With his son Martin Luther III standing next to him, King pulls up a cross that had been burned on the front lawn of his home in April 1960. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images ...

Martin Luther King Jr. might have been a giant in the Civil Rights Movement, but at home, the doting father of four was simply dad. As we observe what would have been his 96th birthday, look back ...

In 1980, Martin Luther King Sr. published the memoir Daddy King: An Autobiography, a work that provided new insight into his life—and the family world that created Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King laugh during entertainment at the St. Jude Hospital in Montgomery the night before the march to the Capitol, 1965.

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. made history as a defining leader of the Civil Rights movement who preached a message of nonviolent resistance. His hand in organizing a number of significant protests ...

Civil Rights activist Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta, daughter Yolanda, 5, & Martin Luther III, 3, sitting together as they play piano in their livingroom, Atlanta, Georgia, 1960.

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and the anniversary of King’s birth on Jan. 15, 1929, here are some of the most powerful images of King made by LIFE’s photographers.

Photographer Richard Copley recalls covering Martin Luther King, Jr. and the sanitation workers' strike in Memphis, Tennessee, 51 years ago, when he was a college student.

On Saturday, the Annapolis Drum and Bugle Corps hosted the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. parade. The annual parade is a commemoration and celebration of the life, work and legacy of Rev. Dr ...

Martin Luther King Jr. stands in front of a bus at the end of the Montgomery bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., on Dec. 26, 1956. Don Cravens/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images ...

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., third from right and his wife, Coretta King, lead off the final lap to the state capitol at Montgomery, Ala. in this March 25, 1965 file photo.