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Coretta King also worked closely with her husband and was present at many of
the major civil rights events of the 1950s and 1960s. In 1957, she accompanied her husband on a trip to Europe and to Ghana
to mark that country's independence. In 1959, the Kings traveled to India, where Coretta King sang spirituals at events where
her husband spoke. In 1960, after the family moved from Montgomery to Atlanta, she helped gain her husband's release from
a Georgia prison by appealing to presidential candidate John F. Kennedy for his assistance. Kennedy's willingness to intervene
to help the jailed civil rights leader contributed to the crucial support he received from African-American voters in the
1960 election. In 1962, Coretta King expressed her long-standing interest in disarmament efforts by serving as a Women's Strike
for Peace delegate to the seventeen-nation Disarmament Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland. She also attended the 1964
ceremony in Oslo, Norway, awarding Dr. King the Nobel Peace Prize. In the mid-1960s, Coretta King’s involvement in the
civil rights movement increased as she participated in "freedom concerts," which consisted of poetry recitation, singing,
and lectures demonstrating the history of the civil rights movement. The proceeds from the concerts were donated to the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference. In February 1965, while Martin Luther King was jailed during voting rights protests in Alabama,
she met with Black nationalist leader Malcolm X shortly before his assassination. Prior to 1968, Coretta King also maintained
speaking commitments that her husband could not fill.
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