2 September
Martin Luther King, Jr., preaches "What is Man?" and "What Think Ye of Christ?"
at Ebenezer.
13 September 1951-15 January 1952
King begins work at Boston University, taking courses on Personalism, Formal
Logic, Philosophy of Religion, Directed Study in Systematic Theology, and
Seminar in Systematic Theology.
16 September
King is the guest preacher at the Reverend Gardner Taylor's Concord Baptist
Church in Brooklyn.
2 October
Boston University approves King's outline of study.
22 November
King, Jr., attends his parents' twenty-fifth wedding anniversary celebration
in Atlanta.
1952
23 January-16 May 1952
For his second semester at Boston, King enrolls in three courses: Religious
Teachings of the New Testament, Directed Study in Systematic Theology, and
Seminar in Systematic Theology.
February
King begins to date Coretta Scott, a student at the New England Conservatory
of Music.
4 February-10 June
As a "special student" at Harvard University, King enrolls in the History
of Modern Philosophy.
15 February
King passes French examination at Boston University, partially fulfilling
the language requirement.
16 March
King preaches at Ebenezer's celebration of its sixty-fifth anniversary and
of King, Sr.'s twentieth anniversary as its pastor.
18 May
King preaches "The Relevance of the Holy Spirit" at Ebenezer.
25 May
King delivers "The Prevalence of Practical Atheism" at Ebenezer.
26 May-5 July
King takes two courses during the intersession at Boston University: Seminar
in Historical Theology and History of Recent Philosophy.
22 June
King is initiated into Boston's Sigma chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha social
fraternity.
12 July-7 September
King serves as pastor-in-charge at Ebenezer.
24 July
King attends the annual session of Georgia's Sunday School and Baptist Training
Union Congress in Atlanta.
August
Coretta Scott visits Atlanta and meets the King family for the first time.
10 August
King preaches "The Challenge of Communism to Christianity" at Ebenezer.
24 August
King is Youth Day speaker at Pilgrim Baptist Church in Atlanta.
7 September
King preaches "Mental and Spiritual Slavery" at Ebenezer.
22 September 1952-28 January 1953
During the first term of his second year,
King takes courses at Boston on the Religious Teachings of the Old Testament,
History of Christian Doctrine I, and Seminars in Philosophy (Hegel) and
the History of Philosophy.
22 September 1952-26 January 1953
King enrolls in the Philosophy of Plato at Harvard.
10 October
King fails Boston University's German examination.
6 November
Shaw University President William R. Strassner asks King to apply to become
the university's dean of religion.
November
King, Sr., and Alberta Williams King visit Boston.
Fall
King preaches at John Street Baptist Church in Worcester, Massachusetts.
1953
26 January-2 June 1953
King's final course at Harvard is on the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead.
4 February-22 May
King enrolls in his last courses at Boston: the History of Christian Doctrine
II, Seminar in Philosophy (Hegel), and Directed Study in Thesis and Dissertation
Writing.
18 February
On his second attempt, King passes the German examination, completing Boston
University's language requirement.
25 February
King's academic advisor at Boston University, Edgar S. Brightman, dies.
King later chooses L. Harold DeWolf as his new advisor.
April
Obie and Bernice Scott announce the engagement of Coretta Scott and Martin
Luther King, Jr.
12 April
King speaks at First United Baptist Church in Lowell, Massachusetts, at
the invitation of its pastor, the Reverend Otto R. Loverude. King gives
a talk on "What it means to be a Negro in the Deep South" and preaches the
sermon "What Does It Mean to Believe in God?"
7 May
In a public debate with John Wesley Dobbs, King, Sr., supports Atlanta Mayor
William B. Hartsfield's campaign for re-election.
18 June
King, Sr., performs the marriage ceremony of King, Jr., and Coretta Scott
at the Scott home near Marion, Alabama.
21 June
King preaches "By These Things Men Live" at Ebenezer's morning services
and "Does It Pay to Be Faithful?" in the evening. King, Sr., baptizes Coretta
Scott King.
Summer
Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King spend the summer in Atlanta. King serves
as Ebenezer's pastor-in-charge and Coretta Scott King works in a local bank.
King attends an interseminary
conference at Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia.
28 June
King preaches "Accepting Responsibility for Your Actions" at Ebenezer.
5 July
Atlanta's WERD, the nation's first radio station owned and operated by African-Americans,
begins broadcasting from Ebenezer for several months.
12 July
King preaches "Transformed Non-Conformists" at Ebenezer.
19 July
Clark College Dean of Women Phoebe Burney is the Women's Day speaker at
Ebenezer. Coretta Scott King is the featured soloist at the morning service.
26 July
King preaches "God's Revelation to the World" at Ebenezer.
2 August
King preaches "Dressing Christ in False Robes" at Ebenezer.
9 August
King delivers the sermon "The Tragedy of Almost" at Ebenezer.
16 August
King preaches "Lord, Is It I?" at Ebenezer.
23 August
King delivers the sermon "Self-Examination" at Ebenezer.
30 August
King delivers the sermon "Opportunity, Fidelity and Reward" at Ebenezer's
morning services; in the evening, he preaches at Pilgrim Baptist Church.
6 September
King preaches "The Dimensions of a Complete Life" at Ebenezer.
8-14 September
King attends the annual meeting of the National Baptist Convention in Miami.
The Reverend J. H. Jackson, pastor of Olivet Baptist Church in Chicago,
is elected president of the convention.
September
The Kings rent an apartment at 396 Northampton Street in Boston and resume
their studies.
November
Alberta Williams King and King, Sr., spend two weeks in New York and Boston.
15 November
King preaches at the
Reverend J. Timothy Boddie's New Shiloh Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland.
22 November
King preaches at the Reverend
J. L. Henry's Tenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.
21 December
King leaves Boston for vacation in Atlanta.
1954
1 January 1954
King attends the Atlanta NAACP branch's Emancipation Day Celebration at
the City Auditorium. The Reverend J. H. Jackson gives the annual address.
3 January
King preaches in the morning at Ebenezer.
10 January
King preaches in the morning at Ebenezer.
17 January
King delivers a trial sermon at First Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
24 January
King delivers a trial sermon, "The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,"
at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
Dexter's former pastor
Vernon Johns preaches "Segregation After Death" at Ebenezer.
24 February
After passing three other qualifying examinations in November and December,
King passes his final
qualifying examination at Boston University.
28 February
At the invitation of the Reverend A. A. Banks, Jr., King preaches "Rediscovering
Lost Values" at Second Baptist Church in Detroit.
7 March
King is in Lansing, Michigan, to preach at his uncle Joel Lawrence King's
church in the morning and evening. He also addresses the local branch of
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in
the afternoon.
By a unanimous vote,
Dexter Avenue Baptist Church calls King to its pastorate.
4 April
King meets with the pulpit committee at Dexter.
9 April
Boston University approves King's outline of his dissertation.
14 April
King accepts
the call to Dexter's pastorate.
25 April
King preaches at the Reverend Leonard George Carr's Vine Memorial Baptist
Church in Philadelphia.
26 April
The Kings host a meeting of a black graduate study group, the Dialectical
Society, at their Boston apartment.
10 May
Professor L. Harold DeWolf
lectures at a meeting of the Dialectical Society; King offers the opening
prayer.
16 May
King preaches at the thirty-third annual memorial service of the Pullman
Porters' Benefit Association of America at Union Baptist Church in Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
17 May
In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the U.S. Supreme Court
declares racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.
30 May
King preaches "Loving Your Enemies" at Dexter and presides over the ordination
of deacons. He spends the summer commuting between Boston and Montgomery.
13 June
At the invitation of the Reverend
Thomas Kilgore, Jr., King preaches at Friendship Baptist Church in Harlem,
New York City.
15 June
Coretta Scott King receives her bachelor of music degree in music education
from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
22 June
King, Sr., addresses the opening session of the National Baptist Sunday
School and Baptist Training Union Congress in Birmingham, Alabama.
11 July
King preaches "What is Man" for Men's Day at Dexter.
1 September
King begins his pastorate at Dexter.
5 September
King delivers his first sermon as pastor of Dexter and presents his "Recommendations
to the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church for the Fiscal Year 1954-1955,"
which are accepted by the congregation.
6-11 September
King, Jr., Alberta Williams King, and King, Sr., attend the National Baptist
Convention in St. Louis.
9 September
King, Jr., speaks to the Women's Convention at the request of its president,
Nannie Helen Burroughs. King's noonday message is "The Vision of the World
Made New."
4-10 October
Phoebe Burney is the guest speaker for Women's Emphasis Week at Dexter.
20-21 October
King attends the Montgomery-Antioch District Association's annual meeting
at Hutchinson Street Baptist Church in Montgomery. King is appointed to
serve as reporter.
31 October
At King, Jr.'s installation as pastor of Dexter, King, Sr., preaches the
sermon, and Alberta Williams King conducts Ebenezer's choir.
November
King and Coretta Scott King spend two weeks in Boston working on a draft
of his dissertation.
14 November
King preaches at the Reverend William H. Hester's Twelfth Baptist Church
in Boston.
25 November
The annual Thanksgiving program at Montgomery's First Baptist Church features
a solo by Coretta Scott King.
28 November
King delivers the Men's Day sermon at Atlanta's Friendship Baptist Church,
whose pastor is the Reverend Samuel W. Williams, his Morehouse philosophy
professor.
12 December
The Reverend Melvin H. Watson, the son of Ebenezer clerk P. O. Watson, delivers
the Seventy-eighth Anniversary sermon at Dexter.
1955
January 1955
King and H. Councill Trenholm, president of Alabama State College, Montgomery,
deliver eulogies at the funeral of Alabama State Professor James Milton
Reynolds.
1 January
Coretta Scott King sings a solo at an Emancipation Proclamation anniversary
celebration at Holt Street Baptist Church.
11-13 January
King attends the national board meeting of the National Baptist Convention
in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The featured preacher is the Reverend C. L. Franklin,
who delivers the sermon "God's Wheels of Progress."
23 January
King speaks on "A Realistic Look at Race Relations" at a meeting of the
Birmingham NAACP.
2 February
The adjourned session of the Alabama Baptist State Convention meets at First
Baptist Church. On 1 February King gives the invocation at a service for
the group's newly elected officers.
25 February
King delivers the evening inspirational message on the final day of the
Montgomery Baptist Bible Institute at the Holt Street Baptist Church.
1 March
Following the Reverend M. C. Cleveland's sermon, King speaks at a mass meeting
for the National Baptist Convention's Home Mission Board. The event, sponsored
by the Baptist Ministers' Conference of Montgomery, is at Beulah Baptist
Church.
2 March
Claudette Colvin, 15, is arrested for allegedly violating Montgomery's ordinance
requiring segregation on the city's buses. King, Jo Ann Robinson of the
Women's Political Council, Rosa Parks of the Montgomery NAACP, and others
later meet with city and bus company officials.
6 March
Coretta Scott King gives a voice recital at First Baptist Church.
8 March
Coretta Scott King directs a "Talent Night" featuring local youth as part
of Dexter's Youth Emphasis Week.
13 March
King's Morehouse and Crozer classmate, the Reverend Walter R. McCall, is
the guest speaker for Youth Emphasis Week at Dexter.
Dexter's Baptist Youth
Fellowship holds a symposium on "The Meaning of Integration for American
Society," featuring among other speakers, Dexter member Cleveland Dennard
and the Reverend Robert E. Hughes, the executive director of the Alabama
Council on Human Relations (ACHR).
20 March
King delivers the Sixty-eighth Anniversary sermon at Ebenezer.
23-24 March
King attends a meeting in Nashville of the Advisory Council on Literature
and Curriculum, National Baptist Training Union Board of the National Baptist
Convention.
10 April
King preaches for Easter services at Dexter.
15 April
King delivers the final draft of his dissertation to Boston University.
17 April
At the invitation of the Reverend Marvin Gibson, King preaches at Union
Baptist Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
21 April
King defends his dissertation before a faculty committee at Boston University.
24 April
Alberta Williams King directs Ebenezer's choir in a Sunday afternoon concert
at Dexter.
27-29 April
The Reverend Samuel D. Proctor, president of Virginia Union University in
Richmond, gives a series of speeches for Dexter's Spring Lecture Series.
30 April
King serves as a resource and discussion leader at the annual state meeting
of Hi-Y clubs at Alabama State College in Montgomery.
8 May
King preaches "[The] Crisis Facing Present-Day Family Life in America" at
Dexter's Mother's Day service.
15 May
King delivers the Baccalaureate sermon at the Alabama State College commencement
in Montgomery.
22 May
King preaches the Baccalaureate sermon at Talladega County Training School
in Renfroe, Alabama.
31 May
The faculty of Boston University votes to confer the doctorate on King.
The Supreme Court issues
an order to implement the May 1954 Brown v. Board of Education
school desegregation ruling.
1 June
The Honorable Archibald J. Carey, Jr., speaks at a citizenship rally sponsored
by Alabama State College's Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. King gives the benediction.
5 June
King is awarded his doctorate from Boston University but does not attend
the commencement ceremony.
12 June
The Reverend Major J. Jones preaches at Ebenezer.
19 June
King preaches "Who Is Truly Great" at Dexter.
King delivers the keynote
address at an Alabama NAACP regional mass meeting at Holt Street CME Church.
26 June
King delivers a sermon on "Discerning the Signs of History" at Dexter.
27 June-3 July
King attends the National Baptist Sunday School and Baptist Training Union
Congress in Atlantic City.
3 July
King preaches at Friendship Baptist Church in Harlem.
8 July-3 August
King, Sr., Alberta Williams King, and Christine King attend the Baptist
World Alliance meeting in London, England.
10 July
Morehouse President Benjamin Mays is the guest
speaker for Men's Day at Dexter.
17 July
King preaches "Am I My Brother's Keeper?" at Dexter.
22 July
At the invitation of Dillard University President Albert W. Dent, King flies
to New Orleans to discuss taking a position as dean of the new university
chapel.
24 July
King preaches "The Death of Evil Upon the Seashore" at Dexter.
31 July
King delivers "The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life" at the tuskegee
Institute chapel.
July
King speaks on "The Three Levels of Love" at the monthly meeting of Dexter's
Young Matrons Club.
2-5 August
King attends the Alabama Baptist State Sunday School and Baptist Training
Union Congress at Holt Street Baptist Church in Montgomery. He serves on
the Committee on Youth Parade with the Reverends Ralph D. Abernathy, U.
J. Fields, J. C. Parker, A. W. Wilson, and other local ministers.
14 August
King addresses the Montgomery NAACP.
18 August
King hosts the monthly meetings of the Montgomery chapter of the Alabama
Council of Human Relations at Dexter.
26 August
Rosa Parks, the secretary of the Montgomery NAACP, informs King that he
has been elected to the executive committee.
28 August
King preaches in the morning and evening for Men's Day at the Reverend J.
E. Moss's Jackson Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.
Fourteen-year-old Emmett
Till, a black teenager from Chicago, is murdered while vacationing with
relatives near Money, Mississippi.
August
The Montgomery NAACP submits a petition to the school board to integrate
the city's public schools.
6-11 September
King, Jr., Alberta Williams King, and King, Sr., attend the annual meeting
of the National Baptist Convention in Memphis, Tennessee. King, Sr., serves
as a member of the convention's board of directors.
9 October
Lynette Saine Bickers, associate professor of education at Atlanta University,
is the guest speaker for Women's Day at Dexter.
16 October
King delivers "The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life" at Southern University
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
17-23 October
At the invitation of Dean of Students Walter R. McCall, King is the guest
speaker for Religious Emphasis Week at Fort Valley State College in Fort
Valley, Georgia. The theme of the week is "Christ in Human Relations." King
preaches "The Dimensions of a Complete Life," "What Is Man," "Going Forward
by turning Back," and "The Death of Evil Upon the Seashore." He also participates
in panel discussions on "How Christianity Affects Our Fears," "Christ and
Race Relations," "What Has Christianity to Say About Sex Standards," "Christ
and Business Relations," and "Christ and Our Physical Surroundings."
30 October
King preaches "The Seeking God" at Dexter.
7 November
King speaks at the fall institute of the local Baptist Training Union in
Chattanooga, Tennessee.
17 November
Yolanda Denise King, the Kings' first child, is born.
20 November
King preaches "The One-sided Approach of the Good Samaritan" at Dexter.
