Alberta Williams King

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Alberta Christine Williams King (born September 13, 1904 in Atlanta , Georgia ; † June 30, 1974 there ) was the mother of Martin Luther King , Jr. and the wife of Martin Luther King, Sr. She played an important role in the Ebenezer Baptist Church . Six years after her son was murdered , she was shot dead in the church by Marcus Wayne Chenault.

biography

Alberta Christine Williams was the daughter of Reverend Adam Daniel Williams and Jennie Celeste (Parks) Williams. Her father at the time was a pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Alberta Williams was a teacher at the Hampton Normal and Industrial Institute (now Hampton University ) in 1924 .

Williams became known to Martin L. King (then called Michael King) through his sister Woodie. She practiced the teaching profession until shortly before her wedding on Thanksgiving in 1926; after that she had to give up the job as married women were not allowed to teach. Her husband worked as the second pastor since 1926 and the first pastor since 1931 at the Ebenezer Baptist Church .

Their first child, Willie Christine King, was born on September 11, 1927. Michael Luther King Jr. followed on January 15, 1929, then Alfred Daniel Williams King I, named after his grandfather, on July 30, 1930. During this time Michael King changed his name to Martin Luther King, Sr.

Alberta King's mother died of a heart attack on May 18, 1941. Alberta was the organizer and president of the Ebenezer Women's Committee from 1950 to 1962. She was also a talented musician who acted as choir organist and director, which helped her son show special respect for black culture. At the time, Martin Luther King Senior and Junior were joint pastors for the Ebenezer Baptist Church .

Family tragedies 1968–1974

Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968 while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis . King was in Memphis to march in support of the local plumbing union. Alberta King faced another tragedy the following year when their younger son, Alfred Daniel Williams King I, who had become vice pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, drowned in his swimming pool.

death

Alberta King was shot dead on June 30, 1974, at the age of 69, by Marcus Wayne Chenault, a 23-year-old black man from Ohio , who fired two handguns at her while she was sitting at the organ at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Chenault said he shot her because "all Christians are my enemies," claiming he decided that black clergymen were a threat to black people. He said his original target was Martin Luther King Sr., but he chose to shoot his wife instead because she was around him. One of the Church's deacons, Edward Boykin, was also killed and a woman injured in the attack. Alberta was buried in South View Cemetery in Atlanta. Martin Luther King Senior died of a heart attack on November 11, 1984 at the age of 84 and was buried next to her.

Chenault was sentenced to death. Although this sentence was upheld on appeal, he was later sentenced to life in prison, partly due to the King family's rejection of the death penalty. On August 3, 1995, he suffered a stroke and was taken to hospital, where he died of complications on August 19 at the age of 44.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ From the archive, July 1, 1974: Martin Luther King's mother slain in church Alberta King, mother of the late Rev Martin Luther King, was shot and killed today by Marcus Wayne Chenut as she played the organ for morning service . In: Guardian . 
  2. ^ Ancestry of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr
  3. ^ Lewis V. Baldwin: The Voice of Conscience: The Church in the Mind of Martin Luther King, Jr. Oxford University Press, New York 2010, p. 27.
  4. ↑ https://www.seattletimes.com/life/travel/in-atlanta-mlk-national-site-showcases-civil-rights-legacy/
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Saxon: MW Chenault, 44, Gunman Who Killed Mother of Dr. King . In: New York Times , August 22, 1995. 
personal data
SURNAME Williams King, Alberta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES King, Alberta Christine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American civil rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH September 13, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Atlanta
DATE OF DEATH June 30, 1974
Place of death Atlanta