Martin Luther King Jr. brought about profound change in our country. He certainly had a lot of help, along with all sorts of opposition, but it’s hard to think of any one individual in our nation’s history who made more of a difference. He was 39 years old when a single bullet ended his life. That wasn’t the first attempt on his life. He is surely Atlanta’s most famous native, known the world over and still talked about to this day, and probably for centuries more to come.
There’s the historic King, the one we remember on his birthday, a national holiday, every year. For some, it’s a day off, but for many it’s a "day on, not a day off." During the cold, dark month of January, millions of people participate in a day of service, a time to help others and to reflect. When he is invoked by politicians and others, he’s more of an icon than a real human being, one who went to school, went on dates, and had fun with his friends.
Many people know he was a “Morehouse Man,” a graduate of Morehouse College here in Atlanta. But his education didn’t end there. He earned two more degrees, both in the northeast. His time in those schools wasn’t his first trip out of the south either. He was a good student, and a prolific author. His output is stored in several different scholarly collections. There’s more information on him in our National Archives, but we can’t see it yet.
Dr. King was familiar with the inside of many jails, in more than one state. He wrote one of his most famous documents inside of a jail, and it takes its name from that location. You probably know he won the Nobel Prize. At the time he was the youngest person ever to do so and he’s still the youngest male recipient. But you may not know about another honor, awarded posthumously, by a very different institution.
For more insight on this famous son, father, pastor, author and inspiration, take a look at our gallery, “29 facts about Martin Luther King, Jr.
