-New Urban Style Feature- Grace Under Fire: The Timeless Chic of the First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement, Coretta Scott King

Portrait of An Alabama Steel Magnolia: Political, Cultural, and Style Icon, Coretta Scott King

Through media knew her as the the quiet, genteel wife of one of the leading historical figures in the 20th century; when it comes to the Civil Rights Movement icon Coretta Scott King , daughter Bernice loving wrote of her mother in the 2017 article "The Woman Purposed to Be King" of the wall flower of the 1950s and 60s we thought we knew, painting a majestic picture of a woman who was as much her own person in style and substance as any of the leading female figures who greatly impacted the American cultural landscape in the 20th century. She writes: 

"Before my mother was a King, she climbed trees and wrestled with boys. And won... Before she was a King, my mother was a civil rights activist, determined that her life would serve to lift others...Before my mother was a King, she was a gifted vocalist and musician, whose skill... exemplified her commitment to being a woman of excellence... Before she was a King, my mother was a peace advocate, a courageous leader and an accomplished artist.

... When my father, Martin Luther King, Jr., encountered her in Boston, he encountered a whole woman, a woman of substance, a woman who, as the traditional black Baptist church still sings, had “a charge to keep, a God to glorify.”.... she continues, "my mother’s life continues to be an extraordinary example of how to live for something larger than ourselves and of how women carry purpose, power and progress".

In addition to being known as a life long activist, her husband's greatest champion, and the chief architect in the preservation of Dr. King's legacy, Coretta Scott King was equally known as a woman of great diplomacy and personal style, whose head-turning beauty and polished chic made her as much a media subject in fashion circles as she was in historical archives on social justice. In an interview taking place in the later years of her life, the Civil Rights leader makes light of the regal portrait of her persona in her trademark soft-spoken demeanor as she describes her younger self as a child,

"I was a Tomboy...I could climb trees and wrestle boys..." she recollects. "I had a cousin I would wrestle and...I was stronger than he was", she says, almost blushingly. She then went on to say, quietly and quizzically of herself, "I was tough..I used to fight real hard...and then I thought, 'my goodness, I don't want to be mean!'...and of course they used to say, 'You're going to the devil! That's what's going to happen to you because you're so mean!' " she said, still in a quiet speaking voice, but with widened, dancing eyes. She then goes on to describe what happened next in her childhood mind, " So I started thinking of all of that, and finally, as I became a teenager I stopped fighting... and by the time I went away to college I was quite the lady", she smiles.  She ends the interview segment describing how her parents and siblings teased her through the years, recognizing the irony in her being the child that always used to fight [them], but that somehow, "I would be the one that would become involved with the non-violent movement", and let out a chuckle.

Covering JET Magazine in formal concert wear in 1958

Ever the first lady who will always be remembered as a woman of equal tenderness and fortitude, here's a fashion retrospective at some of the late Coretta Scott King's most iconic fashion looks throughout many years.  Always polished, always elegant, the activist's sense of chic sophistication and personal style rings just as timeless as her contributions to the social, political, and humanitarian arenas of American history. Check out the curation of images documenting the style evolution of Coretta Scott King:

In addition to her trademark multi-strand necklaces, corsages  and hat accents were  favorite
accessories for the First Lady of America's Civil Rights Movement

In addition to her fine taste in millenery, Coretta Scott King was also known for her jaunty, cat-eyed readers and sunglasses in the earliest years of being introduced to the American public.

Elements key to classic Coretta Scott King Style: fine tailoring, a multi-strand necklace, statement
brooch, and gorgeous hat.

A Typical Sunday: Coretta is seen here with daughters Bernice, Yolanda
and a parishioner at Ebenezer Baptist Church

Belted sheath dress style with classic tailoring in basic black with Mrs. King's trademark accessory, the multi-strand necklace 

Young couple in love: Coretta Scott King greets her husband Martin with a kiss following a court hearing- in a swing coat and "Casque" hat.

Marching in Mississippi in a blue sheath with her trademark cat-eye glasses: husband Dr. King guards against the relentless Delta sun in a classic boater hat.

Oh, what a night: Martin and Coretta are the height of elegance in formal white-tie attire

A rare moment of leisure for the Kings shows Mrs. King's penchant for peg leg trousers and floral patterns
when  allotted down time for family activities

Undeterred and unflappable: with composed refinement in the face of clear and present danger, the First Lady of America's Civil Rights Movement walks side-by-side with husband Dr. Martin Luther King in the historical 5-day March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in March 1965

Mourning wear: Ethel and Senator Bobby Kennedy pay respects to the King family at home in Atlanta, Georgia in the aftermath of Dr. King's assassination, April 1968

'I will lift mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help' (PSALM 121:1):
Mrs. King on the morning of her husband's funeral

Veiled and solemn, the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King comforts young daughter Bernice,
age 5 , during the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, 1968

Wives of historical icons, women of great style: former First Lady of the United States and widow of John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis extends condolences to Mrs. King in 1968

The Coretta Corsage Accent

Re-emerging into the world in 1969: Mrs. Coretta Scott King in a Shantung silk gown with jewel-encrusted neckline, and teardrop earrings at the 12th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Mrs. King attended the ceremony to present a special award to CBS for their news coverage of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King

Flowing in floor-length floral at a film premiere in the mid-1970s, with multi-strand necklace 

In minimalist black with a simple, architectural necklace at the 1974 memorial service for Dr. King

In floral during a Montgomery Bus Boycott Anniversary event in 1975.

In conversation with Coretta Scott King: the King matriarch's last public interview in 2005, a year before she passed away in January of 2006. She is dressed fittingly in red, the color that signifies most strength, determination, and the civil rights maven's life long message of "love".