King's father John and his extended family moved to Amber Valley, Alberta[1] in 1911, as part of a group of African American farmers migrating from Oklahoma to Alberta, both as part of the Great Migration and to avoid racist laws.

[8] She became class historian for her final year and was the Alberta representative to the International Student Services Conference in Hamilton in 1952.

At the time, these accomplishments were reported prominently by newspapers, including The Calgary Herald, The Albertan, and The Edmonton Journal.

[13] King dedicated many years to being a lawyer, and habitually spoke about racial, gender,[12] and inter-religious relations.

[14] She later moved to Ottawa, around 1956, to join the federal civil service in a senior administrative role at Citizenship and Immigration Canada, where she was promoted twice.

[4] She served during the time that Ellen Fairclough was named Canada's first woman member of cabinet and Minister of Immigration.

[17] King is remembered for combating oppression in society and in the workplace for people of colour throughout her career and during her speech at the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority Banquet.

[20] Political scientist Malinda Smith featured King in a research project, funded by the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, to highlight the achievements of women in Canadian black history through a series of brief videos and thereby "make the hidden visible".