MLK, JR. BORN IN ATLANTA
Atlanta, Georgia (JFK+50) On January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr.* was born here in Atlanta. The future acknowledged leader of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s was born in an upstairs bedroom of the family home located at 501 Auburn Avenue**.
MLK was originally named after his father, Rev. Michael King, but his name was changed in honor of the German protestant religious leader Martin Luther***.
Dr. King's most famous sermon came on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington in the summer of 1963 when he said the words..."I have a dream."
The Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday legislation was signed by President Ronald Reagan on November 2, 1983 and the first King holiday came on January 20, 1986.
At the dedication of the MLK Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama said Dr. King...
"will stand for all time...a black preacher with no official rank or title who...gave voice to our deepest dreams and most lasting ideals."
*Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was educated at Morehouse College, Cruzer Theological Seminary & Boston University (PhD). MLK was president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 1957-1968 & won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was shot & killed in Memphis, TN.
**MLK Jr. Birthplace is a 2 story frame Queen Anne style house built it 1895. I t was purchased in 1909 by the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church & one of his daughters married Michael King & lived here with her parents
***Martin Luther (1483-1546) was born in Eisleben, Germany & ordained in 1507. ML was the leader of the Protestant Reformation beginning with publication in 1517 of his "95 Theses" which challenged the Catholic church.
SOURCE
"Birth Home," Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Park, Georgia, www.nps.gov
