sixth grade at Howard Elementary School.
10 October
King, Sr., is reelected moderator of the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association.
8 November
King, Sr., as head of the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union, leads several hundred black Atlantans on a voter registration march to City Hall.
14 November
Ebenezer hosts the annual meeting of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia.
6 December
King, Sr., presides at a meeting of the Atlanta Ministers Council.
15 December
King, Jr., and members of Ebenezer's choir sing at the Junior League gala ball celebrating the premiere of Gone with the Wind at Loew's Grand Theater in Atlanta.
1940
5 April
King, Sr., delivers a sermon at the installation of his brother, Joel King, as pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Griffin, Georgia.
6 June
King, Jr., graduates from Howard Elementary School.
10 July
King, Sr., is reelected president of the Atlanta Ministers Council.
23 July
King, Sr., attends the General Missionary Baptist Sunday School and Baptist Training Union Convention of Georgia in Columbus.
1 August
Benjamin Mays is appointed president of Morehouse College.
7-8 August
The Atlanta branch of the NAACP and the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union oppose a proposed city bond issue because it sets aside insufficient funds for black schools.
September
King, Jr., enters the seventh grade at Atlanta University Laboratory School.
2-5 September
King, Sr., attends the National Baptist Convention in Birmingham, Alabama.
15-17 October
King, Sr., is reelected moderator of the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association, and on 17 October addresses the group on "the true mission of the Church."
1 November
Benjamin Mays speaks at a service to dedicate Ebenezer's new organ.
9 November
King, Sr., preaches at a meeting of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia.
25-29 November
Morehouse and Ebenezer host the annual training school of the Atlanta District Sunday School and Baptist Training Union Convention.
At the end of 1940,
Ebenezer Baptist Church reports 2,400 members, the largest membership in its history.
1941
16 February
King, Sr., speaks on "Goals Toward Which We Should Strive Today as a Minority Group" at Atlanta's annual Lincoln-Douglas Day celebration.
16 March
Charles D. Hubert, the dean of the Morehouse School of Religion, preaches the anniversary sermon at Ebenezer.
18 May
Jennie Celeste Parks Williams, King, Jr.'s grandmother, dies of a heart attack while serving as the women's day speaker at Mount Olive Baptist Church.
Summer
The King family moves from 501 Auburn Avenue to 193 Boulevard.
17-22 June
King, Sr., is the chairman of the Georgia delegation at the National Baptist Convention in Texas.
13-15 October
King, Sr., presides at a meeting of the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Association.
Ebenezer Baptist Church reports three hundred people joined the church during 1941.
1942
At thirteen, King, Jr., becomes the youngest assistant manager of a newspaper delivery station for the Atlanta Journal.
January
After half a year in the eighth grade at Atlanta University Laboratory School, King, Jr., enrolls in the ninth grade.
9-15 March
Charles H. Haynes, a member of the faculty at Talladega College in Alabama, preaches at Ebenezer's fifty-fifth anniversary celebration.
September
King, Jr., enters the tenth grade at Booker T. Washington High School.
13-15 October
King, Sr., presides at a meeting of the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association at the Butler Street YMCA.
1943
11 January
The Atlanta Civic and Political League holds a mass meeting at Ebenezer to discuss the condition of public schools and other issues.
8 February
The Atlanta branch of the NAACP initiates a membership drive.
2 March
King, Sr., and other officers of the Atlanta Civic and Political League are reelected during a meeting at the Prince Hall Masons Building in Atlanta.
17 March
Morehouse College president Benjamin Mays addresses the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union.
26 May
King, Sr., speaks at the anniversary service of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in Atlanta.
14 June
King, Sr., chairs a meeting of the Atlanta Citizens' Committee on the Equalization of Teachers' Salaries.
15 August
King, Sr., conducts a revival at First Baptist Church in Carrollton, Georgia.
September
King, Jr., enters the eleventh grade at Booker T. Washington High School.
22 September
The Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union condemns the use of forced black labor in cotton fields near Athens, Georgia.
12-14 October
The Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association reelects King, Sr., as moderator.
19 December
John W. Webb, national leader of the black Masons, speaks at Ebenezer.
1944
20 February
King, Sr., addresses an NAACP membership rally.
13 April
King, Jr., wins the right to represent Booker T. Washington High School in the state competition of the Elks' oratorical contest.
17 April
King travels to Dublin, Georgia, to deliver his oration "The Negro and the Constitution." Although he does not win the contest, his speech is later printed in the Booker T. Washington High School yearbook, The Cornellian.
Summer
King, Jr., participates in a summer work program for Morehouse students, picking tobacco on a farm in Simsbury, Connecticut. At the end of the summer, King, Jr., is admitted to Morehouse College as an early admissions student.
20 September
King begins his freshman year at Morehouse, taking Freshman Mathematics, Church History, Composition and Reading, History of Civilization, and Introduction to Biology.
1945
10 January
King, Sr., is elected vice president of the Atlanta Civic and Political League.
15 February
King, Sr., leads a protest against segregated elevators at the Fulton County Courthouse.
June
King, Sr., receives an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Morris Brown College.
5-9 September
King, Jr., accompanies King, Sr., as he leads the Atlanta delegation to the National Baptist Convention in Detroit.
19 September
King, Jr., begins his sophomore year at Morehouse, taking Elementary French, Introduction to General Literature, Introduction to Sociology, Matter and Energy, General Psychology, and Educational Psychology.
16-19 October
King, Sr., is reelected moderator of the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association.
12 November
King, Sr., is elected president of the Atlanta Morehouse Club.
16-17 November
The Georgia NAACP convention meets at Ebenezer.
1946
As a sophomore at Morehouse, King, Jr., wins second prize in the John L. Webb Oratorical Contest.
19 January
Mary McLeod Bethune speaks at Ebenezer.
Spring Walter R. Chivers, Morehouse sociology professor, inaugurates an annual institute on family living.
2 April
The U. S. Supreme Court, in the case of Primus King v. State of Georgia, declares the "white primary" to be unconstitutional, thus removing a significant legal barrier to black voting in the state.
10 May
Ella Baker speaks at a mass meeting of the All Citizens Registration Committee at Wheat Street Baptist Church in Atlanta.
Summer
King, Jr., quits his job as a laborer at the Atlanta Railway Express Company when a white foreman calls him "nigger."
6 August
The Atlanta Constitution publishes King, Jr.'s letter to the editor stating that blacks "are entitled to the basic rights and opportunities of American citizens."
4-8 September
The National Baptist Convention meets in Atlanta.
25 September
King, Jr., begins his junior year at Morehouse; his courses include Shakespeare, the Bible, American Literature, Intermediate French, Contemporary Social Trends, Social Anthropology, and a seminar in Sociology.
15-19 October
King, Sr., presides at the annual meeting of the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association.
5 November
Eugene Talmadge is elected governor of Georgia. Black Georgia Baptists plan to protest his inauguration, on 9 January 1947, with a day of prayer.
21 December
Eugene Talmadge dies before taking office as governor.
1947
January/February
12 March
King, Jr., is elected chair of the membership committee of the Atlanta NAACP Youth Council in a meeting on the Morehouse College campus.
14 March
King, Jr., opens an Ebenezer anniversary service with a song.
24 April
King, Sr., is elected a trustee of Morehouse College.
Summer
King, Jr., works on a tobacco farm in Simsbury, Connecticut.
24 September
King, Jr., begins his senior year at Morehouse College, enrolling in Social Psychology, Classics in English, Social Institutions, Social Legislation, Urban Sociology, Intercultural Relations, Introduction to Philosophy, Principles and Methods of Statistics, and a seminar in Sociology.
Fall
King, Jr., preaches a trial sermon at Ebenezer.
27 October
1948
King, Jr., wins second prize in the John L. Webb Oratorical Contest.
20 February
King, Jr., offers the prayer at graveside memorial services for former Morehouse College presidents John Hope and Samuel H. Archer.
25 February
22 March
King, Sr., preaches at Morehouse College Chapel.
April
King, Jr., accepts Crozer's offer of admission.
25 April
King, Jr., preaches "Life is What You Make It" in the morning and "The Meaning of Christian Living" in the evening at Liberty Baptist Church in Atlanta.
8 June
King, Jr., receives his bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Morehouse and Christine King receives her bachelor of arts degree in economics from Spelman College.
Summer
King, Jr., serves as assistant pastor of Ebenezer.
11 July
King, Jr., is guest speaker at a meeting of the Negro Cultural League at Ebenezer.
1 August
King, Jr., delivers sermon at Ebenezer's evening service on "External Versus Internal Religion."
8 August
Walter R. McCall delivers sermon on "The Destruction of Pride" at Ebenezer's morning service, and King, Jr., preaches "The Tests of Goodness" in the evening.
22 August
King, Jr., preaches at Ebenezer's morning service on "God's Kingdom First."
22 August
King, Jr., performs the wedding ceremony of Samuel P. Long and Ruth Bussey at Thankful Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia.
5 September
King, Jr., preaches at Ebenezer.
11-12 September
King, Jr., spends the weekend in New York City with his sister, Christine, a first-year graduate student at Columbia University.
14 September-24 November
During the first term of his first year at Crozer Theological Seminary, King takes Public Speaking, Preaching Ministry of the Church, Introduction to the Old Testament, Orientation for Juniors, Choir, and Church Music.
30 November-16 February 1949
King, Jr., takes Great Theologians, the History and Literature of the New Testament, Preparation of the Sermon, and Public Speaking.
1949
20 February
King, Jr., delivers the annual youth day sermon at Ebenezer.
22 February-6 May
King, Jr., is enrolled in Christian Mysticism, Practice Preaching, and Public Speaking.
Summer
King, Jr., serves as assistant pastor of Ebenezer.
12 June
King, Jr., preaches in the morning at Atlanta's Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church and in the evening at Ebenezer.
3 July
King, Jr., delivers a sermon on "The Voice of Hope" at Ebenezer.
5-8 July
King, Sr., lectures on "The Pastor as Administrator and Organizer" at the annual ministers' conference held at Morehouse.
31 July
King, Jr., preaches "The Two Challenging Questions" at Ebenezer.
14 August
King, Jr., is the youth day speaker at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Atlanta.
4 September
King, Jr., preaches "The Great Paradox" in the morning and "The Significance of the Cross" in the evening at Ebenezer.
7 September
William B. Hartsfield is elected mayor of Atlanta by a coalition of black and affluent white voters that will dominate the city's politics for the next four decades.
13 September-23 November
During the first term of his second year at Crozer, King, Jr., enrolls in Public Worship, Greek Religion, and Christian Theology for Today. Later that year he is named chairman of the student body's devotional committee.
26 September-10 June 1950
King, Jr., audits a course on the Philosophy of History at the University of Pennsylvania.
November
King, Jr., hears A. J. Muste defend pacifism in a lecture at Crozer.
29 November-15 February 1950
King, Jr., is enrolled in Preaching Problems, Pastoral Counseling, Conduct of Church Services, the Development of Christian Ideas I, and Christian Theology for Today.
11 December
The Reverend William H. Gray, Jr., of Philadelphia preaches for men's day at Ebenezer.
23 December-2 January 1950
According to his later published account, King, Jr., spends Christmas vacation reading Karl Marx, and he "carefully scrutinizes" Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto.
1950
19 February
King, Jr., preaches "Walking with the Lord" at Ebenezer's morning service.
21 February-5 May
King, Jr., takes courses on the History of Living Religions and the History of Christianity.
23 February
The Atlanta branch of the NAACP votes to support a lawsuit filed by King, Sr., as head of a citizens' committee seeking to win equal pay for black teachers.
Spring
King, Jr., hears Mordecai Johnson, president of Howard University, preach at Philadelphia's Fellowship House on Mohandas K. Gandhi's satyagraha as a method of social change.
May
King, Jr., is elected president of the student body at Crozer.
12 June
King, Jr., Walter R. McCall, Pearl E. Smith, and Doris Wilson are refused service by Ernest Nichols at Mary's Cafe in Maple Shade, New Jersey. Nichols fires a gun into the air when they persist in their request for service. He is arrested and charged, but later, when witnesses fail to testify, the case is dropped.
16 June
King, Jr., is arrested for speeding in Claymont, Delaware, on his way to Atlanta.
17 June
A. D. King and Naomi Barber are married at Ebenezer.
18 June
King, Jr., preaches "The Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth" at Ebenezer.
Summer
King, Jr., serves as assistant pastor of Ebenezer.
30 July
King, Jr., is youth day speaker at Liberty Baptist Church.
12 September-22 November
King, Jr., enters his senior year at Crozer, taking courses on American Christianity--Colonial Period, Minister's Use of the Radio, and Religious Development of Personality. He serves as student pastor at the First Baptist Church in Queens, New York.
20 September-3 February 1951
King, Jr., audits courses on the Problems of Esthetics and Kant at the University of Pennsylvania.
28 November-15 February 1951
King, Jr., enrolls in Philosophy of Religion and Theological Integration at Crozer.
10 December
The Reverend J. H. Jackson of Chicago is men's day speaker at Ebenezer.
15 December
King, Jr., is accepted as a student in the Post-Graduate School of the Faculty of Divinity at Edinburgh University, Scotland.
1951
11 January
King, Jr., is admitted to Boston University's School of Theology.
3 February
King, Jr., takes the Graduate Record Examination.
18 February
King, Jr., preaches "Nothing in Particular" at Ebenezer.
20 February-4 May
King, Jr., is enrolled in Advanced Philosophy of Religion, Christian Social Philosophy, and Christianity and Society.
6-8 May
King, Jr., graduates from Crozer with a bachelor of divinity degree, delivering the valedictory address at commencement. He receives both the Pearl Plafker Memorial Award as the graduating student who, "in the judgment of the faculty, has been the outstanding member of his class during his course in the seminary," and the J. Lewis Crozer Fellowship, which provides $1,200 toward graduate school.
12 May
King, Jr., preaches "The World Crisis & A Mother's Responsibility" at Ebenezer.
Summer
King, Jr., serves as pastor in charge at Ebenezer.
29 June
King, Sr., offers the benediction at the evening session of the NAACP's annual conference in Atlanta.
|