Willie Christine King Farris (September 11, 1927 – June 29, 2023) was an American teacher and civil rights activist. King was the sister of Martin Luther King Jr. She taught at Spelman College and was the author of several books and was a public speaker on various topics, including the King family, multicultural education, and teaching.
King Farris got her first professional job as a teacher at W.H. Crogman Elementary School in Atlanta in 1950.[2] The school primarily served students from black low-income households.[3] In 1958, she returned to her Alma Mater as director of the Freshman Reading Program at Spelman College. In time, she became professor of education and director of the Learning Resources Center there. When she retired in 2014, she had served Spelman for 56 years.[1][4]
Born in Atlanta on September 11, 1927,[7] King Farris was the first child and only daughter of Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King, and was the elder sister of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and A. D. King. The three siblings spent their early years in the home of their grandfather, Adam Daniel Williams, who died on March 21, 1931. She married Isaac Newton Farris Sr. on August 19, 1960. They had two children: Isaac Newton Farris Jr., and Angela Christine Farris Watkins.[8]
King Farris endured the 1968 assassination of her brother, the 1969 accidental drowning of her brother A. D., and the 1974 assassination of her mother.[9][10][11] King Farris did not return to Memphis, Tennessee, since traveling there after her brother's assassination to retrieve his body. She later attended the 2006 funeral of her sister-in-law Coretta Scott King and the 2007 funeral of niece Yolanda King. In an interview with CNN, King Farris said she would not attend an April 2008 event marking the 40th anniversary of her brother's assassination, because the painful memories of her last visit to Memphis still haunted her.[10] Her husband, Isaac Newton Farris Sr., died on December 30, 2017, at the age of 83.[7]
Death
King Farris's death was announced by her family attorney, Antavius Weems. Farris died in Atlanta on June 29, 2023, at the age of 95. At the time of her death, Farris was the last living sibling of Martin Luther King Jr.[7][12]
^ abStanford University; Stanford; California 94305 (May 2, 2017). "Farris, (Willie) Christine King". The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. Retrieved January 14, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Stanford University; Stanford; California 94305 (April 24, 2017). "Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr". The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. Retrieved January 14, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)