Spelman honors the life and mourns the loss of Dr. Barbara King, Hillside International Truth Center founding minister. King was 90 years old and was a towering presence in Atlanta and in the faith community with her ministry reaching audiences in several nations including Ghana. We celebrate her contributions as a dean of students at Spelman, social work administrator & religious leader who exalted serving the whole person - spirit, mind & body.
About Bishop King
After graduation with a master’s degree in social work from Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University), she became a professor of social work at Clark Atlanta University and then the dean of students at Spelman. She also served as dean of community relations at Malcolm X College in Chicago and founded what is now the Hillside International Truth Center in Atlanta. Later, she became the first non-psychiatrist director of the Emory Mental Health Center. Because of her leadership and enduring legacy, her portrait hangs in the International Hall of Honor at Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College.
A leader in the New Thought movement, King was awarded its the three highest honors—The International New Thought Alliance (INTA) Life Achievement Award; the Ernest Holmes Religious Science Award; and Unity’s The Light of God Expressing Award. She was also enstooled as the first female chief at Assin Nsuta, Ghana, West Africa of the Ashante tribe and was consecrated as a bishop by the International College of Bishops. Her shoeprints are part of the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame for her work in Dr. Martin Luther King’s Chicago movement.
The Atlanta University Center Consortium expresses our greatest sympathy for the family and friends of Dr. King, and celebrate her life and contributions to the spiritual well-being of thousands.