From Warren Olney III
Author: Olney, Warren (United States. Department of Justice); Caldwell, A. B. (Arthur Bunyan) (United States. Department of Justice)
Date: October 2, 1956
Location: Washington, D.C.
Genre: Letter
Topic: Voter registration
Details
Reverend M. L. King, Jr.
President, The Montgomery Improvement Association, Inc.
530-C South Union Street
Montgomery, Alabama
Dear Reverend King:
This acknowledges your letter of September 17,1956, together with a document enclosed therein, entitled “Registration of Negro Voters in Alabama in 1954.’’
We are very glad to have the information set forth in the document, as well as that contained in your letter. However, any action which this Department may take must be based upon a specific complaint indicating that some particular person or persons have been deprived of rights protected by federal law. Since your letter refers to a general situation instead of specific individuals, we shall not be able to undertake the action you request. We shall, of course, be happy to consider any additional information which you may care to bring to our attention.
Sincerely,
WARREN OLNEY III
Assistant Attorney General
Criminal Division
By: [signed]
ARTHUR B. CALDWELL
Chief, Civil Rights Section
Source: MLKP-MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954-1968, Boston University, Boston, Mass.