Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and legacy through intimate, iconic images

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, marches and speeches helped bring about landmark legislation — most notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — and his message continues to resonate today.

On April 4, 1968, King was fatally shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. King was only 39 at the time of his death. James Earl Ray was arrested in London in June 1968, and the next year he confessed to the crime and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

LEFT: Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. appears before a chanting audience in Birmingham, Alabama, April 6 1963. RIGHT: Arial view of the masses who crowd the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, USA, in their freedom march during the historic speech of Dr. Martin Luther King "I Have A Dream" August 28, 1963. (AP Photo/Str)

Dr. Martin Luther King bites into a chip of ice as he leads a march of several hundred persons along U.S. 51 near Senatobia on June 9, 1966. The march on was conducted along a hot, sun-parched section of the Memphis-to-Jackson highway.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. rides in the back seat of a police car with a police dog as he is returned to jail in St. Augustine, Fla., after testifying before a grand jury investigating racial unrest in the city, June 12, 1964. Andrew Young is seen outside the car. (AP Photo)

King’s birthday, Jan. 15, was officially recognized as a national holiday in 1986. In 2011, he became the first African-American to receive a monument on the National Mall in Washington.

As the nation pauses to reflect on the life, death, and legacy of the towering historical figure, these lesser-known pictures depict intimate and iconic moments of Dr. King.

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