Ancestry of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Forty years ago, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, to support striking sanitation workers protesting poor wages and working conditions. That visit, unfortunately, ended in tragedy as the 39-year-old Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed outside his hotel room on April 4, 1968. While Dr. King was best known as the nation's chief civil rights leader, however, he was first and foremost a pastor - descended from a long line of pastors. His father was a pastor. His maternal great-grandfather was a pastor. Several of his uncles were preachers and pastors. Preaching was very much a part of his family history. I'm sure he made his ancestors proud.