Coretta Scott King, and daughter, Yolanda,

Image: April 9th 1968: Coretta Scott King, widow of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (1929 - 1968), and their daughter, Yolanda, sit in a car as it leaves for Martin Luther King Jr’s funeral, Atlanta, Georgia.
The reflection of a group of mourners standing in front of a house is visible in the window of the car.
Photo by Santi Visalli Inc.

On April 4, Civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at age 39 by James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was laid to rest in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 9, 1968, five days after his assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

Many of those attending King’s memorial service and his funeral were, of course, nationally known ― activists, preachers, politicians, artists, athletes and others who had been by King’s side at countless marches and rallies through the years. But many, many more of the tens of thousands who lined Atlanta’s streets or walked behind the mule-drawn casket were
average Americans: the men, women, and children that he fought so hard to help Get the rewards of Freedom and Gain Equity, Equality and Justice.

They came from around Atlanta and around the country to pay their final respects, in person, to a man who gave his life in the struggle for freedom, justice, and peace.

The funeral service was at King’s own Ebenezer Baptist Church and from the far larger public memorial afterward at his alma mater, Morehouse College