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King's life celebrated at family's church

ATLANTA — A day before saying its final farewells, Atlanta celebrated Coretta Scott King's life with music and private reflection near the birthplace of the movement she dedicated her life to serving.

Thousands of mourners defied the cold and rain Monday to pay their respects to King, whose body was placed near the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where her late husband's preaching began to shape his — and her —destiny.

By 8:30 p.m., an estimated 46,000 people had passed through Ebenezer, and the line outside stretched for a mile, according to the National Park Service, which operates the King Historic District.

Across the street, in the church's grander and newer Horizon Sanctuary, an afternoon musical tribute attracted the star power of Oprah Winfrey and Gladys Knight, a reminder of King's standing as the first lady of the civil rights movement.

She will be honored today at a funeral at the 10,000-seat New Birth Baptist Missionary Church in Lithonia. The service will include remarks from President Bush, former President Bill Clinton and poet Maya Angelou. King's youngest daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, will give the eulogy.

Later today, King's body will be placed in a temporary marble mausoleum near the crypt that bears her husband's body at the King Center. A permanent crypt — one that will match her husband's — is being prepared.

A few yards from where workers labored to assemble the mausoleum Monday, mourners waited in the rain outside the Ebenezer chapel for a moment of reflection with King.

This was a different kind of march — slow and solemn.

Many said her dream remains alive with them.

Jackie Treen flew from Maryland to tread the church's red carpet, past the dark wooden pews, to stand before King's casket. She said she felt compelled to come to Ebenezer if only to offer thanks to King for helping forge a world that would accept her interracial marriage.

"The King family paved the way for us to be treated as a woman and a man, not as she's black and he's white," said Treen, 51, who was first in line at 4:30 a.m.

Beautine Baker Burns said the dream is alive in the integrated school where she taught for 35 years. "She was a motivation to do more things to help other people, and make this a better world," said Burns, 73, who drove from Plainfield, Ill.

Burns recalled participating in sit-ins in Chicago and meeting the Kings. "I thank God I was alive when she was here," she said.

The dream also lives in the power of Winfrey, who entered Ebenezer just before noon to pay her respects to the woman with whom she had developed a very public friendship.

Wearing a black dress and tweed overcoat, Winfrey peered down into the coffin and gently stroked King's hand with the back of her hand. She seemed to say something to her friend.

After lingering a few moments, she turned and walked to the side of the coffin, teary-eyed.

King lay in repose at the historic church from 10 a.m until midnight. Ebenezer, on Auburn Avenue, has been the home church of the King family for 111 years, since Martin Luther King Jr.'s grandfather took over as pastor.

At a service at the sanctuary across the street from the old church Monday night, King was portrayed as a pillar of strength for her husband.

Andrew Young — a civil rights leader who became a congressman, U.N. ambassador and Atlanta mayor — noted that by the time King was 30, her home had been burned and her husband attacked.

"She was not a steel magnolia, because steel would melt under heat," Young said. "She was diamond in the rough."

The 2,000-seat Sanctuary as filled to overflowing Monday night for "A Service in Witness to the Resurrection of Mrs. Coretta Scott King," which included a hymn by Mary Harris Gurley, who sang at Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral.

Even as Monday night's program continued, mourners waited in line across the street outside the old Ebenezer church — nearly 12 hours after the hearse bearing King's body had arrived.

Throughout the day, people in the crowd seemed untroubled by the wet weather. "The rain is nothing," said Connie Turner, 43, of Atlanta. "It's a beautiful day."

Behind King, above the pulpit where her husband honed his eloquence, hung a brown banner celebrating the recent observance of his birthday. She fought for more than a decade in the successful effort to make his birthday a national holiday.

Larry Platt, 59, of Atlanta, a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the civil rights organization co-founded by Martin Luther King Jr., said he felt Coretta King's death as a personal loss. "She's like a mama to me," said Platt. "She carried Dr. King's dream on through."

Lawrence Hamm recalled receiving a youth leadership award from Coretta King 35 years ago in New Orleans. "It changed my life," said Hamm , who drove 14 hours from New Jersey to Atlanta. He is chairman of the People's Organization for Progress, a grass-roots civil rights group.

Saudia Muwwakkil, a spokeswoman with the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, was working at the viewing. But she stole a moment to sit in the stairwell of the church and cry.

"This woman, who made a difference in the world, knew my name," she said.

At one point, Christine King Farris, sister of Martin Luther King Jr., had funeral home workers fix Mrs. King's hair, using a comb from a woman nearby.

Some people, reflecting on the King legacy, said her message of love and unity is greatly needed today. "With this hip-hop generation — they think about who has gold teeth, instead of the destiny of mankind," said Orlando Jones, 41.

He added, soaking and shivering in the rain, "I still have a dream."

Craig Schneider and Rhonda Cook write for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. E-mail: cschneider AT ajc.com; rcook AT ajc.com. Staff writers Maria Saporta, George Chidi and Saeed Ahmed contributed to this report.