To Warren J. Bunn
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Montgomery Improvement Association)
Date: August 24, 1956
Location: Montgomery, Ala.?
Genre: Letter
Topic: Montgomery Bus Boycott
Details
On 6 August Bunn had “strongly” urged the MIA to “continue the boycott until the Supreme Court convenes in a body next year, ”even if a Supreme Court justice issued a temporary ruling in favor of the boycotters.’ If the court then ruled against the MIA when it reconvened in October, Bunn and other members of the Brooklyn NAACP feared that the boycott movement would suffer “complete demoralization and disorganization." Bunn asked the MIA to “stand your ground, hold fast, and wait . . . HELP IS ON THE WAY!” His labor and industry committee raised funds to send a station wagon to Montgomery. In his answer King reports that the MIA had decided to continue the boycott until the final ruling by the Supreme Court.1
Mr. Warren Bunn, Chairman of Labor & Industry Committee
Brooklyn Branch, NAACP
474 Summer Avenue
Brooklyn, New York
Dear Mr. Bunn:
This is just a note to acknowledge receipt of your very kind letter of August 6 making suggestions concerning our future strategy.
We are deeply grateful to you for these very helpful suggestions. We are very happy to say that we decided some weeks ago to follow the very avenue that you are recommending. The boycott will continue until a ruling comes down from the Supreme Court.2 This maybe a matter of several more months, but we intend to stick it out to the finish.
We are very happy to know of your efforts in the direction of purchasing a station wagon for Montgomery. Since we will have to go several months more, I assure you that this will meet a real need.
Please know that we will always remain indebted to you and the fine people of Brooklyn for your interest in our struggle for justice.
Sincerely yours,
M. L. King, Jr.,
President
MLK:j
1. Warren J. Bunn (1914-1986) began his career as a factory worker in 1935. He worked for the E. R. Squibb pharmaceutical company from 1939 until 1950, when he became an executive board member of the AFL-CIO.
2. On 26 July the MIA executive board accepted the advice of its legal staff that “it would be wiser to wait until the Supreme Court reconvenes this fall and render a decision on our case than to appeal to one Supreme Court Justice for an immediate ruling on the same” (W. J. Powell, Minutes, MIA 354 Executive Board Meeting, 26 July 1956).
Source: MLKP-MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954-1968, Boston University, Boston, Mass.