To Jackie Robinson Testimonial Dinner
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Date: July 20, 1962
Location: Albany, Ga.
Genre: Letter
Topic: Albany Movement
Martin Luther King, Jr. - Travels
Details
Sending his regrets, King writes that he will be unable to speak at the Jackie Robinson Testimonial Dinner that evening.1
the jacie robinson testimonial dinner =
care rev wyatt t walker waldorf-astoria hotel
suite 14-r nyk =
warmest heartfelt greetings to all of you assembled on this auspicious ocasion. an important turn of events in albany, = georgia made it imperative for me to return here immediately.2
had looked forward with great anticipation to being with you tonight. can think of nothing i regret more than having to miss this opportunity to personally join with you in this testimonial to one of the truly great men of our nation=3
martin luther king, jr. =
1. The dinner was in honor of Robinson’s election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. All the estimated $20,000 proceeds from the dinner benefited SCLC’s voter registration efforts.
2. When King sent this telegram, he and other Albany leaders were planning a mass demonstration for 21 July.
3. Though King’s name remained on the event program, in his absence Wyatt Tee Walker, who already was scheduled to attend, read King’s prepared remarks (Program, “Jackie Robinson Hall of Fame Dinner,” 20 July 1962; King, Address for Hall of Fame Dinner in Honor of Jackie Robinson, 20 July 1962; “It Was Jackie Robinson’s Week,” New York Amsterdam News, 28 July 1962). King’s biweekly column in the New York Amsterdam News on 4 August 1962 was a tribute to Robinson (King, “People in Action: Hall of Famer”).
Source: JaRP-DLC, Jackie Robinson Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.