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The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Volume I

The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Volume 1: Called to Serve | January 1929-June 1951, Clayborne Carson, Senior Editor

Volume I begins with the childhood letters Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote to his mother and father.

A series of letters written while he was working at a summer job on a tobacco farm in Connecticut reveal his initial impressions of life outside the segregated South. A few years later, King would refer to this time as a crucial period in his religious evolution when he “felt and inescapable urge to serve society... in a sense of responsibility which I could not escape.”

As a teenager at Morehouse College, the young King initially planned to become a lawyer or physician rather than become a minister like his father. Greatly affected by the influence of Morehouse College’s president Benjamin E. Mays, King described his studies at Morehouse as “very exciting.” He persistently questioned literal interpretations of biblical texts and criticized traditional Baptist teachings. But by his senior year, he decided to follow his father’s “noble example” into the ministry. King’s continuing struggle to resolve his religious doubts is revealed in the essays and examinations written while he was at Crozer Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. The intensity of his search for a sense of theological certainty and the depth of his deliberations regarding his ultimate decision to accept his religious calling are clearly revealed. By the time he left Crozer, he had found new value in his early religious experiences and had reached enduring conclusions about his own faith.

Download Introduction to Volume 1 (pdf)

Contents

Date

Title

13 Jun 1937

To Martin Luther King, Sr.

1 Apr 1939

In Memoriam

18 Jan 1940

To Martin Luther King, Sr.

20 Jun 1940

To Alberta Williams King

23 Jun 1940

To Martin Luther King, Sr.

May 1944

“The Negro and the Constitution”

11 Jun 1944

To Alberta Williams King

15 Jun 1944

To Martin Luther King, Sr.

18 Jun 1944

To Alberta Williams King

5 Aug 1944

To Alberta Williams King

30 Aug 1944

To Alberta Williams King

6 Aug 1946

“Kick Up Dust,” Letter to the Editor, Atlanta Constitution

Sept 1946–Jan 1947

“The Purpose of Education”

Jan–Feb 1947

“The Purpose of Education”

27 Oct 1947

To Crozer Theological Seminary

29 Oct 1947

From Charles E. Batten

25 September 1946–Jan 1948

“Ritual”

Feb 1948

Application for Admission to Crozer Theological Seminary

4 Feb 1948

Certification of Minister’s License for Martin Luther King, Jr.

18 Feb 1948

From Charles E. Batten

25 Feb 1948

Lucius M. Tobin to Charles E. Batten

28 Feb 1948

Benjamin Elijah Mays to Charles E. Batten

5 Mar 1948

Martin Luther King, Sr. to Charles E. Batten

9 Mar 1948

Phoebe Burney to Charles E. Batten

12 Mar 1948

George D. Kelsey to Charles E. Batten

23 Mar 1948

Brailsford R. Brazeal to Charles E. Batten

23 Mar 1948

Charles E. Batten’s Notes on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Academic Record at Morehouse College

Oct 1948

To Alberta Williams King

14 Sept–24 Nov 1948

“Light on the Old Testament from the Ancient Near East”

14 Sept–24 Nov 1948

“The Significant Contributions of Jeremiah to Religious Thought”

30 Nov 1948–16 Feb 1949

“The Ethics of Late Judaism as Evidenced in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs”

8 Oct 1949

William H. Gray, Jr., to Martin Luther King, Sr.

13 Sept–23 Nov 1949

“A Study of Mithraism”

13 Sept–23 Nov 1949

“What Experiences of Christians Living in the Early Christian Century led to the Christian Doctrines of the Divine Sonship of Jesus, the Virgin Birth, and the Bodily Resurrection.”

13 Sept–23 Nov 1949

“The Place of Reason and Experience in Finding God”

13 Sept–23 Nov 1949

“The Sources of Fundamentalism and Liberalism Considered Historically and Psychologically”

13 Sept–23 Nov 1949

“Six Talks in Outline

13 Sept–23 Nov 1949

“How to Use the Bible in Modern Theological Construction”

29 Nov 1949–15 Feb 1950

“The Humanity and Divinity of Jesus”

29 Nov 1949–15 Feb 1950

“A View of the Cross Possessing Biblical and Spiritual Justification”

29 Nov 1949–15 Feb 1950

“The Christian Pertinence of Eschatological Hope”

29 November 1949–Feb 1950

“How Modern Christians Should Think of Man”

20 Nov 1949–15 Feb 1950

Six Talks Based on Beliefs That Matter by William Adams Brown

29 Nov 1949–15 Feb 1950

Examination Answers, Christian Theology for Today

29 Nov 1949–15 Feb 1950

“The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity”

28 Apr 1950

“The Chief Characteristics and Doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism”

20 Jul 1950

Statement on Behalf of Ernest Nichols, State v. Ernest Nichols, by W. Thomas McGann

13 Sept 1950

Crozer Theological Seminary Field Work Questionnaire

11 Oct 1950

From Charles E. Batten

30 Oct 1950

To Charles E. Batten

5 Nov 1950

To Hugh Watt

15 Nov 1950

Crozer Theological Seminary Placement Committee: Confidential Evaluation of Martin Luther King, Jr., by George W. Davis

17 Nov 1950

“An Appraisal of the Great Awakening”

21 Nov 1950

Crozer Theological Seminary Placement Committee: Confidential Evaluation of Martin Luther King, Jr., by Morton Scott Enslin

12 Sept–22 Nov 1950

Book Review of A Functional Approach to Religious Education by Ernest J. Chave

12 Sept–22 Nov 1950

Book Review of Personality, Its Study and Hygiene by Winifred V. Richmond

12 Sept–22 Nov 1950

“An Autobiography of Religious Development”

Sept–1 Dec 1950

Crozer Theological Seminary Field Work Department: Rating Sheet for Martin Luther King, Jr., by William E. Gardner

14 Dec 1950

Morton Scott Enslin to Chester M. Alter

15 Dec 1950

From Oliver Shaw Rankin

19 Dec 1950

“A Conception and Impression of Religion from Dr. W. K. Wright’s Book Entitled A Student’s Philosophy of Religion

Sept–Dec 1950

Fragment of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Application to Boston University

1951

“Martin L. King,” by Charles E. Batten

Jan 1951

To Sankey L. Blanton

4 Feb 1951 

Crozer Theological Seminary Placement Committee: Confidential Evaluation of Martin Luther King, Jr., by Raymond J. Bean

9 Feb 1951

“The Origin of Religion in the Race”

23 Feb 1951

Crozer Theological Seminary Placement Committee: Confidential Evaluation of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Charles E. Batten

6 Mar 1951

Graduate Record Examination Scores for Martin Luther King, Jr.

28 Mar 1951

“A Conception and Impression of Religion Drawn from Dr. Brightman’s Book Entitled A Philosophy of Religion

27 Apr 1951

“Religion’s Answer to the Problem of Evil”

20 Feb–4 May 1951

“War and Pacifism”

20 Feb–4 May 1951

Notes on American Capitalism

20 Feb–4 May 1951

“Jacques Maritain”

10 May 1951

Alberta Williams King to Charles E. Batten

1 Jun 1951

To Charles E. Batten

4 Jun 1951

From Charles E. Batten

4 Jun 1951

Charles E. Batten to Chester M. Alter

Chronology 

Date Event

1810

Willis Williams—one of King, Jr.’s maternal great-grandfathers—is born in Georgia.

Feb 1825

William Parks—one of King, Jr.’s maternal great-grandfathers—is born in Georgia.

Jan 1830

Fannie—later wife of William Parks—is born in Georgia.

1840

Lucretia (Creecy)—later wife of Willis Williams—is born in Georgia.

1842 or 1844

Jim Long—one of King, Jr.’s paternal great-grandfathers—is born in Virginia.

1855

Jane Linsey—one of King, Jr.’s paternal great-grandmothers—is born in Henry County, Georgia.

2 Jan 1863

Adam Daniel (A. D.) Williams—the son of Lucretia and Willis Williams—is born near the town of Penfield in Greene County, Georgia.

Dec 1864

James Albert King—King, Jr.’s paternal grandfather—is born in Ohio.

Apr 1873

Jennie Celeste Parks—the daughter of Fannie and William Parks—is born in Atlanta, Georgia.

1874

Willis Williams dies.

July 1875

Delia Linsey—the daughter of Jane Linsey and Jim Long—is born in Henry County, Georgia.

Mar 1894

A. D. Williams becomes pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, a small and financially troubled church with a congregation of thirteen and no permanent place of worship. Serving as pastor until his death in 1931, Reverend Williams helps build Ebenezer into one of Atlanta’s largest and most prominent black churches.

20 Aug 1895

James Albert King marries Delia Linsey in Stockbridge, Georgia.

19 Dec 1897

Martin Luther King, Sr.—son of Delia and James Albert King—is born in Stockbridge, Georgia.

29 Oct 1899

A. D. Williams marries Jennie Celeste Parks in Fulton County, Georgia.

13 Sept 1903

Alberta Christine Williams—daughter of Jennie Celeste and A. D. Williams—is born in Atlanta.

25 Nov 1926

Martin Luther King, Sr., marries Alberta Christine Williams at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

1927

Date Event

27 Apr

Coretta Scott is born in Heiberger, Alabama. Her parents are Obie and Bernice Scott.

11 Sept

Willie Christine King—King, Jr.’s sister—is born in Atlanta.

1929

Date Event

15 Jan

Martin Luther King, Jr. is born at home, 501 Auburn Avenue, in Atlanta, Georgia.

1930

Date Event

June

King, Sr., receives a bachelor of arts degree in theology from Morehouse College.

30 July

Alfred Daniel Williams King—King, Jr.’s brother, A. D.—is born in Atlanta.

1931

Date Event

21 Mar

A. D. Williams dies of a heart attack.

Oct

King, Sr., is chosen to succeed his father-in-law, A. D. Williams, as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

1932

Date Event

Jan

King, Jr., enters nursery school.

Apr

King, Sr., is officially installed as pastor of Ebenezer.

3 Sept

King, Sr., attends the National Baptist Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

1933

Date Event

5 July

King, Sr., attends the first interdenominational institute for black clergymen at Atlanta University.

Fall

King, Jr., enters the first grade at Yonge Street Elementary School with his six-year-old sister, Christine.

18 Nov

James Albert King dies.

1934

Date Event

Jan

King, Jr., reveals to his first-grade teacher that he is only five years old and is expelled from school.

20 Jan

Atlanta’s black Baptists join local white Baptists in inviting the Baptist World Alliance to meet in the city but insist that they will tolerate no segregation at the conference.

Mar

Atlanta’s black public school teachers demand the same pay scale as that of the city’s white public school teachers.

King, Sr., is elected first vice president of the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union. 

12 Apr

King, Jr.’s birth certificate is filed under the name Michael King.

14 July–10 Aug

King, Sr., tours the Middle East and Europe with ten other Baptist ministers from the United States. They attend the Baptist World Alliance in Berlin.

4 Sept

King, Sr., attends the National Baptist Convention in Oklahoma.

24 Oct

The Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union holds mock elections to instruct potential black voters on voting procedures.

14 Nov

King, Jr., accompanied by mother, Alberta Williams King, sings at a meeting of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Newnan, Georgia.

1935

Date Event
28 Jan

King, Jr., reenters the first grade at Yonge Street Elementary School and, after half a year, advances to the second grade.

30 Jan

King, Sr., stages a protest against the segregation of elevators at the Fulton County Courthouse.

27 Mar

King, Sr., becomes president of the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union.

11 Apr

King, Sr., preaches at a service commemorating the fifty-third anniversary of the Reverend E. R. Carter’s ministry at Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta.

11 May

King, Sr., and other leaders of the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union call for black voter registration.

9 June

King, Sr., is elected president of the Atlanta District Baptist Young Peoples Union and Sunday School Convention.

2 July

King, Sr., becomes acting moderator of the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association.

Aug–Sept

King, Sr., and the Atlanta branch of the NAACP lead a voter registration drive in anticipation of a local school bond referendum.

3 Sept

King, Sr., attends the National Baptist Convention in New York.

11 Sept

King, Jr., enters the second grade at Yonge Street Elementary School.

17 Oct

King, Sr., is elected moderator of the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association.

1936

Date Event
7 Jan King, Sr., is reelected president of the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union.
26 Feb

King, Sr., is chosen to lead the NAACP membership drive in Atlanta.

6 Mar

King, Sr., joins other speakers in addressing a mass meeting of the NAACP at Wheat Street Baptist Church.

9 Apr

King, Sr., addresses the annual Lenten service at the Butler Street YMCA, speaking on “The Compelling Vision of the Kingdom of God.”

3 May

King, Jr., is baptized after Ebenezer’s two-week annual revival, led by guest evangelist Rev. H. H. Coleman of Macedonia Baptist Church in Detroit.

1 June

King, Sr., steps down as president of the Atlanta District Baptist Young Peoples Union and Sunday School Convention.

21–26 July

King, Sr., attends the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Augusta.

8 Sept

King, Jr., enters the third grade at Atlanta’s David T. Howard Colored Elementary School.

11 Sept

King, Sr., has an automobile accident en route to the National Baptist Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. His mother-in-law, Jennie Celeste Parks Williams, suffers minor injuries.

4 Nov

Howard Thurman, dean of the chapel at Howard University, addresses Morehouse students on Mahatma Gandhi’s campaign against British imperialism in India.

1937

Date Event
 

King, Jr., begins delivering the Atlanta Journal.

Mar

King, Sr., completes term as president of the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union.

Sept

Alberta Williams King initiates a series of annual musicals by Ebenezer’s choirs.

4 Sept

King, Sr., and Alberta Williams King attend the National Baptist Convention in Los Angeles, California.

10 Sept

King, Jr., enters the fourth grade at Howard Elementary School.

10 Nov Robed Ku Klux Klansmen parade on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta.
19 Nov

King, Sr., is defeated by the Reverend L. A. Pinkston of Augusta in a bid for the presidency of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia. Six months earlier, Pinkston was the visiting evangelist at Ebenezer’s spring revival.

1938

Date Event
2 Feb

King, Sr., speaks at Atlanta’s annual Lincoln-Douglas Day celebration.

2 Mar

King, Sr., is elected to the executive committee of the Atlanta Civic and Political League and pledges to seek the support of black ministers for the League’s voter registration drive.

20 Mar

The Reverend Melvin Watson delivers the anniversary sermon, which culminates the weeklong celebration of Ebenezer’s fifty-first anniversary.

3 May

King, Sr., speaks at a meeting of the Atlanta Civic and Political League.

June

Alberta Williams King graduates from Morris Brown College with a bachelor of arts degree.

7 June

King, Sr., again urges black ministers to cooperate with voter registration efforts at a meeting of the Atlanta Civic and Political League at Ebenezer.

4 Sept

The Atlanta Civic and Political League issues a report criticizing the inadequate facilities of the city’s black schools.

10 Sept

King, Jr., enters the fifth grade at Howard Elementary School.

October

The Atlanta Civic and Political League and the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association lead black opposition to the passage of a school bond issue that provides inadequate funds for black schools. The bond issue is defeated in November.

5 Dec

King, Sr., is reappointed to the executive committee of the Atlanta branch of the NAACP.

1939

Date Event
1 Apr

King, Sr., is the featured speaker for father’s night at Howard Elementary School.

7 Apr

King, Sr., is elected president of the Atlanta Ministers Council, an interdenominational organization of ministers dedicated to fighting “the Negroes' battles along civic, political, and educational lines.”

June

King, Sr., makes an extended tour of the western states following the National Baptist Sunday School and Young Peoples Union Congress in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

July

King, Sr., attends the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia in Savannah.

22–28 July

King, Sr., chairs the committee on local arrangements as Atlanta hosts the quadrennial meeting of the Baptist World Alliance.

11 Sept

King, Jr., enters the sixth grade at Howard Elementary School.

10 Oct

King, Sr., is reelected moderator of the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association.

8 Nov

King, Sr., as head of the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union, leads several hundred black Atlantans on a voter registration march to City Hall.

14 Nov

Ebenezer hosts the annual meeting of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia.

6 Dec

King, Sr., presides at a meeting of the Atlanta Ministers Council.

15 Dec

King, Jr., and members of Ebenezer’s choir sing at the Junior League gala ball, celebrating the premiere of Gone with the Wind at Loew’s Grand Theater in Atlanta.

1940

Date Event

5 Apr

King, Sr., delivers a sermon at the installation of his brother, Joel King, as pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Griffin, Georgia.

6 June

King, Jr., graduates from Howard Elementary School.

10 July

King, Sr., is reelected president of the Atlanta Ministers Council.

23 July

King, Sr., attends the General Missionary Baptist Sunday School and Baptist Training Union Convention of Georgia in Columbus.

1 Aug

Benjamin Mays is appointed president of Morehouse College.

7–8 Aug

The Atlanta branch of the NAACP and the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union oppose a proposed city bond issue because it sets aside insufficient funds for black schools.

Sept

King, Jr., enters the seventh grade at Atlanta University Laboratory School.

2–5 Sept

King, Sr., attends the National Baptist Convention in Birmingham, Alabama.

15–17 Oct

King, Sr., is reelected moderator of the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association, and on 17 October, addresses the group on “the true mission of the Church.”

1 Nov

Benjamin Mays speaks at a service to dedicate Ebenezer’s new organ.

9 Nov

King, Sr., preaches at a meeting of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia.

25–29 Nov

Morehouse and Ebenezer host the annual training school of the Atlanta District Sunday School and Baptist Training Union Convention.

 At the end of 1940, Ebenezer Baptist Church reports 2,400 members, the largest membership in its history.

1941

Date Event
16 Feb

King, Sr., speaks on “Goals Toward Which We Should Strive Today as a Minority Group” at Atlanta’s annual Lincoln-Douglas Day celebration.

16 Mar

Charles D. Hubert, the dean of the Morehouse School of Religion, preaches the anniversary sermon at Ebenezer.

18 May

Jennie Celeste Parks Williams, King, Jr.’s grandmother, dies of a heart attack while serving as the women’s day speaker at Mount Olive Baptist Church.

Summer

The King family moves from 501 Auburn Avenue to 193 Boulevard.

17–22 June

King, Sr., is the chairman of the Georgia delegation at the National Baptist Convention in Texas.

13–15 Oct

King, Sr., presides at a meeting of the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Association.

Ebenezer Baptist Church reports three hundred people joined the church during 1941.

1942

Date Event
 

At thirteen, King, Jr., becomes the youngest assistant manager of a newspaper delivery station for the Atlanta Journal.

Jan

After half a year in the eighth grade at Atlanta University Laboratory School, King, Jr., enrolls in the ninth grade.

9–15 Mar

Charles H. Haynes, a member of the faculty at Talladega College in Alabama, preaches at Ebenezer’s fifty-fifth-anniversary celebration.

Sept

King, Jr., enters the tenth grade at Booker T. Washington High School.

13–15 Oct

King, Sr., presides at a meeting of the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association at the Butler Street YMCA.

1943

Date Event
11 Jan

The Atlanta Civic and Political League holds a mass meeting at Ebenezer to discuss the condition of public schools and other issues.

8 Feb The Atlanta branch of the NAACP initiates a membership drive.

2 Mar

King, Sr., and other officers of the Atlanta Civic and Political League are reelected during a meeting at the Prince Hall Masons Building in Atlanta.

17 Mar

Morehouse College president Benjamin Mays addresses the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union.

26 May

King, Sr., speaks at the anniversary service of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in Atlanta.

14 June

King, Sr., chairs a meeting of the Atlanta Citizens’ Committee on the Equalization of Teachers’ Salaries.

15 Aug

King, Sr., conducts a revival at First Baptist Church in Carrollton, Georgia.

Sept

King, Jr., enters the eleventh grade at Booker T. Washington High School.

22 Sept

The Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union condemns the use of forced black labor in cotton fields near Athens, Georgia.

12–14 Oct

The Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association reelects King, Sr., as moderator.

19 Dec

John W. Webb, national leader of the black Masons, speaks at Ebenezer.

1944

Date Event
20 Feb

King, Sr., addresses an NAACP membership rally.

13 Apr

King, Jr., wins the right to represent Booker T. Washington High School in the state competition of the Elks’ oratorical contest.

17 Apr

King travels to Dublin, Georgia, to deliver his oration “The Negro and the Constitution.” Although he does not win the contest, his speech is later printed in the Booker T. Washington High School yearbook, The Cornellian.

Summer

King, Jr., participates in a summer work program for Morehouse students, picking tobacco on a farm in Simsbury, Connecticut. At the end of the summer, King, Jr., is admitted to Morehouse College as an early admissions student.

20 Sept

King begins his freshman year at Morehouse, taking Freshman Mathematics, Church History, Composition and Reading, History of Civilization, and Introduction to Biology.

1945

Date Event
10 Jan

King, Sr., is elected vice president of the Atlanta Civic and Political League.

15 Feb

King, Sr., leads a protest against segregated elevators at the Fulton County Courthouse.

June

King, Sr., receives an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Morris Brown College.

5–9 Sept

King, Jr., accompanies King, Sr., as he leads the Atlanta delegation to the National Baptist Convention in Detroit.

19 Sept

King, Jr., begins his sophomore year at Morehouse, taking Elementary French, Introduction to General Literature, Introduction to Sociology, Matter and Energy, General Psychology, and Educational Psychology.

16–19 Oct

King, Sr., is reelected moderator of the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association.

12 Nov

King, Sr., is elected president of the Atlanta Morehouse Club.

16–17 Nov

The Georgia NAACP convention meets at Ebenezer.

1946

Date Event
 

As a sophomore at Morehouse, King, Jr., wins second prize in the John L. Webb Oratorical Contest.

19 Jan

Mary McLeod Bethune speaks at Ebenezer.

Spring Walter R. Chivers, Morehouse sociology professor, inaugurates an annual institute on family living. 

2 Apr

The U. S. Supreme Court, in the case of Primus King v. State of Georgia, declares the “white primary” to be unconstitutional, thus removing a significant legal barrier to black voting in the state.

10 May

Ella Baker speaks at a mass meeting of the All Citizens Registration Committee at Wheat Street Baptist Church in Atlanta.

Summer

King, Jr., quits his job as a laborer at the Atlanta Railway Express Company when a white foreman calls him “nigger.”

6 Aug

The Atlanta Constitution publishes King, Jr.’s letter to the editor stating that blacks “are entitled to the basic rights and opportunities of American citizens.”

4–8 Sept

The National Baptist Convention meets in Atlanta.

25 Sept

King, Jr., begins his junior year at Morehouse; his courses include Shakespeare, the Bible, American Literature, Intermediate French, Contemporary Social Trends, Social Anthropology, and a seminar in Sociology.

15–19 Oct

King, Sr., presides at the annual meeting of the Atlanta Missionary Baptist Association.

5 Nov

Eugene Talmadge is elected governor of Georgia. Black Georgia Baptists plan to protest his inauguration, on 9 January 1947, with a day of prayer.

21 Dec

Eugene Talmadge dies before taking office as governor.

1947

Date Event

Jan/Feb

King, Jr.’s article, “The Purpose of Education,” is published in the Morehouse student paper, the Maroon Tiger.

12 Mar

King, Jr., is elected chair of the membership committee of the Atlanta NAACP Youth Council in a meeting on the Morehouse College campus.

14 Mar

King, Jr., opens an Ebenezer anniversary service with a song.

24 Apr

King, Sr., is elected a trustee of Morehouse College.

Summer

King, Jr., works on a tobacco farm in Simsbury, Connecticut.

24 Sept

King, Jr., begins his senior year at Morehouse College, enrolling in Social Psychology, Classics in English, Social Institutions, Social Legislation, Urban Sociology, Intercultural Relations, Introduction to Philosophy, Principles and Methods of Statistics, and a seminar in Sociology.

Fall

King, Jr., preaches a trial sermon at Ebenezer.
27 Oct

King, Jr., requests an application for admission to Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania.

1948

Date Event
 

King, Jr., wins second prize in the John L. Webb Oratorical Contest.

20 Feb

King, Jr., offers the prayer at graveside memorial services for former Morehouse College presidents John Hope and Samuel H. Archer.

25 Feb

King, Jr., is ordained and appointed assistant pastor at Ebenezer.

22 Mar

King, Sr., preaches at Morehouse College Chapel.

Apr

King, Jr., accepts Crozer’s offer of admission.

25 Apr

King, Jr., preaches “Life is What You Make It” in the morning and “The Meaning of Christian Living” in the evening at Liberty Baptist Church in Atlanta.

8 June

King, Jr., receives his bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Morehouse and Christine King receives her bachelor of arts degree in economics from Spelman College.

Summer

King, Jr., serves as assistant pastor of Ebenezer.

11 July

King, Jr., is guest speaker at a meeting of the Negro Cultural League at Ebenezer.

1 Aug

King, Jr., delivers sermon at Ebenezer’s evening service on “External Versus Internal Religion.”

8 Aug

Walter R. McCall delivers sermon on “The Destruction of Pride” at Ebenezer’s morning service, and King, Jr., preaches “The Tests of Goodness” in the evening.

22 Aug

King, Jr., preaches at Ebenezer’s morning service on “God’s Kingdom First.”

King, Jr., performs the wedding ceremony of Samuel P. Long and Ruth Bussey at Thankful Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia.

5 Sept

King, Jr., preaches at Ebenezer.

11–12 Sept

King, Jr., spends the weekend in New York City with his sister, Christine, a first-year graduate student at Columbia University.

14 Sept–24 Nov

During the first term of his first year at Crozer Theological Seminary, King takes Public Speaking, Preaching Ministry of the Church, Introduction to the Old Testament, Orientation for Juniors, Choir, and Church Music.

30 Nov–16 Feb 1949

King, Jr., takes Great Theologians, the History and Literature of the New Testament, Preparation of the Sermon, and Public Speaking.

1949

Date Event
20 Feb

King, Jr., delivers the annual youth day sermon at Ebenezer.

22 Feb–6 May

King, Jr., is enrolled in Christian Mysticism, Practice Preaching, and Public Speaking.

Summer

King, Jr., serves as assistant pastor of Ebenezer.

12 June

King, Jr., preaches in the morning at Atlanta’s Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church and in the evening at Ebenezer.

3 July

King, Jr., delivers a sermon on “The Voice of Hope” at Ebenezer.

5–8 July

King, Sr., lectures on “The Pastor as Administrator and Organizer” at the annual ministers’ conference held at Morehouse.

31 July

King, Jr., preaches “The Two Challenging Questions” at Ebenezer.

14 Aug

King, Jr., is the youth day speaker at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Atlanta.

4 Sept

King, Jr., preaches “The Great Paradox” in the morning and “The Significance of the Cross” in the evening at Ebenezer.

7 Sept

William B. Hartsfield is elected mayor of Atlanta by a coalition of black and affluent white voters that will dominate the city’s politics for the next four decades.

13 Sept–23 Nov

During the first term of his second year at Crozer, King, Jr., enrolls in Public Worship, Greek Religion, and Christian Theology for Today. Later that year, he is named chairman of the student body’s devotional committee.

26 Sept–10 June 1950

King, Jr., audits a course on the Philosophy of History at the University of Pennsylvania.

Nov

King, Jr., hears A. J. Muste defend pacifism in a lecture at Crozer.

29 Nov–15 Feb 1950

King, Jr., is enrolled in Preaching Problems, Pastoral Counseling, Conduct of Church Services, the Development of Christian Ideas I, and Christian Theology for Today.

11 Dec

The Reverend William H. Gray, Jr., of Philadelphia preaches for men’s day at Ebenezer.

23 Dec–2 Jan 1950

According to his later published account, King, Jr., spends Christmas vacation reading Karl Marx, and he “carefully scrutinizes” Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto.

1950

Date Event
19 Feb

King, Jr., preaches “Walking with the Lord” at Ebenezer’s morning service.

21 Feb–5 May

King, Jr., takes courses on the History of Living Religions and the History of Christianity.
23 Feb

The Atlanta branch of the NAACP votes to support a lawsuit filed by King, Sr., as head of a citizens’ committee seeking to win equal pay for black teachers.

Spring

King, Jr., hears Mordecai Johnson, president of Howard University, preach at Philadelphia’s Fellowship House on Mohandas K. Gandhi’s satyagraha as a method of social change.

May

King, Jr., is elected president of the student body at Crozer.

12 June

King, Jr., Walter R. McCall, Pearl E. Smith, and Doris Wilson are refused service by Ernest Nichols at Mary’s Cafe in Maple Shade, New Jersey. Nichols fires a gun into the air when they persist in their request for service. He is arrested and charged, but later, when witnesses fail to testify, the case is dropped.

16 June

King, Jr., is arrested for speeding in Claymont, Delaware, on his way to Atlanta.

17 June

A. D. King and Naomi Barber are married at Ebenezer.

18 June

King, Jr., preaches “The Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth” at Ebenezer.

Summer

King, Jr., serves as assistant pastor of Ebenezer.

30 July

King, Jr., is youth day speaker at Liberty Baptist Church.

12 Sept–22 Nov

King, Jr., enters his senior year at Crozer, taking courses on American Christianity—Colonial Period, Minister’s Use of the Radio, and Religious Development of Personality. He serves as student pastor at the First Baptist Church in Queens, New York.

20 Sept–3 Feb 1951

King, Jr., audits courses on the Problems of Esthetics and Kant at the University of Pennsylvania.

28 Nov–15 Feb 1951

King, Jr., enrolls in Philosophy of Religion and Theological Integration at Crozer.

10 Dec

The Reverend J. H. Jackson of Chicago is men’s day speaker at Ebenezer.

15 Dec

King, Jr., is accepted as a student in the Post-Graduate School of the Faculty of Divinity at Edinburgh University, Scotland.

1951

Date Event
11 Jan

King, Jr., is admitted to Boston University’s School of Theology.

3 Feb

King, Jr., takes the Graduate Record Examination.

18 Feb

King, Jr., preaches “Nothing in Particular” at Ebenezer.

20 Feb–4 May

King, Jr., is enrolled in Advanced Philosophy of Religion, Christian Social Philosophy, and Christianity and Society.

6–8 May

King, Jr., graduates from Crozer with a bachelor of divinity degree, delivering the valedictory address at commencement. He receives both the Pearl Plafker Memorial Award as the graduating student who, “in the judgment of the faculty, has been the outstanding member of his class during his course in the seminary,” and the J. Lewis Crozer Fellowship, which provides $1,200 toward graduate school.

12 May

King, Jr., preaches “The World Crisis & A Mother’s Responsibility” at Ebenezer.

Summer

King, Jr., serves as pastor in charge at Ebenezer.

29 June

King, Sr., offers the benediction at the evening session of the NAACP’s annual conference in Atlanta.

In this Publication

Crozer Theological Seminary Placement Committee: Confidential Evaluation of Martin Luther King, Jr., by George W. Davis

Davis, George W. (Washington) (Crozer Theological Seminary)
November 15, 1950

To Martin Luther King, Sr.

King, Martin Luther, Jr.
January 18, 1940

Author(s)
Clayborne Carson
Ralph Luker
Penny A. Russell, eds.
Publisher
University of California Press
Publication Date
1992