Lucius M. Tobin to Charles E. Batten
Author: Tobin, Lucius M. (Providence Baptist Church)
Date: February 25, 1948
Location: Atlanta, Ga.
Genre: Letter
Topic: Martin Luther King, Jr. - Education
Details
Lucius M. Tobin, professor of religion at Morehouse and pastor of Providence Baptist Church in Atlanta, recommends King to Crozer Theological Seminary. Tobin was a close family friend who served on the committee for King’s ordination at Ebenezer Baptist Church on the day that this letter was written.1
Mr. Charles E. Batten, Dean
Crozer Theological Seminary
Chester, Pa.
Sir.—
I am happy to recommend Martin L. King as a prospective student at Crozer. The applicant has not been in my class at Morehouse. I am informed that he is a little above the average in scholarship. In personality and ability he shows promise for the ministry. Mr King comes from a fine family. His father is one of the most progressive pastors in the city of Atlanta. Mr King has had some experience in working with him. I do not hesitate in saying that he should do well in the ministry, once he has had the type of training given at Crozer.
I tried to persuade him to enter Colgate-Rochester, my school. I am glad he has chosen Crozer for which I have the highest respect.
I am sure you will get his academic standing from the registrar’s office of Morehouse College.
Sincerely yours
[signed as below]
L. M. Tobin
1. Lucius M. Tobin (1898–1984) was a native of Greenville, South Carolina, and valedictorian of his graduating class at Virginia Union University in 1923. He earned an M.A. in sociology at the University of Michigan in 1928 and a B.D. at Colgate-Rochester Divinity School in 1938. In 1944 he became pastor of Atlanta’s Providence Baptist Church and a member of the philosophy and religion department at Morehouse College. He taught at Morehouse until 1954 and served as pastor at Providence until 1969.
Source: CRO, NRCR, Crozer Theological Seminary Records, Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, Rochester, N.Y.