Arlen Specter: “I wish to offer some remarks on our loss of Mrs. Coretta Scott King, who has passed away at the age of 78. I join my…”

“I wish to offer some remarks on our loss of Mrs. Coretta Scott King, who has passed away at the age of 78. I join my colleagues in cosponsoring and supporting S. Res. 362 to honor the life of and express the condolences of the Senate on her passing. Coretta Scott King was born April 27, 1927, on a farm in Heiberger, AL, to Obadiah, Obie, and Bernice McMurry Scott. Though her family owned the land, it was often a hard life. All the children had to pick cotton during the Great Depression to help the family make ends meet. Graduating from Lincoln Normal School in Marion, AL, at the top of her class in 1945, Coretta went to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH. After graduation, she moved to Boston, MA, where she met Martin Luther King, Jr. They were married in 1953 on the lawn of her parents' house and with the ceremony performed by King's father. Coretta King received a degree in voice and violin at the New England Conservatory, then moved with her husband to Montgomery, AL, in September 1954 after he was named pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Together, they had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott King, and Bernice Albertine King. Mrs. King received honorary degrees from many institutions including Princeton University and Bates College. She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, a noted African-American women's sorority. The King family was front and center to one of the most turbulent times of the 20th century.…”