To O. Clay Maxwell
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Date: December 20, 1961
Location: Atlanta, Ga.?
Genre: Letter
Topic: Albany Movement
Martin Luther King, Jr. - Arrests
Details
After being stripped of the vice presidency of the National Sunday School and Baptist Training Union Congress (BTU) due to his support of Gardner Taylor’s failed bid for the presidency of the NBC, King declines the BTU president’s offer to attend the upcoming executive committee meeting. He states that continuing to protest against his removal “would make me look little rather than big, and my involvement in the struggle for the rights of my people must always keep me above the level of littleness.”1
The Rev. O. Clay Maxwell
114 West 120th Street
New York 27, New York
My Dear Friend Dr. Maxwell:
Thank you for your very kind letter of December 14. As you probably know, I was just getting out of jail that day and I can think of no-one that I would like to hear from more than you after a brief sojourn in a very mean Georgia prison.2 The Movement is still moving and we are still trying to carry on even when it means suffering and sacrifice in order to solve this big problem which faces America.
I am very happy that you raised the question with me concerning the Congress. I had intended writing you a long, long time ago to share with you some of my ideas. First, I should say that it came as a real disappointment to me to discover that I had been removed from my position as Vice President in such an undemocratic manner.3 I had come to the point of really loving the Congress and cherishing the relationship I had with you. This was why I stretched a point to be at almost every meeting of the Executive Committee and the Executive Board, and to stay through all of the sessions of the Congress itself, even though this meant a great sacrifice in terms of my man-killing schedule.4 It was a sacrifice that I enjoyed making and I will always remember the creative moments we spent together in the Congress.
Now that Dr. Jackson has seen fit to move me, I do not feel that I am of the temperament to put up a struggle at this point.5 I think it may give the impression that I am fighting to maintain an office. Wherever I can serve my denomination, I will gladly do it, but I do not think I should do it by seeking to force myself in. So I have decided to accept the decision of Dr. Jackson and the Board as final. Many people feel that there should be some type of protest in Hot Springs and in Denver since I was elected by the people in St. Louis.6 I am not altogether opposed to this, for I think that Dr. Jackson will continue his un-Christian, unethical and dictatorial tactics as long as no-one openly oposes him. But I could not in all good conscience lead such a protest. It would make me look little rather than big, and my involvement in the struggle for the rights of my people must always keep me above the level of littleness. I do plan to be in Denver and I have no intention of severing my relationship with the Congress. I will simply attend as an ordinary delegate.
It goes without saying that our friendship is larger than the Congress and my being removed from the position of Vice President will, in no way, lessen our personal relationship. I consider you and Mrs. Maxwell among the most dedicated and royal people I have ever met.7 If I can ever be of assistance to you in the Congress, or any other area, please feel free to call on me. You have been a real personal inspiration to me and I should say a real spiritual father.
Please give my best regards to Mrs. Maxwell. I hope for you a most Joyous Christmas and a New Year packed with meaningful fulfillment. I look forward to seeing you when I am in New York. Incidently, you mention my not getting in touch with you when I am in your city.8 I must say that I walways come to New York intending to talk with you but my schedule is usually so crowded that I end up running to the airport at break-neck speed. My visits to New York are usually very brief, sometimes only twelve or fifteen hours long. I am very seldom there more than a day. But I do plan to get in touch with you soon.
May God continue to bless you in all of the great work that you are doing.
Sincerely yours,
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Km
1. Maxwell’s offer was made “on the basis of the fact that the Congress elected you for the period to expire in June, 1962” (Maxwell to King, 14 December 1961). In his memoir, NBC president J. H. Jackson claimed that while he was not personally opposed to King keeping his position, the Board of Directors voted on 9 September 1961 to strip King of his rank “because of the type of militant campaign carried on against his own denomination and his own race” (Jackson, A Story of Christian Activism: The History of the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc. [Nashville: Townsend Press, 1980], pp. 483–484, 486; see also King to J. H. Jackson, 10 September 1961, and Jackson to King, 12 September 1961, pp. 278–279 and pp. 281–282 in this volume, respectively).
2. King was released from jail in Americus on 18 December 1961.
3. Washington, D.C., area pastors and members of the NBC wrote to Maxwell protesting the “undemocratic removal” of King from the BTU (Baptist Pastors and Lay Leaders of the NBC to Maxwell, 9 October 1961).
4. Maxwell earlier thanked King for the contributions that King had “been making across the years” to attend the BTU meetings and help plan its conferences (Maxwell to King, 26 July 1961).
5. J. Pius Barbour had previously pushed King to challenge his removal from the leadership of the BTU, noting that the NBC had no “legal rights” to remove him (Barbour to King, 14 September 1961, p. 283 in this volume).
6. The NBC Board of Directors met annually in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The 1961 convention was held in St. Louis, and the 1962 convention was scheduled for 18–24 June in Denver.
7. King refers to Maxwell’s wife, Lillie.
8. Maxwell wrote in his 14 December 1961 letter, “I told your Father that I was just a bit surprised that you could be in New York so often and I not hear from you.”
Source: MLKJP-GAMK, Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers (Series I–IV), Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.