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Biography · Civil Rights

Alberta Williams King

1904–1974

United States

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Biography

Alberta Christine Williams King (née Williams; September 13, 1904 – June 30, 1974) was an American civil rights organizer best known as the wife of Martin Luther King Sr.; and as the mother of Martin Luther King Jr., and also as the grandmother of Martin Luther King III. She was the choir director of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. She was shot and killed in the church by 23-year-old Marcus Wayne Chenault six years after the assassination of her eldest son Martin Luther King Jr.

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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

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