From Albert W. Dent
Author: Dent, Albert (Dillard University)
Date: July 25, 1955
Location: New Orleans, La.
Genre: Letter
Topic: Martin Luther King, Jr. - Career in Ministry
Details
King had flown to New Orleans for a meeting with Dent, the president of Dillard University.1 They discussed King’s leaving Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and becoming dean of Dillard’s new chapel. King stayed at Dexter.
Dr. M. L. King
309 South Jackson Street
Montgomery, Alabama
Dear Doctor King:
There is enclosed a University check to reimburse your plane fare for the visit to New Orleans to talk with me last Friday. As I proceed with planning our program for the new chapel, I will bear in mind our telephone conversation of this morning.
With best wishes, I am
Sincerely yours,
[signed]
A. W. Dent
President
AWD:db
1. Albert Walter Dent (1904–1984) received his B.A. from Morehouse in 1926. He was Morehouse alumni secretary for several years before becoming superintendent of Dillard’s Flint-Goodridge Hospital in 1932. He also served as Dillard’s business manager from 1935 until 1941, when he became president of the university. He retired as president in 1969. He chaired the National Health Council in 1953–1955 and the United Negro College Fund in 1965–1970.
Source: MLKP-MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954-1968, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University, Boston, Mass.