Lillian Watkins, the secretary at Ebenezer Baptist Church, sent this brief letter to Crozer Theological Seminary to verify King’s status as a licensed minister as requested in the application. Watkins states that King is to be ordained on 18 February 1948, but in his letter of 5 March recommending his son to Crozer, King, Sr., notes that the ordination was on 25 February.
To Whom it may Concer:
This is to certify that Martin Luther King, Jr., is a lincensed Minister, by vote of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta Georgia.
He will be ordained Wednesday February 18th, 1948.
[signed as below]
Lillian D. Watkins
CRO, NRCR, Crozer Theological Seminary Records, Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, Rochester, N.Y.