<p>Mourners poured into the state Capitol Saturday to pay tribute to Coretta Scott King, the first woman and the first black person to lie in honor in a statehouse that was once a seat of segregation.</p><p>The bronze casket holding Martin Luther King Jr.'s widow was cheered as it was borne through the streets of Atlanta by horse-drawn carriage and carried into the Capitol by an honor guard of the Georgia State Patrol. A lone bagpipe played Amazing Grace.</p><p>Georgia's flag, which Mrs. King had helped change to remove the Confederate Cross, flew at half staff.</p><p>Gov. Sonny Perdue and his wife Mary greeted the Kings' four children outside the Capitol and escorted the body inside, a sharp contrast to the snub afforded her husband following his assassination nearly four decades ago. Then-Gov. Lester Maddox, an outspoken segregationist, was outraged at the idea of state flags flying at half-staff for a black man and refused to authorize a public tribute.</p><p>At a brief ceremony on Saturday, Perdue called King's widow "a gracious and courageous woman, an inspiration to millions and one of the most influential civil rights leaders of our time."</p><p>King's four children _ Yolanda, Dexter, Martin Luther King III and Bernice _ spent a few minutes at their mother's open casket before the doors were thrown open to the general public. Yolanda King stroked her mother's face. She and her sister Bernice wiped away tears.</p><p>"While we claim her, she was their momma," Perdue said of the King children. "It's hard to give up your momma."</p><p>A soloist sang the hymn "Blessed Assurance," which echoed in the cavernous marble hall.</p><p>Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, the first black woman to lead the city, said she owed her career to King.</p><p>"I would not be here without her," Franklin said.</p><p>Outside, thousands of mourners waited hours in a windy February chill waiting to pay respects. Capitol Police estimated up to 10,000 people stopped by in the first two and a half hours of the viewing.</p><p>"She's worth it," Atlanta resident Janann Ransom said. "She stood in line for me, her and her husband, when I couldn't stand in line."</p><p>Raymond Dutrieuille, of Duluth, Ga., came with his wife Nena and two-year-old son Raylin.</p><p>"I brought my wife and son here to experience part of history," he said.</p><p>The largely black crowd came pushing strollers, leaning on walkers and dressed in military camouflage. Some made the sign of the cross as they moved past the casket.</p><p>Zell Miller, former Georgia governor and U.S. senator, was among the dignitaries who passed by the casket with his wife Shirley.</p><p>King died Monday at an alternative medical clinic in Mexico at the age of 78. King was suffering from ovarian cancer and had previously had a stroke. She died of respiratory failure.</p><p>Georgia State Rep. Randal Mangham, D-Decatur, said he was high time a King was able to lie in honor under the Georgia state dome.</p><p>"Martin is here today with her," Mangham said. "She finished the work that he began."</p><p>On Monday, King's casket will lie in Ebenezer Baptist Church, where her husband preached. Her funeral will be held at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, where the Kings' youngest child, Bernice, is a minister.</p><p>Few details have been released about the funeral, including who will deliver the eulogy.</p><p>The King legacy is a major draw to Atlanta. The King Center, which is the site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s tomb, attracts thousands, along with his nearby birth home and Ebenezer Baptist Church.</p>
