Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the most notable civil rights activists in
American history. He is most noted for securing significant progress toward
equal rights for African-Americans during the 1950s, and his Letters from
Birmingham, as
well as his “I Have a Dream” speech: two literary works that changed human
consciousness around the world. He is known as one of the greatest speakers in
the history of the United
States and received the Nobel Peace
Prize for his work in civil rights.
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Education
Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in 1968, but not before he accomplished
quite a bit during his life. He worked as a Baptist
minister, and was extremely educated. He excelled in school from the very
beginning, skipping right over both ninth and twelfth grades. He was admitted to
Morehouse College at
the age of 15, made possible by a special program for high school students who
showed promise. It was during this admittance in 1944, that he began to pursue
his very first college
diploma, almost immediately after receiving his high school
diploma.
The only issue with King’s education arose
when he realized that he could only read at the level of an eighth grader. This
fact only motivated him, and he was able to overcome this obstacle with relative
ease and still graduate with a bachelor’s
degree in 1948. The very first college degree that Martin Luther King,
Jr. received was a bachelor’s
degree in sociology.
While he had originally desired a career as a lawyer or
doctor, he decided to pursue a career in the ministry at this point.
The Beginning of the Non-Violent Philosophy
After graduating from Morehouse in 1948, he began attending the Crozer
Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. He was extremely serious about
the work he did at Crozer, studying theologians from all walks of life. He
learned about Gandhi during this time, as well as his non-violent approach to
change. He was extremely influenced by the work of those he came across during
these studies, and the civil rights movement was never the same again. He went
on to pursue a doctorate degree and
officially became Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King’s high school diploma
and college
degree afforded him many opportunities, much more education and opportunity than
were given to many people he later worked to secure rights for. Although he was
not deemed an equal class citizen, he had plenty of education and was educated
at some of the most famous educational institutions in the history of the
United
States.
After his assassination in 1968, the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. has gone
on and taken many different shapes and forms. Much of his success was made
possible through his education, from his successes as a boy to his successes in
postsecondary
education. The more educated a person is, the more likely the world is to
take them seriously. Martin Luther King’s first college
degree opened up avenues that he likely never thought possible.