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Coretta Scott King laid to rest
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The body of Coretta Scott King was laid to rest Tuesday evening.
A large crowd was on hand at the King Center as the hearse carrying the body of Coretta Scott King, led by a cadre of Atlanta police motorcycle officers, arrived at 7:14 p.m.
An earlier plan to use a horse-drawn carriage was apparently scrapped.
A smattering of applause went up as the body arrived. The crowd of at least 1,000 began shouting “We love you!”
At 7:35 p.m., an honor guard pulled Mrs. King’s casket out of the hearse shortly after her children arrived. Mayor Shirley Franklin arrived at about 6:45 p.m., as did musical artist Stevie Wonder and other dignitaries and several buses full of mourners.
Doves were released by family members.
The first dove flew in circles repeatedly and then landed in the middle of the family. Six more doves were released by family. They lighted in the trees over the crypt.
Mrs. King’s coffin was then immediately placed in its crypt.
As the family departed, the crowd yelled, “I love you,” one last time.
Earlier, several wreaths were placed around the temporary crypt that will house Mrs. King until a permanent crypt is built next to her husband, Martin Luther King Jr.
Two marble vases sit at the foot of Mrs. King’s crypt, filled with roses nestled in baby’s breath. On the crypt is the inscription: “These three things: the greatest of these is love.”
A crowd outside the King Center that had numbered no more than 100 all day grew rapidly after the funeral ended.
Among the crowd were two women who braved the cold to share the experience with their adopted, bi-racial children.
Dawn Stowers, from Acworth, held 11-week-old Camille, and hummed to her softly while shielding her from the cold.
Christine Hinton, with her daughter, 10-month-old Moriah, said they were there to “teach the children about their heritage.”
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