To Samuel D. Proctor
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Dexter Avenue Baptist Church)
Date: November 18, 1955
Location: Montgomery, Ala.?
Genre: Letter
Topic: Martin Luther King, Jr. - Career in Ministry
Martin Luther King, Jr. - Family
Details
King invites Proctor to deliver the Men’s Day sermon at Dexter. Proctor had been recently appointed president of Virginia Union University. He accepted the invitation.
Dr. Samuel D. Proctor, President
Virginia Union University
Richmond, Virginia
Dear Proctor:
You will probably remember that I spoke to you in Memphis concerning our annual Men’s Day observance. I am seeking to bring each year some of the great preachers of our nation to Dexter Avenue Baptist Church for this occasion. I would like to extend to you an invitation to preach the Men’s Day sermon on the second Sunday in July 1956.
I sincerely hope that you can accept the invitation. Your presence as well as your message would mean so much to our church and community. The members of Dexter and the whole Montgomery community have talked so much of the effectiveness of your preaching and of their desire to hear you again, that your presence would inevitabely make this an epic making occasion.
I will look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience concerning this matter so that I may proceed in setting up my church calendar for the year. I have been reading of your inauguration. Again let me commend you for the great strides you have made, and you have my prayers and best wishes for a great future at Virginia Union.
Just last evening Coretta brought into the world a “big” little girl. She weighs nine pounds and eleven ounces. So you must see the new addition soon.
Sincerely yours,
M. L. King, Jr.,
MLK:lmt
Source: DABCC-INP, Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church Collection, In Private Hands.