Albany Jail Diary from 8 August–10 August 1962
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Date: August 8, 1962 to August 10, 1962
Location: Albany, Ga.
Genre: Published Article
Topic: Albany Movement
Martin Luther King, Jr. - Arrests
Martin Luther King, Jr. - Family
Voter registration
Details
In King’s last few days of his jail stay in Albany, he testified in two trials. In the first trial on 8 August, King defends his First Amendment right to peacefully protest against segregation. Although Judge J. Robert Elliott delayed making a decision in the case, King is relieved that the hearings are over as he is “exhausted,” requiring medical attention from Dr. W. G. Anderson.1 Two days later, King is back in court to answer charges of disorderly conduct, failure to obey an officer, and illegally congregating on a sidewalk in Albany on 27 July. Testifying before Judge A. N. Durden, King said he went to City Hall to participate in a prayer vigil as a “last resort” in hopes that the “consciences of the commissioners would be aroused so that they would comply with this very simple request” to negotiate with the Albany Movement. In pronouncing sentence, Durden said that blacks should seek redress in the courts rather than conducting mass demonstrations. He fined King and three others two hundred dollars and gave them each a sixty-day suspended sentence.2 Calling the sentence “unjust,” King agrees to leave Albany to give the commission “a chance to ‘save face’” and enter in “good faith” negotiations with the Albany Movement.3
Wednesday, August 8—Today was the last day of the hearing and Ralph and I testified. Although the Federal court hearing offered some relief from the hot jail, I was glad the hearings were over. It was always miserable going back to the hot cell from the air-conditioned courtroom. I was so exhausted and sick that Dr. Anderson had to come and treat me for the second time.
Thursday, August 9—Even though we decided to remain in jail, We Woke Up This Morning With Our Mind On Freedom. Everyone appeared to be in good spirits and we had an exceptionally good devotional program and sang all of our freedom songs.
Later, Wyatt and Dr. Anderson came and told me that two marches were being planned if Ralph and I were sentenced to jail tomorrow. All of the mothers of many prisoners agreed to join their families in jail (including my wife, Mrs. Anderson, Wyatt’s wife, Young’s wife, Ralph’s wife and the wife of Atty. William Kunstler.4
Friday, August 10—The suspended sentence today did not come as a complete surprise to me. I still think the sentence was unjust and I want to appeal but our lawyers have not decided. Ralph and I agreed to call off the marches and return to our churches in Atlanta to give the (Albany City) Commission a chance to “save face” and demonstrate good faith with the Albany Movement.
1. For more on King’s testimony, see Testimony in Asa D. Kelly et al., v. M. S. Page et al., 8 August 1962, pp. 570–587 in this volume.
2. See Bill Shipp, “Rev. King Is Released, Leaves Albany to Give Negotiations a Chance,” Atlanta Constitution, 11 August 1962. King, Abernathy, Anderson, and Slater King were put on probation subject to re-arrest should they participate in demonstrations during the next sixty days (Milton L. Carr, “Dr. King, 3 Others Get Suspended Terms,” Atlanta Daily World, 11 August 1962).
3. Reacting to her husband’s release, Coretta Scott King said that “justice has come to Albany” (Carr, “Dr. King, 3 Others Get Suspended Terms,” 11 August 1962). King returned to Atlanta on the evening of 10 August, and the following day, Albany officials closed its public parks and libraries rather than integrate them. Considering these new developments, a newspaper article reported that King promised to return to Albany on Monday, 13 August (Hedrick Smith, “Albany, Ga., Closes Parks and Libraries to Balk Integration,” New York Times, 12 August 1962).
4. On 10 August Coretta Scott King was scheduled to lead a “mother’s march” with Juanita Abernathy, wife of Ralph Abernathy; Norma L. Anderson, wife of W. G. Anderson; Theresa Walker, wife of Wyatt Tee Walker; Jean Young, wife of Andrew Young; and Margaret Kunstler, wife of William Kunstler. The second planned march was a prayer pilgrimage composed of local citizens and a group of out-of-state ministers, who had come to Albany to show support for the movement (Hedrick Smith, “Albany Negroes to Protest Today,” New York Times, 10 August 1962; FBI, Memo, “Racial situation, Albany, Ga.,” 10 August 1962, Bureau File 157–6–2–644). Both marches were canceled after King was released from jail (Smith, “Dr. King Set Free after Conviction,” New York Times, 11 August 1962).
Source: Jet, 23 August 1962, pp. 14–21.