On 16 October Walker wrote of his congregation's concern for King's health and proposed several dates for King to speak in Petersburg, Virginia. Walker also enclosed a copy of a 16 October letter he wrote to SCLC executive director John Tilley stating his intention to form an SCLC branch in Virginia and to distribute Stride Toward Freedom.
Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Minister
The Gillfield Baptist Church
209 Perry Street
Petersburg, Virginia
Dear Tee:
Delayed by his ongoing recovery, King delivered this annual report almost a month after the traditional end of the church year. He regretted that “for three long months I found it impossible to occupy the pulpit” and included his personal thanks to the Dexter membership for their support: “As you know, this has been a rather difficult year for me.
King had responded with qualified interest to an 11 February proposal from Laws to represent him through Law’s public relations firm.1 In a 19 May letter Laws recommended a $500 minimum for King’s speaking engagements and informed him that all organizations requesting an appearance would be “checked against the Subversive List issued by the Attorney General of the United States.”
Proctor replies to King's 22 December letter.
Dear Martin:
Happy New Year to you all! I hope it will bring to fruition many of the ideals and conditions for which you are dedicating yourself.
Thanks, so much, for the nice letter with enclosure.
Proctor, who served as King's secretary from March until August while Maude Ballou was on maternity leave, keeps him informed about office matters while he is on the road.1
Dear Dr. King:
Everything is going calmly and SERENLY. Nothing important concerning the family has happened. Lili is working very hard and steadily on her stencils.2
King declines Muhammad's 19 March invitation to address members of the Nation of Islam in Chicago.
Mr. Elijah Muhammad
Messenger of Allah
University of Islam
5333 Greenwood Avenue
Chicago, Illinois
Dear Elijah Muhammad:
Johnson wrote King on 3 March, asking him to appear at an 11 March reception for the Detroit branch of the NAACP.1 After learning that King would not be able to attend, Johnson responded on 6 March that he was "shocked and disappointed." He cautioned King to "be ever mindful that a helping hand from you is ten, twenty-five, one hundred times more productive than that of countless other friends whose resources and influence can never quite measure up to their interest in this work."
At Maxwell’s request, King seconded New York minister Gardner Taylor’s nomination of Maxwell for president of the National Sunday School and Baptist Training Union Congress at its Omaha convention, held 18 through 21 June.1 Maxwell won the election, and King was elected vice president of the Congress. Maxwell responded to this letter on 22 July, noting that Taylor and King’s nominations were among "the most beautiful pieces of convention strategy I have seen in a long time."
On 9 July Randolph solicited King's opinion of a letter to the president, which had been drafted by Rustin and Levison to serve as a follow-up to the 23 June White House meeting.1 King agrees that the letter, calling for a White House conference on school desegregation, should be signed by the four black leaders who met with Eisenhower.2
In a 13 December letter to King, Rodell expressed concern that no recent work had been forthcoming on the manuscript for his book.1 She emphasized the “importance that the book come out by next September, while the memory of the Montgomery protest is still fresh in every one's mind, and when, with the opening of school, the whole integration problem will be front-page news.”
