From Ralph Abernathy
Author: Abernathy, Ralph
Date: December 17, 1961
Location: Atlanta, Ga.
Genre: Letter
Topic: Albany Movement
Martin Luther King, Jr. - Arrests
Details
On 16 December, King, Abernathy, and Albany Movement president William G. Anderson were arrested for parading without a permit, congregating on a sidewalk, and obstructing traffic, after leading a crowd of over 260 people to pray at Albany City Hall.1 The three were taken to the Albany city hall but were later booked into the Sumter County Jail in Americus, Georgia.2 While King vowed to remain in jail until Christmas, Abernathy posted bond that night and called for a nationwide pilgrimage to Albany.3 Abernathy writes King a telegram of encouragement, lamenting that “I should be with you,” and “I anxiously await the time when I can rejoin you.”
= dr martin luther king jr =
county jail albany ga =
= now that the church day is over, the preaching for the week completed, and i am back in the comfort of my home, i must confess to you and doctor anderson that there is an emptiness in my soul that none of the experiences this day have been able to fill i preached the gospel today to the best of my ability at west hunter, and i carried your personal message to the people of ebeneezer, but as i listen to the sweet christmas music now i know that i would not be here but that i should not be here but i should be with you and with the hundreds of sons and daughters of slaves who have the courage to say to the sons and daughters of former slave holders that this is a new day and we want our freedom now.4 i am concerned about your comfort and welfare. i have tried to do all the things which you asked me to do, but i anxiously await the time when i can rejoin you. the sermon which you preached to men and women all across the nation through your being there was much more profound than any words i could have ever uttered. juanita and the children join me and sending best wishes as well as vincent and rose mary harding who are with us at this time=5
ralph d abernathy.
1. King reportedly planned to stay in Albany only for “a day or so and return home after giving counsel” (David Miller, “Non-Violence: Police Chief and Minister,” New York Herald Tribune, 18 December 1961; Bruce Galphin, “Albany Shaping Racial Settlement,” Atlanta Constitution, 15 December 1961).
2. Facsimile of Sumter County Jail ledger, 16 December 1961, p. 347 in this volume. The FBI claimed that King was moved from the Albany City Hall to the Sumter County Jail for his safety (Special Agent in Charge, Atlanta, Ga., to J. Edgar Hoover, 17 December 1961, Bureau File 157–6–2–2). Although he did not find the jail conditions harsh, King complained that jailers called him “boy” and that Sheriff Fred Chappell was the “meanest man in the world” (Bill Shipp, “U.S. Pilgrimage Is Urged As Albany Negroes Call Halt,” Atlanta Constitution, 18 December 1961; “Rev. King Meets ‘Meanest Man in World’ in Jail,” Jet, 4 January 1962).
3. SCLC, Press release, “Abernathy issues call for nation-wide protest at Albany, Ga.,” 17 December 1961; “King Vows to Spend Yule in Ga. Jail,” Chicago Daily Defender, 19 December 1961.
4. According to the Atlanta Daily World, King was scheduled to preach on “God’s Love” at Ebenezer, while Abernathy was slated to preach on “Light of Hope in the Midst of Darkness” at West Hunter on 17 December (“‘God’s Love’ To Be Topic At Ebenezer on Sunday,” Atlanta Daily World, 16 December 1961; “‘Light of Hope in Midst of Darkness,’ Abernathy,” Atlanta Daily World, 16 December 1961).
5. Abernathy refers to his daughters, Juandalynn and Donzaleigh, and his son, Ralph David III. Vincent Harding and his wife, Rosemarie, moved to Atlanta in 1961 as representatives of the Mennonite Central Committee and established Mennonite House, an interracial community center.
Source: MCMLK-RWWL, Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection, Atlanta University Center, Robert W. Woodruff Library Archives and Special Collections, Atlanta, Ga.