Yolanda King, the daughter of famous civil rights leader and Boston University alumnus Martin Luther King Jr., carried on her father’s legacy of fighting for equality and social change up until her death in May.
Though her father is one of BU’s most notable alumni, King, 51, had little connection to the university, said Vita Paladino, director of the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center.
Martin Luther King Jr., who received his doctorate from the School of Theology in 1955, set an example for Yolanda King, who worked for nonviolence during her lifetime.
“I think [the King family is] staggered by the loss of a very young person,” said Vita Paladino, director of the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center. “She was doing very good work.”
In 1993, the King Center tried to obtain documents Martin Luther King Jr. left to BU, but the court blocked the attempt. The letters were meant for BU’s possession, according to a 1964 letter from King. King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, sued the school for the papers, though she was ultimately unsuccessful.
While the university’s Gotlieb Center holds nearly 83,000 of King’s documents, Paladino said she doubts BU will obtain any of Yolanda King’s documents.
Paladino said King’s children had little connection to the university, other than their father’s legacy, and she speculated the King Center would house Yolanda King’s documents.
“The tendency is to keep [King family documents] in Atlanta,” she said.
Yolanda King was the CEO of and helped found Higher Ground Productions, a film, television and theatrical production company based in California. The company is dedicated to “delivering [Yolanda King’s] powerful messages of peace, unity and diversity to the world through her passion for the arts,” according to the company’s website.
In addition to working with Higher Ground Productions, Yolanda King also headed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization co-founded by her father and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
King also served as a member of the board of directors at the King Center in Atlanta, Ga.