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BornWillie Christine King
September 11, 1927 (age 88)
Atlanta, Georgia (1927-09-11) InstitutionsSpelman College, Columbia University Alma materSpelman College, Columbia University Known forCivil rights, teaching, public service RoleMartin Luther King, Jr.'s sister SiblingsMartin Luther King, Jr., Alfred Daniel Williams King ParentsAlberta Williams King, Martin Luther King, Sr. BooksMy Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up With the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. MoviesMarch On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World NiecesAlveda King, Yolanda King, Bernice King, Darlene King Similar PeopleMartin Luther King - Jr, Alfred Daniel Williams, Martin Luther King - Sr, Bernice King, Dexter Scott King
Christine king farris tells crowd at march anniversary to become champions for nonviolence
Christine King Farris (born Willie Christine King; September 11, 1927) is the eldest and only living child of Martin Luther King, Sr. She teaches at Spelman College and is the author of several books and a public speaker on various topics, including the King family, multicultural education, and teaching. Professor Farris was, for many years, Vice Chair and Treasurer of the King Center and has been active for several years in the International Reading Association, and various church and civic organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She held a tenure professorship at Spelman College for 48 years before retiring in 2014.
She is the first child of Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Christine Williams King, and is the elder sister of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Alfred Daniel Williams King I. The three siblings spent their early years in the home of their grandfather, Adam Daniel Williams, who died in 1931.
Family tragedies
Farris has endured one brother being murdered in 1968, the drowning of another brother in 1969, and the murder of her mother in 1974. Farris has not returned to Memphis, Tennessee, since she traveled there after the assassination of her brother to retrieve his body. In recent years, she has attended the funerals of her niece Yolanda King and sister-in-law, Coretta Scott King. In an interview with CNN, she said she would not attend an April 2008 event marking the 40th anniversary of her brother's assassination, because of the painful memories of her last visit to Memphis still haunt her.