To Leslie Dunbar
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Date: January 19, 1962
Location: Atlanta, Ga.?
Genre: Letter
Topic: Voter registration
Details
In the wake of violence against freedom riders in the spring of 1961, the Kennedy administration urged civil rights organizations to move away from potentially explosive protests and toward voter registration efforts.1 In late 1961, the Southern Regional Council (SRC) submitted a grant request to the Taconic Foundation seeking funding for the Voter Education Project (VEP), a tax-exempt, nonpartisan voter registration effort to be conducted by civil rights organizations.2 Despite an earlier decision that no joint announcement would take place, King writes to Executive Director Leslie Dunbar recommending that the participating civil rights organizations hold a press conference introducing the VEP.3 According to King, the press conference would be a demonstration of unity that “would do much to dispel any doubt in the minds of our supporters and counter-act the indictments of our detractors.” NAACP head Roy Wilkins opposed the idea and no press conference was held.4
Mr. Leslie Dunbar
Southern Regional Council
5 Forsyth Street, S.W.
Atlanta 3, Georgia
Dear Leslie:
This is my attempt to put into writing my suggestion made to you a few days ago in conversation.
It is my sincere feeling that my earlier comment that a press conference, held in conjunction with the public announcement of the Southwide Drive, might be beneficial in some way. I am more persuaded now due to the reports in the various news media that there is ‘division’ and ‘disunity’ among the agencies.5 This coordinated effort could get off to a tremendous start. At the same moment, the visual impact of the titular heads of the major civil rights organizations assembeled for such an announcement would do much to dispel any doubt in the minds of our supporters and counter-act the indictments of our detractors.
My final suggestion would be in the vein of suggesting that if a press conference is held, Roy Wilkins should be the spokesman for the agencies since he is the head of the senior organization involved.
I trust that this matter will be given the studied concern of all those involved.
Very truly yours,
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Km
cc: Messrs. Roy Wilkins, Wiley Branton, James Farmer, James Forman, Whitney Young.6
Dictated by Dr. King, but signed in his absence.
1. In a 1964 interview, Attorney General Robert Kennedy argued that voter registration would be a more effective approach to civil rights reform: “A great deal could be accomplished internally within a state if the Negroes participated in elections and voted.” Kennedy also recalled trying to convince civil rights groups to focus on voter registration, suggesting that philanthropic organizations would donate money tax free (Robert F. Kennedy and Burke Marshall, Interview by Anthony Lewis, 4 December 1964).
2. Five organizations took part in the two-year program: CORE, NAACP, National Urban League, SCLC, and SNCC. The five organizations would work collaboratively to divide up geographic areas of responsibility (Dunbar to King, James Farmer, Roy Wilkins, Whitney M. Young, Wyatt Tee Walker, Charles McDew, and Timothy L. Jenkins, 13 September 1961; Dunbar to Stephen R. Currier, 10 November 1961; SCLC, “Southwide Voter Registration Prospectus,” 1961). According to VEP records, its efforts helped register 551,328 people in Southern states from April 1962 through March 1964 (SRC, Press release, Results of Voter Education Project programs, 3 August 1964).
3. Leslie Wallace Dunbar (1921– ) was born in Lewisburg, West Virginia, and graduated from Cornell University with an M.A. (1946) and a Ph.D. (1948). Following graduation, he taught political science at Emory University from 1948–1951 and at Mt. Holyoke College from 1955–1958. He then moved to SRC as director of research until 1961, when he became executive director. Dunbar served four years as executive director of SRC before becoming executive director of the Field Foundation, a position he held until 1980. He has published several books addressing social policy toward the poor and serves on the board of directors of several nonprofits.
4. Wilkins objected to the press conference because the possibility of misinterpretations about the project exceeded the potential benefit of a press conference (Wilkins to Dunbar, 24 January 1962). The SRC eventually announced the start of the VEP in a 29 March 1962 press release.
5. A 12 January article in Time magazine asserted that there was a split and tension between the various civil rights organizations and that King had “began to lose status” among student activists for his timidity during the Freedom Rides and the Albany campaign (“Confused Crusade,” p. 15). For more on the article, see Levison to the Editor of Time Magazine, 11 January 1962, pp. 363–365 in this volume.
6. Branton (1923–1988), a lawyer from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, who represented the students in the Little Rock school desegregation cases in 1957, served as VEP Project Director. Forman (1928–2005) was executive secretary of SNCC from 1961 until 1966. Young (1921–1971) was executive director of the National Urban League from 1961 until 1971.
Source: MLKJP-GAMK, Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers (Series I–IV), Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.