CHRISTINE KING FARRIS
She was born on September 11…not that September 11… September 11, 1927 – the same year that Althea Gibson, the first African-American woman to win a Grand Slam title was born; and the same year that Harry Belafonte, the "King of Calypso" was born.
She was the first child born to her parents Reverend Mike King (pastor of two small Baptist Churches in the Atlanta area) and his wife Alberta Williams King. They named her Willie Christine – "Willie" in honour of her mother's family name, Williams.
In 1929 her first little brother, Michael, was born and one year later another baby brother Alfred Daniel – "AD" came along.
In 1935 their father changed both his christian name and that of his first son to "Martin Luther" in honour of the German Christian theologian and Augustinian monk who was the leader of the great religious revolt in Germany in the 16th Century. Christine's younger brother would grow up to become not only the celebrated American civil rights leader and one of the greatest orators of American history but also the youngest person to ever receive the Nobel Peace Prize. He was Martin Luther King Jr.
Christine's childhood was happy. The family lived at 501 Auburn Avenue in Atlanta. This was their grandparent's home. Grandfather Reverend A.D. Williams was then pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and a founder and past president of the Atlanta chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Grandmother Williams, who was called "Mama", Mrs. Ida Worthem, "Mama's sister, ("Aunt Ida" to the children) and Joel King, Reverend Mike's younger brother also lived at Auburn Avenue.
Aunt Ida took great pleasure in reading to the children. This had a profound and lasting influence on Christine as she grew to love reading. In her adult life it influenced her decision to become a reading professor.
Grandfather Williams died in 1931 but grandmother Williams lived until 1941.
That same year, 1941, the family moved into a bigger house on Boulevard, which was just a few blocks away.
Christine became a role model for her siblings. The influence she had was clearly seen when, during a revival meeting she decided to step forward and join the church. The action made such an impression on young Martin that he decided not to let her get ahead of him. He was the next one to join the church.
The King children were influenced positively by their parents. Martin Luther King Snr. was the son of sharecroppers and eventually served as pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church for forty years. Later father and son, Martin Jr. served together as joint pastors of the church.
"Daddy King" as the elder King was called, became a major figure in the civil rights movement in Georgia. He led the fight for equal teachers' salaries in Atlanta - an endeavor that later had some consequences on Christine's career for a time.
In our recent interview the now eighty-year-old Christine King Farris, Associate Professor of Education and Director of The Learning Resources Center at Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia, commented, "My father was a freedom fighter."
After she graduated with an MA in Social Foundations of Education and an MA in Special Education/Reading from Teachers College at Columbia University in New York, Christine planned to teach. To her surprise, however, her initial applications with the Atlanta Board of Education were repeatedly denied. She could not understand why.
Her father later wrote in his Memoir "Daddy King" that she was well-qualified, but the board was angry because he had struggled for eleven years to equalize teacher salaries, "forcing white teachers to live on the same rates of pay blacks worked for."
However, with his customary fighting spirit, her father called the mayor to intervene in the impasse and soon Christine got her first teaching position at the W. H. Crogman Elementary School. She taught in the Atlanta public school system for several years.
It seems like a peculiar twist of fate that this woman who has devoted her life to education had originally planned to study accounting and/or banking.
In fact, after she went through Oglethorpe Elementary School and Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta she went on to Spelman College where she received her B.A. in economics in 1948. Incidentally, on the same day, her younger brother Martin Jr. received his B.A. in sociology from Morehouse College (from which both his father and grandfather had graduated).
She applied to and was accepted by Columbia University in New York City and entered the university's graduate program in economics. Then she came face-to-face with the nightmare of discrimination and racism. She was the only woman in the class and the only black student. Her professor paid no attention to her.
Even as confident as she was of her own ability to succeed and with her knowledge of race problems, this new experience made her bewildered and traumatized…but not for long. Columbia Teacher's College was nearby and she decided to begin studying there for her first Masters degree in education.
She followed that degree with a second one that had emphasis on reading. She also attended Columbia University Teacher's College to pursue a M.A. in the social foundations of education (1950) and in 1958 did an M.A, in special education.
Teaching has been a wonderful experience for her and she has absolutely no regrets about the path she took.
"I love working with young people," she said. "I enjoy teaching them. When I get in the classroom, I am challenged and energized and motivated."
This gracious woman is particularly touched when some students return to tell her that she has been a positive influence in their lives.
While she has never lost her love for accounting and economics, she affirms that "I'm right where I should be and I enjoy what I'm doing. The Lord has a way of directing things in one's life."
The year 1955 was a turning point in her life and the lives of her entire family. Her brother Martin Luther King Jr. who was by that time a member of the NAACP, was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association and became the spokesman for the Montgomery Boycott, "the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott" that lasted 382 days.
(PART 2 NEXT WEEK).
Barbara Nelson is a Jamaican-born journalist now living in Washington DC. She has been contributing to the daily gleaner for many years.
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