From Ven and Joel Lawrence King
Author: King, Joel Lawrence
Date: December 3, 1953
Location: Lansing, Mich.
Genre: Letter
Topic: Martin Luther King, Jr. - Family
Details
King’s uncle, the Reverend Joel King, invites King, Jr., to preach at his church in January 1954.1
Dear M. L. and Coretta:
Planned to write long ago but kept putting it off. Trust you both are well, happy and getting along nicely, which leaves us the same. We are just beginning to have some winter weather here, the month of November was exceedingly nice.
Am sure Brother enjoyed his trip to Boston, saw by the Atlanta World where he was back in his pulpit last Sunday.
I am sure you two are planning to go home for Christmas—would like to know if you are all engaged for the first Sunday in Jan. {(3, 1954)}—if not, would like to have you for our guest speaker, morning and evening,—nothing so eventful on that day—other than the climax of a rally for beautifying the interior of the church. Would be happy to have you with us on that day if possible. And if you are on your way from the South, bring the wife along too—happy to have you both.
Let us hear from you as to your plans.
Love,
[signed] Aunt Ven & Uncle Joel
1. Joel Lawrence King (1915–) was born in Stockbridge, Georgia. In 1927 he went to live with King, Sr., and Alberta Williams King in Atlanta to attend Bryant Preparatory School. He was married in their home and licensed to preach by King, Sr. Joel King graduated from Morehouse College and Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta. He pastored sixteen churches in Georgia, South Carolina, and Michigan before becoming pastor of Mount Hermon Baptist Church in Mansfield, Ohio, in 1961.
Source: MLKP, MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954-1968, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University, Boston, Mass.