The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, were posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on Tuesday as part of a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Top Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate held hands and swayed along to a performance of “We Shall Overcome” under the Capitol Rotunda in honoring the passage of the landmark law and the work of the Kings.
U.S. Rep. John Lewis, an Atlanta Democrat who was a compatriot of the Kings, called them “one of the most distinguished and admired husband and wife teams of the 20th century.”
Lewis added, “When they stood together, their bodies became great pillars of hope, the American house resting on their shoulders.”
Several members of the King family were on hand for the presentation of the award, which will be housed in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Congress’ leaders also lauded President Lyndon B. Johnson; Sen. Everett Dirksen, R-Ill.; and others who helped shape and push the Civil Rights Act banning discrimination in public facilities. The Senate debate — which included epic filibusters against the bill by Southern Democrats — provoked awe in a young Mitch McConnell, now the Senate minority leader, as the act finally passed.
“It was a powerful lesson in how determined men and women can use the Senate to achieve our founding purposes,” said McConnell, a Kentucky Republican.
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