Coretta Scott King (AP Photo/Ric Feld)

Americans Mourn Civil Rights Leader Coretta Scott King

A woman who helped change America has died. Coretta Scott King died January 30. She was 78-years-old. Mrs. King was a leader in the civil rights movement in the United States and the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The civil rights movement in the 1950s attempted to gain equal rights for African-Americans and other people.

Mrs. King became well known after her husband was shot to death in 1968. Dr. King was a Baptist minister and civil rights leader in Montgomery, Alabama, when he died.

Montgomery is an important place in the history of civil rights. In 1955, police arrested Rosa Parks because she refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white man. The Kings and Rosa Parks were African-Americans. Rosa Parks died last October.

Dr. King led a boycott of the bus system

Dr. King led a boycott of the city bus system in Montgomery.   A boycott is when people refuse to do something as a protest of some injustice. In this case, people refused to ride the buses in Montgomery.

For more than a year, blacks and other civil rights supporters walked to and from work and school to protest segregation in the city.   In 1956, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Montgomery's segregation laws were unconstitutional.

Segregation is a policy that requires people to be treated separately based on their race or national origin. It is also called “discrimination.” When something is unconstitutional, it violates the legal rights of Americans. All of the laws in the United States are based on a set of rights in the Constitution.

Mrs. King worked to keep memory alive

After her husband's death, Mrs. King worked to keep his memory and goals in the minds of Americans. Mrs. King also raised the couple's four young children.

She worked to make Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, birthday a national holiday. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed into law a bill to honor Dr. King.   Americans celebrate the holiday on the third Monday of every January.   They remember Dr. King for his support of peaceful protests and for his great speeches that moved people and the nation, like “I have a dream.”

Dr. King is only the second American honored with a national holiday. The other is George Washington. Washington was the first president of the United States.

Coretta Scott King said her husband went to jail 29 times for opposing racial injustices.   Many people believe her husband was killed because some people hated him for his non-violent civil rights activities.

Martin Luther King, Jr., was 39-years-old when he was killed. His wife was 40-years-old.

In the years after her husband's slaying, Mrs. King worked to create the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia. She raised $15 million. The King Center opened in 1982. The Center houses records from the civil rights era.

Coretta Scott King suffered a major stroke last August. She also had heart problems and cancer when she died.   Her funeral brought together heads of state, celebrities, civil rights leaders, and common folks to pay her tribute.

Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mrs. King are buried at the King Center.