A Loving Home of Influence

Coretta Scott King, Christine King Farris, Naomi Barber King, Alberta Williams King, and Jennie Williams.  Copyrighted image(s).  Contact Intellectual Properties Management for authorized use at [e-mail].

Designed by Donald Bermudez

Dr. King’s maternal grandparents Rev. A.D and Mrs. Jennie Celeste Williams purchased the Queen Anne styled home located at 501 Auburn Avenue in 1909. The house was also the family home of Martin Luther King, Sr. (Daddy King) and his bride Alberta Christine Williams King (Mama King). Their three children, Martin Luther King, Jr, (M.L.), Willie Christine and Alfred Daniel Williams (A.D.) were all born and raised in this home. Dr. King was very close to Grandma Williams and as an adult often shared warm memories of their relationship. After the death of Grandma Williams in May of 1941, Mama King and Daddy King decided to move to 193 Boulevard, another property nearby.

Dr. King’s childhood experiences, in conjunction with a developing awareness of racism and injustice, laid the foundation for his answering the call to leadership during the Modern American Civil Rights Movement.

In the 1950s, the home at 501 Auburn Avenue was renovated and converted into a duplex. Alfred Daniel Williams (A.D.) King and his wife, Naomi Ruth Barber King moved into the upstairs apartment with their five children.

In the 1960s the community that helped produce a Martin Luther King Jr. had deteriorated and in 1967, the City of Atlanta slated the historic neighborhood, including the MLK Birth Home for demolition. Mrs. King’s vison was to help the community remain creative, vibrant, and illustrious. She felt the community was the “motherlode of black culture and history” but the first beacon was the house where Martin was born.

Mrs. Coretta Scott King met with then Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. to intercept the demolition and get his help in restoring the Birth Home and revitalizing the Auburn Avenue neighborhood. After Dr. King’s death in 1968, Mrs. King along with Mama King and Christine King Farris, Dr. King’s sister, restored the home to its 1930s appearance when Dr. King lived in the house as a child, with goal of turning the home into a house museum open to the public. Mrs. Coretta Scott King along with Mrs. Christine King Farris, who was also born in the house, dedicated the home in 1975 and open it up to the public for tours that were initially conducted by The King Center.

In 1980 Coretta Scott King worked with political leaders to champion and establish the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site and since then, the Birth Home has been managed by National Park Service.

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