Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.

  • Published
  • By Capt. Theresa Vollink
  • 932nd AW/MEO office
SCOTT AFB, Ill. --  Many Americans enjoy the luxury of receiving the federal holiday, Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, off every third Monday in January.

Most people recognize all the great contributions of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but how much do they know about the holiday?

Why do we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January? Dr. King was born Jan. 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Ga. That is why this federal holiday is celebrated the third Monday in January. Dr. King was named Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His father, like his grandfather, served as pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, and from 1960 until his death Dr. King acted as co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

He attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen. He received a B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, he was awarded the Bachelor of Divinity in 1951.

Dr. King won a fellowship at Crozer and then enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, receiving his doctorate in 1955. While in Boston, he met and married Coretta Scott, who attended the New England Conservatory of Music. They had two sons and two daughters. Dr. King, at 35, was the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other nonviolent means.

How did Martin Luther King, Jr., Day become a holiday? The celebration was begun as a holiday promoted by labor unions in contract negotiations. After Dr. King's death, United States Representative John Conyers introduced a bill in Congress to make King's birthday a national holiday.

The bill first came to a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1979. However, it fell five votes short of the number needed for passage. The two arguments congress used were that it would be too expensive as a paid federal holiday, and a holiday to a private citizen that never held office would be contrary to tradition. Momentum increased and six million signatures were collected for a petition to Congress to pass the law.

At the White House on Nov. 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the bill creating a federal holiday to honor Dr. King. It was observed for the first time on Jan. 20, 1986. It is one of four holidays to honor a person including Christmas, Columbus Day, and Washington's Day (often referred to as President's Day).

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is the only American to be honored with a federal holiday, excluding the presidents who are celebrated together on Presidents day. Martin Luther King, Jr., will forever remain a key figure in American history for his nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination.

It's probably fair to say that his dream has come true, "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed -- we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal." Having a federal holiday named after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., helps us all remember how far we have progressed as a nation.