Franklin Graham Recalls Friendship Between His Father and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Franklin Graham paid tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Monday, by remembering the friendship between the Civil Rights leader and his own father, evangelist Billy Graham.

"They knew each other well. They traveled together some, and at least one time even stayed in the same room together," Graham said in a Facebook post.

He recalled a comment made by Dr. King's daughter, Bernice, who once said, "I think both Dr. Graham and my father were trying to make the world a better place…They were different obviously in their style and their approach, but I think their heart and their goal was the same." 

In 1953 Billy Graham held an evangelistic Crusade in Chattanooga, TN. When he arrived there were ropes up to segregate the audience.

Franklin says his father was appalled.

"He told the head usher to take down the ropes, but he wouldn't—so my father took down the ropes himself. He told the ushers who threatened to put them back up, 'Either these ropes stay down or you can go on and have the revival without me.'"