Keeping the peace for Martin Luther King, Jr.
The country rioted after Martin Luther King's death. But in Atlanta, a respectful peace reigned.
April 5, 1968
Mourners pay their respects to Martin Luther King, Jr., at the R.S. Lewis & Sons Funeral Home in Memphis.
April 5, 1968
King's casket is loaded onto an airplane, chartered by Robert Kennedy for Coretta Scott King, who traveled to Memphis to accompany her late husband's casket home to Atlanta.
Mourners wait to pay their respects to King at Spelman College in Atlanta.
(AP Photo/Jack Thornell)King's funeral was held on April 9, 1968, five days after his death. Until then, the reverend was laid in state at the Sisters Chapel at Spelman College in Atlanta. Te
April 9, 1968
The private funeral service at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King had been a pastor.
Coretta Scott King during the private service.
(Everett Collection/Newscom)A packed private service was held at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King and his father had served as pastors. King's longtime friend Rev. Ralph Abernathy bega
The King family — daughter Yolanda, King's brother A.D., daughter Bernice, widow Coretta, Rev. Ralpha Abernathy, and sons Dexter and Martin Luther King III — walk in the funeral procession.
(AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)
(Keystone Pictures USA / Alamy Stock Photo)King's coffin was transferred to a wooden mule-drawn wagon, which called to mind royal funerals with their horse-drawn coaches. But King's version was chosen specifically for being so worn down and rugged — representative of the grounded work and people King lived and died for. The wagon, followed by King's family, friends, and fellow civil rights leaders, walked the four-mile route from the church to the campus of Morehouse College, King's alma mater. An estimated 150,000 people fanned out behind them in a solemn processional. Thousands more lined the streets to watch the coffin pass. Though the crowd occasionally broke out into song, the afternoon was remarkably quiet and peaceful, with just the sound of feet on pavement filling the air.
The Associated Press
(AP Photo)
Mourners sitting outside Morehouse College wait for the procession to pass.
(Keystone/Getty Images)
The public service at Morehouse College.
(AP Photo)At Morehouse, Benjamin Mays, the college's former president and King's one-time teacher, gave a moving eulogy to his friend."If we love Martin Luther King Jr., and respect him, as t
King's coffin is transferred to a hearse headed to the cemetery.
(Keystone Pictures USA / Alamy Stock Photo)
Burial services at the South View Cemetery in Atlanta.
(AP Photo/Henry Griffin)For more on the tense days after Martin Luther King's death and a behind-the-scenes look at his memorials in Atlanta, read this moving oral history from those who live
