In 2005, King gifted the use of her name to her alma mater, Antioch College in Yellow Springs, to create the Coretta Scott King Center as an experiential learning resource to address issues of race, class, gender, diversity, and social justice for the campus and the surrounding community. President Richard Nixon was advised against visiting her on the first anniversary of his death since it would "outrage" many people. However, she died because of other reasons. She made her first appearance at the First Baptist Church on March 6, 1955, where according to E. P. Wallace, she "captivated her concert audience". "[186] On October 2, 1998, the King family filed a suit against Loyd Jowers after he stated publicly he had been paid to hire an assassin to kill Martin Luther King. Her father was Obediah "Obie" Scott and her mother was Bernice McMurray Scott. On January 17, 1993, King showed disdain for the U.S. missile attack on Iraq. Bernice married Obadiah "Obie" Scott. The concert was important for Coretta as a way to continue her professional career and participate in the movement. Her daughter Bernice referred to her as "My favorite person. U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations, Martin Luther King Jr. Records Collection Act, King: A Filmed Record Montgomery to Memphis, The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306, Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story, Joseph Schwantner: New Morning for the World; Nicolas Flagello: The Passion of Martin Luther King. She became vegan in the last 10 years of her life.[128][129]. [202], In 1970, the American Library Association began awarding a medal named for Coretta Scott King to outstanding African-American writers and illustrators of children's literature.[203]. [139] "This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next minority group. Marion, Perry County, Alabama, United States, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, United States, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JYG4-CYC, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKW5-DKT2, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2WQ-G1KV, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MK7B-C87, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXDZ-L6X, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:3KH3-BZM, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V1PB-LF4, US Black Heritage Project Managed Profiles. With a wedding set in June, only four months away at that time, Coretta still did not have a commitment to marrying King and consulted with her sister in a letter sent just before Easter Vacation. Coretta Scott King died late on the evening of January 30, 2006 at the rehabilitation center in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, In the Oasis Hospital where she was undergoing holistic therapy for her stroke and advanced stage ovarian cancer.The main cause of her death is believed to be respiratory failure due to complications from ovarian cancer. [161] Hospitalized in April 2005, a month after speaking in Selma at the 40th anniversary of the Selma Voting Rights Movement, she was diagnosed with a heart condition and was discharged on her 78th and final birthday. [165] The clinic at which she died was called the Hospital Santa Mnica, but was licensed as Clnica Santo Toms. King was vocal in her opposition to capital punishment and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. King played a prominent role in the years after her husband's assassination in 1968, when she took on the leadership of the struggle for racial equality herself and became active in the Women's Movement. [98] On October 15, 1969, King was the lead speaker at the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam demonstration in Washington D.C, where she led a crowd down Pennsylvania Avenue past the White Past bearing candles and at a subsequent speech she denounced the war in Vietnam.[99]. If there is anything I can do to help, please feel free to call on me." Craig Harland Murray was a navy officer but his sons chose a completely different profession. The holiday is now observed in all fifty states and has been since 2000. She sanctioned the kit, which contained a wall poster, five photographs of King and his family, a cassette of the I Have a Dream speech, a booklet of tips on how to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day and five postcards with quotations from King himself. [58] In what has been noted as making Kennedy seem less sympathetic towards the Kings, the president redirected Mrs. King's call to the White House switchboard. [104] Senator Robert F. Kennedy ordered three more telephones to be installed in the King residence for King and her family to be able to answer the flood of calls they received and offered a plane to transport her to Memphis. On January 24, 1996, King delivered a 40-minute speech at the Loyola University's Lake Shore campus in Rogers Park. The center opened in 2007 on the Antioch College campus. She is the daughter of Martin McMurry and Mollie Smith. [14] Though lacking formal education themselves, Coretta Scott's parents intended for all of their children to be educated. It was the first time that an LGBT rights group had been invited to a major event of the African-American community. [197][198], Coretta Scott King was the recipient of various honors and tributes both before and after her death. "[33], On September 1, 1954, Martin became the full-time pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Please enter a valid Memorial ID. Mandela's husband was still being imprisoned in Pollsmoor Prison after being transferred from Robben Island in 1982. However, Corette attended a boarding school which was at Booker T. Washington. She was temporarily buried on the grounds of the King Center until being interred next to her husband. [1], Sometime afterward, Robert F. Kennedy obtained King's release from prison. cmurry, Allie Brailsford (born Mcmurry), Alonzo Mcmurry, Lucille Tubbs (born Mcmurry), Clara Mcmurry,