Mary King joined the civil rights movement at the age of 22. She got her start in activism in college when she participated in a study tour across the south. On this tour in 1962 King and other students, both white and black, stayed at black colleges such as Fisk University, Clark College, and Tuskegee Institute. This group of students also visited white schools, such as Vanderbilt University, Agnes Scott College, and Georgia Tech. On the Study tour King was introduced to SNCC when she met John Lewis and Bernard Lafayette. Both of the men King met had been Freedom Riders and were affiliated with SNCC. Also on this study tour King met another student activist, Casey Hayden. Hayden would also become a staff member of SNCC and close friend to King.