Ministers' Home Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church
N 32° 22.387 W 086° 17.775
16S E 566203 N 3582011
This historic marker stands on Jackson Street in Montgomery, Alabama
Waymark Code: WM3NWZ
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 04/27/2008
Views: 25
This historic marker stands in front of the house that served as the home of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., while he served as the minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. While serving as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (1954 - 1960), Dr. King began his quest for Civil Rights and organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The home in which Dr. King and his family lived was damaged as a result of a bomb blast on January 31, 1956.
The text of this historic marker reads:
MINISTERS' HOME
DEXTER AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH
(front)
House built circa 1912. It has been the home of the ministers of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church since 1919. Its most famous occupant, Dr. Martin Luther King, lived here from September 1954-February 1960. During this time he led the Bus Boycott launching an outstanding career as a world leader for civil rights and humanitarian causes. When a bomb damaged the house on January 31, 1956, Dr. King returned from a Boycott meeting and calmed an angry crowd from the porch, averting possible violence. From 1947-1952 the house was occupied by Dr. Vernon Johns, an earlier advocate of civil rights.
(back)
Dr. King became pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in September, 1954. He led the Bus Boycott of 1955-56 as president of the Montgomery Improvement Association. Leaving Montgomery in 1960 he went on to national leadership in civil rights, advocating non-violence. Accomplishments include: president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Selma-Montgomery March; March on Washington; Nobel Peace Prize. His work brought on a world social-humanitarian movement. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, during an effort to secure laborers' rights.
Marker Name: Ministers' Home Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church
Marker Type: Urban
Addtional Information::
This marker has unique text on both sides
Date Dedicated / Placed: 1993
Marker Number: Not Listed
|
Visit Instructions:
Please post a photo of you OR your GPS at the marker location. Also if you know of any additional links not already mentioned about this bit of Alabama history please include that in your log.