Civil Rights Movement Coretta Scott King Signed Statement Recalling Meeting Martin Luther King Jr and the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Coretta Scott King

Manuscript & Autographs

King, Coretta Scott. Typed statement recalling her meeting with Martin Luther King Jr. and the origins of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Coretta Scott King’s signed reflection recounts her early relationship with Martin Luther King Jr. and her first experiences in the Civil Rights Movement, situating their marriage and ministry within the historic campaign against segregation in Montgomery, Alabama. In the statement she recalls meeting King while studying in Boston in 1951, explaining that he was completing doctoral work in systematic theology and intended to return to the South to pastor a Baptist church. She writes that after their marriage they relocated to Montgomery, where King accepted the pastorate of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, and soon “found ourselves in the middle of the Montgomery bus boycott, and Martin was elected leader of the protest movement.” The account provides a firsthand perspective from one of the movement’s central figures on the formative events that launched King’s national leadership in the struggle for civil rights.

Typed statement signed by Coretta Scott King. One page. The text includes several extended passages describing her early relationship with Martin Luther King Jr., including the recollection that although she “wasn’t looking for a husband,” she came to see him as “a wonderful human being, and he made everyone feel special.” She describes a personal turning point in which she felt compelled to allow the relationship to develop and later reflects on the couple’s move to Montgomery and the emergence of the boycott movement. Discussing the political awakening produced by the protest campaign, she writes that she came to understand she had been drawn into “something so much greater than myself, something of profound historic importance,” recognizing that the boycott marked the beginning of “a movement to liberate oppressed people, not only in Montgomery but also throughout our country.”

The Montgomery Bus Boycott began in December 1955 after the arrest of Rosa Parks and developed into one of the defining campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement. The protest mobilized Black churches, community leaders, and local activists in a year long effort to challenge segregation in public transportation, culminating in a federal court decision declaring the Montgomery bus system unconstitutional. Martin Luther King Jr.’s leadership during the boycott transformed him into a national figure, while Coretta Scott King became an influential advocate for civil rights, peace activism, and social justice in her own right. Signed reflections describing the couple’s entry into the boycott movement provide important documentary testimony from a participant whose personal and political life became closely intertwined with one of the most consequential protest movements of twentieth century American history. Light handling wear consistent with age. Overall condition very good.

Item #5229

Price: $750.00