To C. L. R. James
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Montgomery Improvement Association)
Date: April 30, 1957
Location: Montgomery, Ala.?
Genre: Letter
Topic: Montgomery Bus Boycott
Details
Mr. C. L. R. James
70 Parliament Hill
Hampstead, London N.W. 3.
Dear Mr. James:
This is just a note to acknowledge receipt of your very kind letter of April 5, and to thank you once more for the hospitality extended to Mrs. King and me on our recent visit to London. I can assure you that you and Mrs. [Selma Weinstein] James will remain in our thoughts for many years to come.
I have not had a chance to read any of the books that you were gracious enough to provide me with.1 On returning to the country I found a very crowded schedule awaiting me. I am just getting to the point that I can [word illegible] see my way clear, so in the next few days I hope to do some much needed reading. I plan also to begin writing a book on my experiences in the bus boycott. I hope to complete this in the not too distant future.
I gave your best regards to L. D. Reddick. He was very delighted to hear from you. He spoke of you very highly.2
I am looking forward with great anticipation for a copy of The Black Jacobins. Reddick has already told me what an excellent piece of work it is.
Please give our best regards to Mrs. James. Mrs. King and the baby are doing fine. Also extend our best regards to all of the very kind people that we met in London.
Very sincerely yours,
M. L. King, Jr.,
President
MLK:mlb
1. Among the books James gave to King was George Padmore's Pan-Africanism or Communism?
2. James may have met Alabama State College history professor Lawrence Dunbar Reddick while Reddick served as curator of the New York Public Library's Schomburg Collection from 1939 until 1948.
Source: MLKP-MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954-1968, Boston University, Boston, Mass.