Coretta Scott King was born on April 27, 1927 and died on Jan. 30, 2006.
Coretta Scott was valedictorian of Lincoln High School in Marion, Ala. She went on to receive a B.A. in music and education from Antioch College before studying concert singing at the New England Conservatory of Music. (file)
The family photo of the King family, made in 1963, shows Martin Luther King III, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, Dexter on her lap and daughter Yolanda. (file)
During the Civil Rights Movement, Coretta Scott King was known publicly as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s wife but those close in the Movement knew she was much more than that. In this photo from 1964, Coretta carries daughter Bernice in Atlanta.
Coretta often accompanied her husband in civil rights marches. In this 1966 march, John Lewis (far right), Dr. King, Coretta, Ralph David Abernathy (second left), lead protestors from Atlanta University to the Georgia state Capitol (AJC)
In the mid-1960s, Coretta Scott King gave a series of 'Freedom Concerts' to benefit the Civil Rights Movement (DeCasseres)
Coretta Scott King and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pose for a portrait at home in Atlanta in March 1968. Dr. King was assassinated only weeks later (Special to the AJC/Ben Fernandez)
Coretta Scott King and her daughter Bernice, 5, are shown April 9, 1968 attending the funeral of her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in Atlanta in this Pulitzer-prize winning photograph taken by Moneta J. Sleet Jr. (AP Photo)
Coretta Scott King is seen at her home in Atlanta, Ga., in May 28, 1968, one month after the assassination of her husband. She devoted her life to enshrining his legacy of human rights and equality (AP Photo).
In this photo from the 1980s, Bernard LaFayette (left), Coretta Scott King and Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson speak at a press conference concerning the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change building on Auburn Ave. (AJC file)
As part of Atlanta's bid to host the Olympics, Coretta Scott King in April 1990 showed members of the IOC the medals her husband Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. won during his lifetime. (Johnny Crawford/AJC staff)
Coretta Scott King speaks at a commemorative service honoring her late husband at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Monday, Jan. 20, 1997. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
In this 2005 photo, a four-year-old admirer shakes the hand of Coretta Scott King during a book signing session held at the King Center. Late into life, Coretta continued to be the public face of the King family (Billy Smith II/AJC staff)
Coretta Scott King received a standing ovation when she made a surprise appearance at the Salute to Greatness Awards Dinner on Jan. 14, 2006. A stroke the previous August had rendered her unable to speak (W.A. Bridges Jr./AJC Staff)
A portrait of Coretta Scott King sat in the Capitol rotunda behind black curtains on Feb. 3, 2006 in preparation for her body to lie in state. (Ben Gray/AJC staff)
The widow of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. passed Jan. 30, 2006.
The crypt of Coretta Scott King sits in the foreground of her husband's crypt at the King Center.