Cypress Hall D, 466 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305-4146 .footer-wrapper p, .footer-wrapper a, color:; Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'kUI3IfzERbF7kCV3YWqw9w',sig:'aUnV9vF6Gc4CiiT85cWAuGCkuG6GIEmOA-qF5_YlZrY=',w:'594px',h:'363px',items:'161992516',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })}); Years ago, when I first learned about Alberta Kings death and the subsequent lack of coverage it gets, my initial assumption was that it was some type of government ordered hit. (L-R) Alberta Williams King, her son Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., MK Jr.s wife Coretta Scott King during MLKs conference at the hospital after being stabbed in 1958 (Getty) You need a Find a Grave account to continue. His wife and father publicly stated they suspected that the system murdered him. Five years later, a mentally ill man shot her grandmother Alberta Williams King to death during a service at the Ebenezer Baptist Church on June 30, 1974. } A.D. was most involved in the civil rights activities during the Birmingham riots. A family portrait of the Kings, taken in 1939. Im gonna find out who did it, he told someone on the phone, within hearing distance of his daughter Alveda. As Then Guardian describes it, King was playing The Lords Prayer on the organ when a 23-year-old Black man named Marcus Wayne Chenault Jr. leapt to his feet in the front of the church, pulled out a gun, and screamed, You must stop this! [1] King died shortly afterward from a gunshot wound to the right of her head. [4] Her work as organist and as director at Ebenezer is considered to have deeply contributed to the respect her son had for music. Advertisement. We humbly honor the old school soul music era and will keep pushing forward to keep it alive. Deeply religious, she grew up as a pastors daughter with an interest in activism. One of the emergency people said he was dead when he hit the water. Naomi, his wife who had been on vacation, flew back to Atlanta and, after identifying his body in the morgue, came to the same conclusion. He said his original target had been Martin Luther King Sr., but he had decided to shoot King's wife instead because she was near him. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. based on information from your browser. } Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. The Kings are firmly against the death penalty, so they pushed to have his death sentence tossed, in exchange for life in prison. {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? #menu .has-mega-sub-blog-menu .mega-sub-menu ul li a:hover{ } Although she was a strong pillar within the powerful King family, Mrs. King preferred to remain in the background. He shot her again. He was a son of Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr., and Alberta Williams King, the youngest of their three children (the other two being Willie Christine, born September 11, 1927, and Martin Luther King, Jr., born January 15, 1929). }); Copyright 2015 . a:hover{ fbq('track', 'PageView'); color:#ddd; Martin Luther King Sr.. Mrs. King was the church's organist and that day she was excited about playing the new organ they'd just gotten. Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter Bernice King, for instance, leads the King Center, an organization launched by his late wife Coretta Scott King. fbq('track', 'ViewContent', { Tragically, during a Sunday service on June 30, 1974, just as she finished playing The Lords prayer on the organ at Ebenezer and while the congregation prepared for prayer, an assassin, standing on a pew near the front of the church, went to the pulpit, faced the choir, and pulled out a gun and opened fire. Sorry! #main-menu-wrapper nav .mega .thunk-widget-menu a:hover,#menu .mega-menu-posts a:hover, Verify and try again. It seemed like I was watching a scene from a bad movie play out, Christine King Farris, Albertas daughter, would recall in her 2009 memoir Through It All. A.D. often traveled with Martin Luther King Jr. and was with him in Memphis on April 4, 1968 when his brother was shot dead. Although as a youth A. D. had strongly resisted his fathers ministerial urgings, he eventually began assisting his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. . On June 30, 1974, a religious extremist arrived from Ohio and took a taxicab to Ebenezer Church. At his wifes funeral, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the wife of the Rev. Alberta Williams King is a 69 years old American murder victim from Atlanta, Georgia. That Sunday was without question the worst day of my life, wrote Farris. In 1963, A. D. King became a leader of the Birmingham campaign, while pastoring at First Baptist Church of Ensley in Birmingham, Alabama. .home .navigation .menu > li > a:hover, .home .navigation ul li a:hover, .home header #main-menu-wrapper .menu-item-has-children > a:hover:after, As a pastors wife Alberta (called "Bunch" by her husband) followed in her mother's footsteps as a powerful presence in Ebenezer's affairs. For the last part of his life, he was afflicted by alcohol and depression. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. King Jr. with his work between 1955 and 1963 when she returned to Ebenezer. However, it is also speculated that he died from heart problems as two of his children died young of heart attacks and one died at the age 49 of a heart attack. In a piece he wrote as a student at Crozier Seminary, he described his mother as being "behind the scene setting forth those motherly cares, the lack of which leaves a missiing link in life." Nov. 21 n 1995, the presidents of three rival Balkan states agreed to make peace in Bosnia, ending nearly four years of terror and ethnic bloodletting that have left a quarter of a million people dead in the worst war in Europe since World War II, Nov. 22 In 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Nov. 24 In 1963, Jack Ruby shot and mortally wounded. They looked up to see a young black man standing on a pew near the front of the church. The boy was brilliant. Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. Nov. 28 In 1943, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin met in Tehran during World War II. iloveoldschoolmusic.com. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was born in Atlanta, GA, to Martin Luther King, Sr (affectionately known as "Daddy King") and Alberta King (affectionately known as "Mama King") on January 15, 1929. As the King Institute notes, she was a pillar of strength for the entire family when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. By the end of this period, Martin Luther King Sr. and Jr. were joint pastors of the church. color:#f4c85e; On August 3, 1995, he suffered a stroke, and was taken to a hospital, where he died of complications from his stroke on August 19, at age 44. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta_Williams_King, Alfred Daniel A.D. King The Brother to the Dream. [1], Alberta King was interred at the South-View Cemetery in Atlanta. } To Alberta Williams King | The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute To Alberta Williams King Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr. Booth stated, at Mrs. Kings funeral, that she sounded no trumpets to call attention to her greatness. Her legacy has been overshadowed by the powerful men in her life and that is something that Mrs. King didnt mind at all. Martin Luther King Sr.; Jesse Jackson; Alberta Williams King; and Christine King Farris at her Spelman College commencement. She was shot and killed in the church by 23-year-old Black Hebrew Israelite Marcus Wayne Chenault six years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.[1], Alberta Christine Williams was born on September 13, 1904. Her actions and efforts at Ebenezer Baptist church were a significant but usually overlooked part of the civil rights campaign. She was just a remarkable human being, her grandson Martin Luther King III told Atlanta TV station 11Alive. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. The King family later moved to a large yellow brick house three blocks away. He jumped down, bolted to the pulpit, faced the choir, and pulled out a gun. Country: United States. He died of natural causes on August 3, 1995. Williams graduated from high school at the Spelman Seminary and [] I thought I had made it through the worst days of my life. Although her soft-spoken nature compelled her to avoid the publicity that accompanied her son's international renown, she remained a constant source of strength to the King family, especially after King, Jr. was assassinated. Although they enjoyed living in the city, they both decided they wanted to spend some time in a more rural area. This is overt. } During his trial, Chenault was sentenced to death, even though two psychiatrists testified that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and had delusions of grandiosity at the time of the murders. About 500 people were in attendance for Sundays service and the short man, wearing a tan suit and thick glasses, went unnoticed as he walked in and blended with the congregation. You see, she was a wonderful mother and wife, but a very soft spoken and shy woman. Long Waits, Short Appointments, Huge Bills. .footer-wrapper li, Outside of her work at Ebenezer, King was the organist for the Womens Auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention from 1950 to 1962. By the time he earned his degree, he had three children and was next in line to take the pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Her father, Adam Daniel Williams, was the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where hed grown the congregation from 13 people in 1893 to 400 by 1903, per the King Institute. Two weeks later he set out for Atlanta, where he shot Alberta King with two handguns as she sat at the organ of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. .mega >ul.sub-menu>li.mega-sub-item>a, .mega .thunk-widget-menu .widget h2.widgettitle, .mega .thunk-widget-menu .widget .recent-post h4.widgettitle,.navigation .mega >ul.sub-menu>li.mega-sub-item>a{ header,.page header{ Learn more about merges. As a young woman, King seemed determined to seek an education. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. You can always change this later in your Account settings. } Alberta Christine Williams King (September 13, 1904:- June 30, 1974) was Martin Luther King Jr.'s mother, married to Martin Luther King Sr. She played a significant role in the affairs of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; She and Michael had three children together Willie Christine, Martin (born Michael), and Alfred Daniel in the Atlanta home where King had grown up. Although Chenaults lawyers pleaded insanitythe young man repeatedly said he was on a mission to kill all Christianshe was given a death sentence. Many were crying; most had their hands pressed to their mouths in disbelief. cemeteries found in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. } Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. Introduction, in Papers 1:1, 7, 13, 1819, 2430. .page-template-magazine-template header.header-style-one #main-menu-wrapper, }h2,.two-grid-layout .post-content h2,.standard-layout .post-title h2{ Alberta was interred at the South View Cemetery in Atlanta. He was praised by his father as an able preacher, a concerned, loving pastor. During Sunday service, Mrs. King was sitting at the organ when she was struck with a bullet. Alberta Williams King, mother of Martin Luther King, Jr., was born in Atlanta in 1903, the only surviving child of Jennie Celeste Williams and Adam Daniel Williams, pastor of Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church. King, An Autobiography of Religious Development, 12 September 195022 November 1950, in Papers 1:359363. In addition to the choir, Alberta would also serve as the organizer and president of the Ebenezer Women's Committee from 1950 to 1962. Alberta Christine Williams King (September 13, 1904 - June 30, 1974) was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s mother and the wife of Martin Luther King, Sr. She played a significant role in the affairs of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where her father, husband and son all served as pastor. background:#fff; 0 cemeteries found in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, USA. Before attending Hampton, she met a young minister named Michael King (later Martin Luther King, Sr.) whom described Alberta as being "poised, gentle, an accomplished musician, scholarly." color:#494bbc; There was never a clear motive as to why Chenault killed Mrs. King, although it is public record that during his trial he said, All Christians are my enemies. It was also brought out that Chenault, an African-American, sought to kill other black members of the clergy, as he saw them as a threat. There is no doubt that her daughter-in-law, Coretta Scott King, learned much from Mrs. King, a piece Larry to the end. color:#f4c85e; And on that fateful day in 1974, shed lose her own life to a gunman. } Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. Mrs. King, a source of strength after her sons assassination, faced fresh tragedy the next year when her younger son and last-born child, Alfred Daniel Williams King I, who had become the assistant pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, drowned in his pool. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? [7] Michael Luther King Jr. followed on January 15, 1929, then Alfred Daniel Williams King I, named after his grandfather, on July 30, 1930. .read-more.read-more-slider a:hover{ Alberta Kings mother died on May 18, 1941, of a heart attack. His sentence was later reduced to life in prison, in part because of a campaign led by the King family. A deacon who witnessed the shooting said that Mrs. King exclaimed Oh! after the blast and that he saw Chenault standing up with a pistol exclaiming, I am taking over this He shot more people, including a deacon, Edward Boykin, who was killed, and Mrs. Jennie Mitchell, who survived. Every now and then, I have to chuckle as I realize there are people who actually believe [Martin] just appeared, Alberta Kings daughter wrote in her memoir Through It All. Her death was a shock to the congregation, Atlanta, and others across the nation. [11] She served as choir director for nearly 25 years, leaving for only a brief period in the early 1960s to accompany her son and assist him with his work. Resend Activation Email. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. . color:#dd9933; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. [10], King founded the Ebenezer choir and served as church organist from 1932 to 1972. West Virginia. Although her soft-spoken nature compelled her to avoid the publicity that accompanied her sons international renown, she remained a constant source of strength to the Kingfamily, especially after King, Jr.s assassination. Martin Luther King Sr.; Alberta Williams King; Coretta Scott King; and Christine King board a plane in 1964, en route to King Jr.s Nobel Peace Prize presentation ceremony. }.footer-wrapper { Martin Luther King Jr. credits his mother with forming his early thinking about race relations in the United States. The sentence was upheld on appeal. She founded the Ebenezer choir and was an organist there from 1932 to 1972. [15] Martin Luther King Sr. died of a heart attack on November 11, 1984,[16] and was interred next to her. .home .header .logo h1 a,.home .header .logo p,.header .logo a,.header .logo p,header.smaller .header .logo h1 a{ border-color:#f4c85e; .slider-wrapper .flex-slider .fs-caption-overlay{ p.192 Hed seemed unusually quietand not very interested in the film. Wheeling. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. Martin Luther King. } Its not just a friendly favor. On August 22, 1995, Chenault died at age 44 after suffering a stroke in prison. It was because of the King family, that Chenault Jr.s life was spared. On June 30, 1974, six years after her son, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, Alberta King was assassinated at Ebenezer Baptist Church by Marcus Wayne Chenault, a 23-year-old black Hebrew Israelite. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for CHINA - Dragon - 1902/08. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. .home header.smaller, header.smaller{ How MLK's Mother Influenced His Thinking A.D. King who was also a civil rights activist- mysteriously drowned in a pooleven though he was a highly skilled swimmer. .header-wrap-top .top-social-icon li a:hover{color:#f4c85e;} Try again. Chenault was sentenced to death; although this sentence was upheld on appeal, he was later resentenced to life in prison, partially as a result of the King familys opposition to the death penalty. .header-wrap-top .top-menu .top li a:hover{ And this should give you an even greater realization of the evil that men do. He was murdered. For his part, Daddy King said publicly that the civil-rights movement killed both of his sons, furthering the family narrative. } letter-spacing:0.7px; Though Alberta Williams King is often viewed as a footnote to the Martin Luther King Jr. story, she played a crucial role in shaping her son's thinking about race in America. As she later described the scene: There were people everywhere. Mrs King's grandson Derek, who said he helped to subdue the gunman as he tried to reload a pistol, added: "He was delirious. A.D. Williams sudden death in the spring of 1931, King, Sr. who had been assistant pastor succeeded his father-in-law as Ebenezer's pastor and changed his name to Martin Luther King. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Martin Luther King Sr. doubles over at the graveside of his wife, Alberta King, shortly after her death in 1974. 20072023 Blackpast.org. 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