Published Feb. 7, 2006
THE PHONE CALL
On Oct. 19, 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested during a sit-in at the snack bar at Rich’s department store in downtown Atlanta. Though those charges were dropped, King was held for violating his probation from a traffic offense. He was taken to Reidsville State Prison in South Georgia. The next day, on the urging of aides, Sen. John Kennedy, who was engaged in a tight race with Richard Nixon for the presidency, called a distraught Coretta. It’s a phone call that may have changed history. It helped build strong support for Kennedy among blacks, and he won one of the closest elections in U.S. history.
From “Parting the Waters” by Taylor Branch
“After greeting her, Kennedy said, ‘I know this must be very hard for you. I understand you are expecting a baby, and I just wanted you to know that I was thinking about you and Dr. King. If there is anything I can do to help, please feel free to call on me.’ ‘I certainly appreciate your concern,’ said Coretta. ‘I would appreciate anything you could do to help.’ "
From “An Easy Burden” by Andrew Young
“Perhaps it’s difficult to understand in the present day what a courageous thing it was for a white presidential candidate to do. ... The word that Kennedy had called Coretta spread through the black community like wildfire. Daddy King publicly announced, ‘I’ve got friends who keep the votes in a suitcase, and I’m going to tell them we gon’ vote for this Kennedy boy, now. Of course I was worried about him being a Catholic.’ "
THE COURTSHIP
From “The Thunder of Angels” by Donnie Williams with Wayne Greenhaw
“He found her very attractive. He liked her hair, with bangs cut across the forehead and a flip curl below her ears. Their conversations moved rapidly from awkward questions and answers. ... They dated for a year. Every time King made a new intellectual or spiritual discovery, he discussed it with Coretta. They went to the symphony, and after a long evening of music, she told him she had always wanted to be a singer. She sang for him. He loved the sound of her voice.”
LIFE WITH MLK
From “One Man, One Voice” by Charles Morgan Jr.
“She had heard him lied about, had seen him in despair, had laughed with him when laughter and faith were all they had. ‘He’s away a lot,’ she said slowly, without a trace of bitterness. ‘And the children do miss him, and so do I.’ Then she said, ever so softly, ‘You see, our children know what their father believes in, what he’s working for, what he wants for them, and all other children. He’s not at home as much as most fathers are, but our children have a father they’re proud of and that counts for an awful lot.’ "
APRIL 4, 1968
From “An Easy Burden” by Andrew Young
“I ran to a phone booth in the hallway outside the operating room to call Coretta. I was able to reach her at home and told her that Martin had been shot in the neck and that it was very serious, but he was not dead. Coretta sounded extremely calm, almost serene. She had already heard Martin had been shot and was hurriedly packing to rush to the airport to catch a plane for Memphis.”
THE FUNERAL
From “To the Mountaintop” by Stewart Burns
“Coretta King was shrouded in a dark veil as she viewed her husband’s body at Ebenezer, and as she sat with her four children and A.D. King in the front pew of the funeral on Tuesday. Daddy and Mama King sat with unspeakable sorrow next to the children. ... Mrs. King cradled in her bosom her youngest child, Bernice, just turned five, as the little girl’s eyes begged an answer from her brave, bereaved mother.”
