Editor’s note: This article has been updated with additional details.
When Martin Luther King Jr. died in 1968, Lester Maddox, Georgia’s segregationist governor, who despised King, and once called him “an enemy of our country,” refused to close the Georgia State Capitol Building on the funeral day or give state workers the day off to attend the services.
In 2006, when King’s wife Coretta Scott King died, she became the first woman and the first African American to lie in state under the Gold Dome.
Now, Christine King Farris, King’s eldest sibling, will receive the honor. She will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda on Friday from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m., according to the Atlanta-based King Center.
Farris will be the fourth Black American to receive such honors, after Congressman John Lewis and civil rights leader C.T. Vivian followed in Scott King’s footsteps.
The Friday event will mark four days of celebrations and remembrances to honor Farris, who died on June 29 at the age of 95.
On Tuesday, Spelman College, where Farris graduated from and taught for more than 50 years, will honor her legacy on campus, followed by weekend events at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Farris was practically born in Ebenezer, the grand old Atlanta church that was at times pastored by her grandfather, father, and two brothers.
She was married there and saw her mother, a longtime church organist, die there.
Credit: Jenni Girtman / AJC
Credit: Jenni Girtman / AJC
So in the days following the death of the last matriarch of the King family, it is only fitting that Ebenezer will be the site of her homegoing.
“She was the backbone at Ebenezer Church,” said her son, Isaac Newton Farris Jr.
Farris was a member of Ebenezer for 95 years, reflecting her family’s long history there.
Her grandfather, the Rev. Adam Daniel Williams, became pastor in 1894 and saw the church experience its first significant growth. After moving to several locations in downtown Atlanta, Williams settled on the plot of land on Auburn Avenue and built the brick Late Gothic Revival-style church, which was completed in 1922.
Her father, Martin Luther King Sr. became the pastor in 1931. He married Williams’ daughter, Alberta. By the time King Sr. retired in 1975, a member of Farris’ family had pastored the church for 81 years. Between 1960 and 1968, King Jr. co-pastored with his father.
Credit: AJC Photo Archives
Credit: AJC Photo Archives
Her mother, Alberta Christine Williams King, was murdered at Ebenezer in 1974 by a deranged man who walked in and shot her while she played “The Lord’s Prayer,” on the organ.
The tributes, family members said, will reflect on her life of service, education, leadership, and her love of music.
Credit: Associated Press
Credit: Associated Press
July 11: Reflections on her career and community at Spelman’s Sisters Chapel, 350 Spelman Lane. There will be a viewing at 4 p.m., followed at 6 p.m. with tributes from Spelman and the Links. Farris’ sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., will also perform the organization’s final ritual ceremony.
July 14: Farris will lie in state at the Georgia State Capitol from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. There will be a memorial service from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m.
July 15: At Ebenezer’s Heritage Sanctuary, 407 Auburn Ave., Farris will lie in repose from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. A musical tribute will begin at 6 p.m.
July 16: Farris’s funeral will be held at Ebenezer’s Horizon Sanctuary, 101 Jackson St. The viewing will begin at 3 p.m. followed by the 5 p.m. services.
Read and sign the online guestbook for Christine King Farris
