Stanford
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute

To Glenn E. Smiley

Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr.

Date: January 22, 1962

Location: Atlanta, Ga.?

Genre: Letter

Topic: Voter registration

Details

King endorses Smiley’s proposal for a national FOR conference of ministers to convene in March 1962. Although FOR had to postpone the conference and King was unable to speak at a later proposed October date, King addressed an interracial group of ministers a year later at the National Conference on Religion and Race.1

Mr. Glenn E. Smiley
The Fellowship of Reconciliation
Box 271
Nyack, New York

Dear Glenn:

I notice that I have three letters on my desk from you.2 My answer to each of them is long overdue. Please accept my apology for being so tardy in replying. Absence from the city, a brief sojourn in jail, and the accumulation of a flood of mail account for the delay.3

Let me respond first to your letter concerning the proposed meeting in Montgomery on March 13 and 14. I will give my reaction to each of your points.

  1. I think it will be good to begin the meeting Tuesday night and go through Thursday.

  2. I think it will be a good idea to have a processional from Dexter Avenue Baptist Church to the First Baptist Church on the opening afternoon. This would draw attention to the fact that we are there and it may also have a real spiritual impact. I would go along with having Borders of Atlanta serve as speaker for the banquet.4

  3. I would be very glad to give the keynote address on Tuesday evening, and I think the idea of a thirty-minute concert by John Raitt would be excellent.5 I am not sure whether Mahalia Jackson would be willing to furnish music for the reception after the evening meeting. I think she performs better in a concert before larger groups.6

  4. I would heartily agree with the Wednesday session beginning with prayers, and the workshop having such men as Howard Thurman and Douglas Steere.7 I would also add the name of Jim Lawson.

  5. I think the idea of dividing into smaller groups and going to the local churches is an excellent one. While I am not optimistic about most of the white churches opening their doors for such a gathering, it would be well to confront their conscience with it.

  6. I am completely in accord with this suggestion. I believe we could get Dorothy Maynor, and since Dr. Sockman has retired, his schedule may allow him to appear.8

  7. This is an excellent suggestion and would certainly be one of the most significant moves of the whole conference. I think everyone should be willing to face any physical danger that may emerge as a result of such a door-to-door confrontation.

  8. I can add nothing to this suggestion. It is fine.

  9. I think a concluding communion service would certainly be fitting and proper.

Let me say just a word concerning some of the other questions you raised. I think the program is quite feasible. It seems to me that we must aim high if we are going to cause this meeting to have the kind of national impact that it can well have. I think it may well prove to be one of the most creative steps in our struggle. Such a step on the part of religious leaders, both Negro and white, in the cradle of the Confederacy cannot be ignored. Of course, there may be some intimidation by the Klan and other reactionary groups in Alabama. We must also face the fact that there may be attempts at physical violence. But this is the risk that we must be willing to take in order to redeem the southern community. I can see nothing but good coming out of this proposed conference. The presence of 500 Negro and white ministers from all over the United States would probably restrain the violent element, but even if it does not, the conscience of so many millions of people all over this country would be aroused that it would be a blessing in disguise.

I am not sure whether Grover Hall would go along with a full page ad.9 As you know, he is rather unpredictable. But if he is properly approached, I rather feel that he would go along with it.

There is one other thing that I must say, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference will certainly be delighted to serve as co-sponsor. I must admit, however, that the demands on our time are so great during this period that it will not be pos­sible for us to do much of the planning and real leg work. We are seeking to get an intensified voter registration drive started in the south, and we are also making plans for nonviolent direct action which would tax almost all of our time.10 But we will cer­tainly do all that we possibly can to make it a tremendous success.

I will be happy to serve as one of the sponsors of your Shelter Program. I will also be willing to do a television interview on this issue.11 Unfortunately, however, I am so involved now that I cannot give a specific time. I am trying to do some writing, get the voter registration drive started, and take a tour of our affiliates across the south. These, and other pressing responsibilities, are taking all of the time that I have at this period. As soon as I have a little let-up, I will let you know.

Very sincerely yours,
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Km

1. For more on King’s participation on the National Conference on Religion and Race, see King to J. Oscar Lee, 2 July 1962, pp. 493–494 in this volume.

2. Smiley sent letters on 2 November 1961, 29 November 1961, and 5 January 1962. The letter con­cerning the FOR conference has not been found.

3. King refers to his involvement in the Albany campaign and the three days he spent in the Sumter County Jail in Americus, Georgia, from 16–18 December.

4. William Holmes Borders was minister of Wheat Street Baptist Church in Atlanta and on SCLC’s executive board.

5. Raitt, a famous Broadway singer in the 1940s and 1950s most known for his roles in “Carousel” and “The Pajama Game,” had endorsed FOR’s Food for China program in 1961.

6. Jackson, also known as the “Queen of Gospel,” regularly performed at large-scale civil rights events such as the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom.

7. Thurman was a theologian and dean of Boston University’s Marsh Chapel. Steere was an author and professor of philosophy and theology noted for his relief work with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Europe after World War II.

8. Maynor, a soprano soloist, founded the Harlem School of the Arts to provide affordable lessons in the arts to poor children. Ralph W. Sockman retired on 31 December 1961 after serving forty-four years as pastor at Christ Church Methodist in New York City.

9. Hall was editor of the Montgomery Advertiser, the city’s primary newspaper.

10. On 5 April 1962, King launched the drive with the goal of doubling the number of registered black voters within two years (King, Press Release, Statement on Intensified Voter Registration Drive, 5 April 1962, pp. 433–435 in this volume).

11. Smiley had asked King if he would help sponsor FOR’s Shelter for the Shelterless program and also appear in a promotional interview on television (Smiley to King, 5 January 1962). Criticizing the construction of fallout shelters to protect against nuclear attacks as not only ineffectual but also selfish in light of worldwide homeless rates, FOR sent out appeals to contributors to donate money to build housing for the poor.

Source: MLKJP-GAMK, Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers (Series I–IV), Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.