Martin Luther King, Jr.

Name ________________________________

Use the timeline to answer the following questions.

1. How old was Dr. King when he graduated from Morehouse College?

2. How old would Martin Luther King III be now?

3. How old was Martin Luther King when he was killed?

4. How long was Dr. King pastor of Dexter Street Baptist Church in Montgomery?

5. How many years from his first award until he received the Nobel Peace Prize?

6. In 1955 Dr. King led a boycott of the buses in Montgomery, AL. The boycott lasted 388 days. How many weeks more than a year is this?

7. In May 1958, Dr. King led a mass march of 37,000 to Washington D.C. for civil rights. On August 28, 1963, 200,000 gathered again in Washington. This time it was to hear his "I Have A Dream" speech. How many years and months separated these events?
   How many more people attended in '63 than in '58?

8. In 1965, Dr. King led a march from Selma, AL to Montgomery, AL to demand voting reforms. Use the map and scale given to determine about how many miles this is.
   Of the 600 marchers, 72 were injured (2 were killed). What fraction of the marchers was not injured?
   When the marchers arrived in Montgomery, there were 25,000 supporters singing "We Shall Overcome." What was the ration of marchers to supporters?

9. Fifteen years after Dr. King's death, President Reagan singed a bill making the 3rd Monday in January a national holiday to celebrate the birth and life of Dr. King. What is the earliest date this Monday could fall on?
   The latest?
   

10. When the House first voted on the holiday, it was 330 for and 90 against. What was the ratio of those against to the whole House?
    On October 19, 1983, the Senate approved the holiday 78-22. How many more votes than the required two-thirds was this?

11. The first national celebration of the holiday took place on January 20, 1988. Including this year, how many years has it been celebrated?

TIMELINE

1929

January 15: Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Alberta and Michael (later Martin) Luther King.

1948

King received a bachelor's degree in sociology from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.

1951

King received a bachelor's degree from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania.

1953

Martin Luther King, Jr. married Coretta Scott in Marion, Alabama. They had four children together: Yolanda Denise (b. 1955), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter (b. 1961), Bernice Albertine (b. 1963).

1954

King accepted his first pastorate—the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

1955

King received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Boston University.

King led boycott on segregated city buses in Montgomery, Alabama.

1956

King's house is bombed.

1957

King became the youngest recipient of the Spingarn Medal.

1958

King's first book, Stride Toward Freedom was published.

1959

King visited India to study the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.

1960

King left Dexter Avenue Baptist Church to co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

King is named President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

1962

King met with President John F. Kennedy and discussed Civil Rights.

1963

April: King is jailed during protests against desegregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Wrote Letters from a Birmingham Jail.

August: King organized the March on Washington and gave the "I Have a Dream" speech.

1964

King became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

King published Why We Can't Wait.

Time Magazine named King "Man of the Year." He was the first African American to receive the honor.

1965

King registered to vote at Hotel Albert in Selma, Alabama and is assaulted by James George Robinson.

King led march for voting rights for African Americans in Selma, Alabama.

1968

King is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray.