Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died on Monday
By Tandrea Madison
Spartan Daily (San Jose State U.)
02/01/2006

(U-WIRE) SAN JOSE, Calif. — She was a woman of achievement, goals, determination, and perseverance and before she ever became Mrs. King, she was simply Coretta Scott.

Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., died on Monday at the age of 78, and some would say the nation lost a treasure.

"Mrs. Coretta Scott King's passing leaves a significant void in the nation's leadership ranks," said African-American Studies Department Chair Steven Milner. "She wasn't just a wife of a civil rights leader. She earned the respect and admiration of all who take women and people of color serious in today's America."

Social work graduate student Albani Goodall agreed, saying, "We're missing out on a good woman."

Coretta Scott was born on April 27, 1927 in Heiberger, Ala., to sharecropping parents, Bernice and Obadiah Scott, according to the Web site of Academy of Achievement in Washington, D.C., a museum of living history.

She excelled academically and musically, graduating valedictorian of her class at Lincoln High School in Marion, Ala. As an undergraduate at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, she joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and on June 18, 1953, she became Mrs. King, according to the Web site.

After Dr. King's death on April 4, 1968, she continued on with his civil rights work.

"It's amazing that this happened right after his birthday," Radio, television, film major Josh Meeks said about Dr. King's birthday on Jan. 15. "She kept the fight going after MLK died and she never got the recognition. She was often overlooked."

Her death took some completely off guard. Sociology major Alethea Huggins says that she was in shock when she found out.

"It's sad," Huggins said.

Mrs. King was able to get her husband's birthday established as a holiday. She built the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in his honor and published the first part of her autobiography, "My Life with Martin Luther King Jr." Later in her life, she devoted much of her time to AIDS education and gun control.

"She truly exemplifies the saying that behind every successful man is a strong woman," said Rita Torres, senior librarian at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Joint Library. "Maybe (her death) will get the attention of students...to not let their legacy die."

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