Flags at the King Center in Atlanta, Ga. were lowered to half-staff to mourn Coretta Scott King, who died in her sleep Tuesday morning.

The widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. supported her husband throughout the Civil Rights movement and continued his legacy after his 1968 assassination.

“Her life will become a testimony to observe from a distance, and inspire us to fight for a better tomorrow,” said DuJuan Smith, president of the Student Association and treasurer for the Black Student Union.

King’s death comes only weeks after the annual celebration of her husband’s role in the struggle for human rights and equality. King strove for more than a decade to have Martin Luther King, Jr. Day established as a national holiday.

She also fought to establish her husband’s vision after his death, speaking throughout the world on a variety of social issues and leading goodwill missions to many developing nations. She founded the King Center in 1968, which provides training in her husband’s philosophy and methods, and houses the largest civil rights archives in the nation.

LaVerne Gyant, director at the Center for Black Studies, said King’s legacy stretched across national and international borders.

“We’re standing on their shoulders,” Gyant said. “We’re standing on the foundation that they built.”

“Coretta Scott King, along with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, was an important leader in the struggle to create equal opportunity for Americans of all races and creeds,” said Daniel Kempton, associate professor and political science department chair. “While Americans today may be divided over whether our goal is the equality of opportunity, conservatives and liberals can and should join together in honoring those who helped create an America in which the American dream is more open to all Americans.”