Nation marks first King holiday since death of civil rights leader's widow

~ Crowds lined up early at the Atlanta History Center to see the exhibition of King's collected papers.

ATLANTA -- The first Martin Luther King Jr. Day since the death of King's widow and the chief keeper of his civil rights dream was marked Monday with speeches, visits to the couple's tomb and the opening of a collection of his papers, including a draft of his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Coretta Scott King's legacy loomed large over the 21st observance of the King holiday at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King preached.

"It is in her memory and her honor that we must carry this program on," said her sister-in-law, Christine King Farris. "This is as she would have it."

Mayor Shirley Franklin urged the congregation not to pay tribute to King's message of peace and justice on his birthday and then contradict it the next.

"Millions can't find jobs, have no health insurance and struggle to make ends meet, working minimum-wage jobs. What's going on?" Franklin said, repeating a refrain from soul singer Marvin Gaye.

As King condemned the war in Vietnam 40 years ago, Ebenezer's senior pastor, the Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, denounced the war in Iraq.

"The real danger is not that America may lose the war," Warnock said. "The real danger is that America may well lose its soul."

Visit to tomb

Visitors also paid homage to the slain civil rights leader and his wife at their tomb, not far from the church.

"They're together at last," said Daphne Johnson, who was baptized by King at Ebenezer.

Coretta Scott King died last year on Jan. 31 at age 78. An activist in her own right, she also fought to shape and preserve her husband's legacy after his death, and founded what would become the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

Crowds lined up early at the Atlanta History Center to see the first exhibition of King's collected papers since they were returned to his hometown. The papers brought back difficult memories for some.

In California, Stanford University released some of King's earliest sermons and other writings Monday, a decade after the documents were discovered in a moldy cardboard box in an Atlanta basement.

Elsewhere, thousands of volunteers observed the holiday by taking part in service projects. Organizers expected about 50,000 people to participate in about 600 projects, said Todd Bernstein of the group MLK Day of Service.

Several hundred people gathered in West Columbia, S.C., for a breakfast prayer service, where the Rev. Brenda Kneece said King set the standard for sacrifice and vision.

This year's holiday comes on the day King would have turned 78. King was assassinated April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of a hotel in Memphis, Tenn. His confessed killer, James Earl Ray, was arrested two months later in London.

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On the Net:

King Center: http://www.thekingcenter.org/