Martin Luther King Jr. History Free
Martin Luther King Jr. History
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in what city?
1. Atlanta, Georgia
2. Montgomery, Alabama
3. Memphis, Tennessee
4. Augusta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
MLK Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia in an upstairs bedroom of 501 Auburn Ave. His birth home is a National Historic Site.
What was Martin Luther King Jr.’s name before his father changed it?
1. Malcolm
2. Mark
3. Michael
4. Matthew
Michael
After a trip to Germany, MLK Jr’s father changed his name from Michael King to Martin Luther King to honor the German theologian Martin Luther, and he changed the name of his two-year old son at the same time.
Which of the following men was NOT one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s lieutenants?
1. Hosea Williams
2. Willie Ricks
3. Ralph Abernathy
4. Andrew Young
Willie Ricks
Willie Ricks was not a lieutenant of Dr. King. Later known as Mukasa Dada, Ricks was a lieutenant of Stokely Carmichael (later known as Kwame Ture) who worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Ricks first used the term “Black Power”.
In what year did Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. earn the Nobel Peace Prize?
1. 1964
2. 1962
3. 1968
4. 1954
1964
In 1964 MLK Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership of the Civil Rights movement and commitment to nonviolent action. He accepted the award on December 10, 1964 in Oslo, Norway.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. encountered a powerful white enemy in Birmingham in the form of the Public Safety Commissioner named what?
1. George Wallace
2. Jim Clark
3. J. Edgar Hoover
4. Eugene “Bull” Connor
Eugene “Bull” Connor
Eugene “Bull” Connor, a staunch racist, was elected to the office of Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham, Alabama for two terms beginning in 1936. He used every tactic and strategy he could to stop the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham.
How many African Americans earned the Nobel Peace Prize before Dr. King?
1. 3
2. 2
3. 1
4. 0
1
Prior to Dr. King earning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, only one African American had previously earned the award; this was Ralph Bunch, American political scientist and diplomat, who received the Prize in 1950.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day was declared a federal holiday in what year?
1. 1983
2. 1980
3. 1990
4. 1984
1983
President Ronald Reagan signed the bill designating Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday as a federal holiday on November 2, 1983.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. earned his doctorate in 1955 from what institution?
1. Howard
2. Harvard
3. Cornell
4. Boston U.
Boston U.
After graduating from Crozer Theological Seminary in 1951, Rev. MLK Jr. pursued his doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University’s School of Theology.
In what city did Martin Luther King Jr. pen a letter from a jail cell?
1. Birmingham
2. Montgomery
3. Charlotte
4. Selma
Birmingham
"The Letter from Birmingham Jail" is an open letter written on April 16, 1963, while MLK Jr. was incarcerated in Birmingham, AL.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s father’s occupation was what?
1. Mortician
2. Doctor
3. Lawyer
4. Preacher
Preacher
Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. was a Baptist preacher and missionary.
Martin Luther King Jr. graduated from a high school named after what pioneer African American?
1. W.E.B. Dubois
2. Langston Hughes
3. George Washington Carver
4. Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
MLK Jr graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, GA, named after the founder of Tuskegee (Institute) University.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was dedicated on the National Mall in what year?
1. 2000
2. 2011
3. 1986
4. 2006
2011
The MLK Jr. Memorial opened to the public on August 22, 2011.
What was the name of the young woman whom Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. met and married?
1. Christine Farris
2. Corine Scales
3. Coretta Keyes
4. Coretta Scott
Coretta Scott
MLK Jr. met Coretta Scott when a friend introduced them over the telephone in 1952. They courted for about a year before they were married on June 18, 1953 on the lawn of her parents’ home in Marion, AL.
In what year did Dr. King deliver his famous "I Have a Dream" speech?
1. 1964
2. 1965
3. 1963
4. 1954
1963
The famous "I Have a Dream speech" was delivered by MLK Jr. during the March on Washington in 1963.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was inspired to do his good works through the teachings of what great leader?
1. The Dali Lama
2. Buddha
3. Mahatma Gandhi
4. Hare Krishna
Mahatma Gandhi
Dr. King was deeply influenced by the works of the nonviolent practitioner, Mahatma Gandhi, while studying at the Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. His faith in God and non-violence became his weapons for the struggle for civil liberty for African Americans.
How many children did Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have?
1. 2
2. 4
3. 5
4. 3
4
MLK Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King had four children, Yolanda Denise King, born in 1955; Martin Luther King Jr. III, in 1957; Dexter Scott King, 1961; and Bernice Albertine, 1963. Yolanda died in 2007.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s undergraduate school is located in what city?
1. Selma
2. Montgomery
3. Atlanta
4. Birmingham
Atlanta
MLK Jr. graduated from the prestigious all-male Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA in 1948 with a BA degree.
Which organization did Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. aid in founding and serving as president until his death?
1. CORE
2. SCLC
3. Montgomery Improvement Association
4. NAACP
SCLC
SCLC, or the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was founded by a wide group of Civil Rights activists in 1957 who met at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. MLK, Jr was elected its first president.
In the iconic photograph taken of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel just the day before his assassination, which Civil Rights leader is NOT in the picture?
1. Rev. Jesse Jackson
2. Rev. Andrew Young
3. Rev. Ralph Abernathy
4. Rev. Hosea Williams
Rev. Andrew Young
While Rev. Andrew Young was in Memphis at this time with Dr. King, he was not in this now famous photograph that showed the Civil Rights leaders arriving to the hotel, some with briefcases in hand.
How many siblings did Martin Luther King Jr. have?
1. 1
2. 4
3. 3
4. 2
2
MLK Jr had two siblings, an older sister, Christine King (Mrs. Christine Farris) and younger brother, Reverend Alfred Daniel Williams King, now deceased.
At what age did Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. enter college?
1. 21 years
2. 25 years
3. 15 years
4. 18 years
15 years
Growing up in Atlanta, Dr. King attended Booker T. Washington High School; however, he was so bright that he skipped both the ninth and twelfth grades and entered Morehouse College when he was only fifteen years old.
What was the name of the Baptist church where the elder Rev. Martin Luther King served as pastor and later Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as its pastor?
1. Dexter Avenue
2. Big Bethel
3. Wheat St.
4. Ebenezer
Ebenezer
In 1931, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Sr., who was husband of Alberta Williams, daughter of the Church’s second pastor, assumed leadership of Ebenezer Baptist Church. After giving a trial sermon at the Church at the age of 19, MLK Jr. was ordained as a minister and in 1960 became co-pastor with his father and remained so until his assassination in 1968. His father was pastor until his death in 1984.
Who was the other person who also died at the Lorraine Hotel on the same day as Dr. King?
1. A policemen who had come to the hotel
2. A hotel worker
3. Another hotel resident
4. Someone visiting Dr. King
A hotel worker
Lorraine Bailey, a hotel worker and wife of the hotel owner (and for whom the hotel was named), had a heart attack after seeing MLK Jr. shot dead on the hotel balcony. She later died.
By what weapon did the deranged woman, Izolla Curry, attempt to kill Martin Luther King Jr.?
1. Knife
2. Gun
3. Machete
4. Poison
Knife
Izola Curry was a mentally ill woman who in 1958 stabbed MLK Jr. at a Harlem book signing.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had gone to Memphis, the site of his assassination for what purpose?
1. A bus boycott
2. The garbage collectors strike
3. A union protest march
4. The Poor People's Campaign
The garbage collectors strike
The garbage collectors in Memphis Tennessee had been on strike since February, 1968, with no sign of an end. MLK Jr. went to Memphis in March to lend his support, but no resolution was reached. He was invited back in April and had considered not returning; however, he decided that he had to follow through with the movement and returned on April 3.
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Iconic leader and champion of the civil rights cause in America has gone down in history as one of the most influential people to have ever lived. Gain some knowledge about this great man
9 replies on “Martin Luther King Jr. History”
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