Martin Luther King, Sr., to Charles E. Batten
Author: King, Martin Luther (Ebenezer Baptist Church)
Date: March 5, 1948
Location: Atlanta, Ga.
Genre: Letter
Topic: Martin Luther King, Jr. - Career in Ministry
Martin Luther King, Jr. - Education
Martin Luther King, Jr. - Family
Details
King, Sr.’s letter of recommendation to Crozer speaks highly of his son’s abilities and achievements: entering college at the age of fifteen and being ordained and appointed associate pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church at eighteen. He mentions Mays, professor of philosophy Samuel Williams, and professor of religion Lucius M. Tobin who knew King, Jr., as a student at Morehouse. The Reverend Leander Asbury Pinkston, an alumnus of Morehouse and pastor of Atlanta’s Traveler’s Rest Baptist Church, served as president of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia from 1937 to 1959.
Crozer Theological Seminary
Chester, Pa.
Dean Charles E. Batten,
In reply to your letter relative to Martin Luther King, Jr. He is completing his college work at Morehouse in June. He entered college at the age of 15, is a good student and very conscientious in his work.
In my opinion he is above his age in thought. In fact he has always been a very steady child, quite scholarly. From childhood he always wanted {to} possess scholarship.
He was licensed to preach June 1947, and was voted Associate Pastor in the Ebenezer Baptist Church. He was ordained February 25th 1948. Serving on the council were Dr. B. E. Mays, President Morehouse College, Reverends Samuel Williams, L. M. Tobin, Morehouse and Dr. L. A. Pinkston, Pres. State Baptist Convention of Georgia, and several of our local pastors. This is stated merely as a suggestive background of his christian ministry.
He possesses a very pleasing personality, makes and holds friends easily, among youth and adults. I am
very truly yours,
[signed as below]
M. L. King, Sr
K/w
Source: CRO, NRCR, Crozer Theological Seminary Records, Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, Rochester, N.Y.