Naomi Ruth Barber King, sister-in-law of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., dead at 92

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A matriarch of the King family and civil rights activist Naomi Ruth Barber King has died, the family announced in a statement Thursday. She was 92.

King was the sister-in-law of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She married Rev. Alfred Daniel (A.D.) Williams King, Dr. King’s younger brother, in 1950.

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“Mrs. King and A.D. were frequently by Dr. King’s side supporting him and his leadership in the civil rights movement,” the family said in a statement.

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The couple was present at the creation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and through 1963 The March on Washington and the 1965 campaign to vote in Selma.

When A.D. King died in 1969, Naomi King established the A.D. King Foundation, an organization dedicated to empowering youth and women.

King was born in Dothan, Alabama, in 1931. She and her mother moved to Atlanta when she was a child and joined Ebenezer Baptist Church when Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. was the pastor.

“Naomi got to know their children, and caught the eye of their youngest son, A. D. As a young woman, Naomi was charming, graceful, willowy and beautiful,” family members wrote on her website.

She entered Spelman College in 1949 before getting married. She and A.D. King had five children: Alveda, Alfred, Ester, Derek and Vernon.

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“Known affectionately as the ‘Butterfly Queen,’ Mrs. King set an example of courage, resilience, and grace in the face of injustice, uncertainty, and heartache—themes highlighted in a 2022 documentary about her life titled “The Butterfly Queen: From Tragedy to Peace,’” the family wrote.

In lieu of flowers, the family asked for donations to the A.D. King Foundation.