Alberta Williams King

Alberta Christine Williams King (September 13, 1903 – June 30, 1974) was the mother of Martin Luther King, Jr.. She was married to Martin Luther King, Sr. for 58 years.

She had an important part in the activities of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. The church is now a part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. She was shot and killed in the church six years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Biography
Alberta Christine Williams was born on September 13, 1903 in Atlanta, Georgia. Her father was Reverend Adam Daniel Williams. He was then the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. Jennie Celeste (Parks) Williams was her mother.Ancestry of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr She earned a teaching certificate at the Hampton Normal and Industrial Institute in 1924. Later the college name became just Hampton University.

Williams met Martin Luther King, Sr. right before she left for school at Hampton. After graduating, she and King got formally engaged at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. She taught for a short time before their Thanksgiving Day wedding in 1926. She then had to quit because married female teachers were not allowed at that time. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929. He was one of their three children.

Alberta King's mother died on May 18, 1941 of a heart attack. The King family later moved to a large yellow brick house three blocks away. Alberta was president of the Ebenezer Women's Committee from 1950 to 1962. She was also a talented musician who became the choir organist and director at Ebenezer. This may have been the reason her son was interested in Black music and art.Lewis V. Baldwin, The Voice of Conscience: The Church in the Mind of Martin Luther King, Jr (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010, 27)  By the end of this time, Martin Luther King Sr. and Jr. were sharing the role of pastors of the church.

Death
On June 30, 1974, King was shot dead in a church by a 23-year-old man while she was playing the organ in Atlanta, Georgia. She died six years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., aged 70. African American registry article on death of Alberta King

References

Other websites
 Find a Grave article on Alberta King
 The King Center biography of Martin Luther King Jr 

Category:1903 births
Category:1974 deaths
Category:Murdered African-American people
Category:Deaths by firearm in the United States
Category:People from Atlanta