Biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.—The Formative Years

Martin, Jr., admired his father and all the Atlanta ministers who spoke so eloquently for civil rights. They demonstrated the power of words, which fascinated the young King. This fascination with language helped him score high on the college entrance exam in his junior year of high school. On the strength of his scores, Martin skipped senior year and entered Morehouse College at the age of 15.

Morehouse helped Martin see his future more clearly. The young student loved listening to the sermons of Morehouse's president, Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, who was also an ordained minister. Dr. Mays could stir people's minds as well as their emotions. He confirmed Martin's notion that the pulpit could be used to improve African American lives. In February 1948, Martin Luther King, Jr., became a Baptist minister, and in June of that same year, he graduated from Morehouse with a bachelor's degree in sociology.

King went on to study religion at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. While there, he was deeply moved by a lecture about the Indian leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, who used passive protests rather than armed rebellion to force the British out of India. Gandhi suffered a violent end when he was shot to death in 1948. King read all he could on Gandhi and his philosophy of nonviolence.

After graduating from Crozer in 1951, the young reverend continued his studies in religion at Boston University. While in Boston, Martin met Coretta Scott, who was studying voice at the New England Conservatory of Music. In 1953, Coretta and Martin married in Coretta's hometown of Marion, Alabama. The Kings decided to settle in Alabama, and in September 1954 Martin Luther King, Jr., became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. In June 1955, King received his doctorate in theology from Boston University.