The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Volume V
Threshold of a New Decade, Volume Five of the planned fourteen-volume series, illustrates the growing sophistication and effectiveness of King and the organizations he led, while providing an unparalleled look into the surprising emergence of the sit-in protests that sparked the social struggles of the 1960s.
In this pivotal period of his career, King, who had just recovered from a near-fatal stabbing, traveled to India in early 1959 to meet with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and other associates of Mahatma Gandhi. This high profile visit solidified King's position as an international symbol for human rights and bolstered his political standing at home. After returning to Montgomery, King confronted the continuing ineffectiveness of his Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) by demanding personnel changes and agreeing to relocate to Atlanta at the beginning of 1960. King’s move took place just before African American students in the South reclaimed the energy of the Montgomery bus boycott with their bold sit-in protests, which King predicted would become "an integral part of the history which is reshaping the world, replacing a dying order with modern democracy." Named an advisor to the activists who formed the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in April, King was also preoccupied with his own trial on perjury charges resulting from an audit of his tax returns, charges of which he was found not guilty. King was again arrested in October after participating in a sit-in protest in Atlanta. His resulting imprisonment led presidential candidate John F. Kennedy to phone his sympathies to King's wife, Coretta, a move many credit for providing the margin of victory in the close election of 1960.
Contents
Chronology
1959
Date | Event |
---|---|
1 Jan | King attends an Emancipation Day program in Mobile, Alabama. At the Prayer Pilgrimage for Public Schools in Richmond, Virginia, march organizers play a seven minute pre-recorded message from King. |
2-3 Jan | King attends a meeting of the planning committee of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. |
4 Jan | King preaches “Inner Calm Amid Outer Tension” at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. |
11 Jan | King preaches at Dexter. |
14 Jan | In New Haven, Connecticut, King meets with Yale University president Whitney Griswold and conducts an interview prior to delivering “The Future of Integration” to a crowd of 1,800 at Yale’s Woolsey Hall. During King’s speech, police receive a bomb threat but no bomb is found. Later, King’s hosts throw a surprise birthday party for him at the university’s Pierson College. |
15 Jan | King speaks on the “Problems of the South” in the Yale University auditorium. |
18 Jan | King delivers “The Blinding Power of Sin” at Dexter. |
20-23 Jan | King attends the National Baptist Convention in Hot Springs, Arkansas. |
24 Jan | At Montgomery’s First Baptist Church, King is among seventy-five Alabama leaders who discuss strategies for increasing voter registration among African Americans. |
26 Jan | During a mass meeting at Dexter, MIA members hold a “bon voyage” party for Martin and Coretta Scott King before their upcoming trip to India and the Middle East. The Kings are later feted at the home of congregation member J. T. Alexander. |
28 Jan | In the church auditorium, the Dexter Women’s Council hosts a reception for the Kings on the night before their departure from Montgomery. |
30 Jan | Due to inclement weather King arrives in Gary, Indiana, after midnight, missing his scheduled appearance at a mass meeting sponsored by the Fair Share Organization. Prior to traveling to Detroit to meet with Walter Reuther of the United Auto Workers (UAW), King meets with officers of the Fair Share Organization at the Junior’s Snack Shop and tape records a message to be played during a meeting of the organization. |
1 Feb | In the morning, King preaches at Bright Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia. At the Beaver College auditorium in nearby Glenside, King receives the Anderson Memorial Award from the Berean Institute. At the Philadelphia’s National Freedom Day observance, King addresses the audience and lays a wreath at the city’s Liberty Bell. King later attends dinner at the Sheraton Hotel and preaches at Philadelphia’s Vine Memorial Baptist Church. |
2 Feb | King attends a luncheon given by India trip cosponsors at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Philadelphia. He later addresses a meeting of the War Resisters League in New York. |
3 Feb | At New York’s Idlewild Airport, King, Coretta Scott King, and Lawrence Dunbar Reddick depart for a six-week visit to India and the Middle East. |
4 Feb | King arrives in London. |
5 Feb | In London, the Kings and Reddick see the play Chrysanthemum. |
6 Feb | King arrives in Paris; expatriate African-American novelist Richard Wright meets King and his companions at the airport. They dine at Wright’s home that evening. |
7 Feb | King arrives in Zurich, Switzerland. |
8 Feb | King’s tape-recorded sermon “Looking Beyond Our Circumstances” is played during Sunday services at Dexter. |
9 Feb | King arrives in Bombay. |
10 Feb | Indian admirers present garlands to the Kings as they arrive at the Palam Airport in New Delhi two days late because of a missed flight in Zurich. King holds a press conference at the Janpath Hotel before having lunch with Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, an associate of Gandhi’s and a member of Nehru’s first cabinet. King then attends a reception at the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, a co-sponsor of the visit. He later meets with India’s vice president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and attends a reception at the Quaker Centre. In the evening, King has dinner with Indian prime minister Jawarharlal Nehru at the Teen Murti Bhavan, Nehru’s residence. |
11 Feb | King visits Rajghat and lays a wreath on the Samadhi, the site of Gandhi’s cremation. He has lunch at the New Delhi home of Indian independence leaders J. B. and Sucheta Kripalani before delivering “Achievement of Racial Justice in the World Today” to the Indian Council of World Affairs at Sapru House. King dines with Morarji Desai, the finance minister of India. |
12 Feb | After lunch with Kaka Kalelkar, a member of India’s parliament, King addresses the Delhi University Students’ Union at Ramjas College. He has tea with India’s president Rajendra Prasad before visiting the Moghul Gardens at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and addressing a meeting of Sarvodaya workers at the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya building at Rajghat. That evening, King meets with former New York governor Averill Harriman at the Ashoka Hotel. |
13 Feb | King leaves New Delhi and arrives in Patna where he meets with Zakir Hussain, the Governor of Bihar and Sri Krishna Sinha, Chief Minister of the state. He attends a public meeting at the university before leaving for Gaya. |
14 Feb | King visits a Buddhist temple and monastery at Bodh Gaya, followed by a tour of an ashram founded by Vinoba Bhave, leader of the Bhoodan movement. He travels with Sarvodaya leader Jayaprakash Narayan to his ashram, near Gaya, and attends a meeting with ashram workers. |
15 Feb | King arrives in Burdwan and drives to Shantiniketan, a center founded by Indian poet Gurudez Tagore, where he addresses a small gathering. Later that evening, he arrives in Calcutta. |
16 Feb | King holds a press conference and attends a meeting at the Calcutta Gandhi Smarak Nidhi before dining at the home of Quakers Benjamin and Emily Polk. Twenty-five local leaders were in attendance at the dinner, including Indian scholar Nirmal Kumar Bose. |
17 Feb | In Calcutta, King meets with students, followed by a public meeting. |
18 Feb | King holds a press conference after arriving in Madras. While there, he addresses two meetings and is a guest at governor Bishnuram Medhi’s residence, Raj Bhavan. |
19 Feb | King meets Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, first governor-general of independent India, before visiting the ancient stone temples at Mahabalipuram. King returns to Madras and meets with the Joint Development Commissioner. |
20 Feb | King arrives in Gandhigram and attends a Shanti Sena (Peace Army) rally in the morning. At the conclusion of the Friday afternoon prayer, King delivers remarks. In the evening, he gives an address at Gandhigram and attends a cultural program featuring performances by local entertainers. |
21 Feb | King visits two Gramdan (collective) villages and one village of untouchables. In Madurai, King visits a Hindu temple and attends a public meeting. |
22 Feb | In Trivandrum, King attends a luncheon hosted by E. M. S. Namboodiripad, the chief minister of the state of Kerala and India’s communist leader. King rides to Cape Comorin, the southernmost tip of India, where some of Gandhi’s ashes had been cast into the sea. |
23 Feb | King starts the day with a swim before taking a tour of Trivandrum. He attends the legislative assembly meeting and holds a press conference before speaking at a public meeting. |
24 Feb | In Bangalore, King meets with the B. D. Jatti, chief minister of the state of Mysore. |
25 Feb | Still in Bangalore, King meets with Jaya Chamaraja Wadiyar, the governor of Mysore, before attending the All-India Cattle Show. |
26 Feb | King attends a public meeting at the Institute of World Culture. At the airport in Bombay, King is greeted by Shantalal Shah, the city's labor minister. R. R. Diwakar, chairman of the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, gives King a tour of the Mani Bhavan, Gandhi's residence in Bombay. |
27 Feb | In the evening King has dinner at Shah’s home and attends a public meeting presided over by G. L. Mehta, former Indian ambassador to the United States, at Green’s Hotel. |
28 Feb | At Mani Bhavan, King views A Voice of India, a film on the Mahatma. After meeting with Sri Prakasa, Governor of Bombay, and Y. B. Chavan, the Chief Minister of the state, King meets with members of the Congress Party. In the evening, he spends time with a group of African students before attending a dance recital. |
1 Mar | King flies to Ahmedabad where he travels to the Sabarmati Ashram, the starting point of Gandhi’s Salt March to the Sea. Following a visit to one of Gandhi’s ashram’s, King meets with associates of Navajivan Trust, a Gandhian publishing house. |
2 Mar | King travels by train to Kishingarh. He has lunch in a small village outside Kishingarh where he meets briefly with Vinoba Bhave, leader of the Bhoodan movement, and lunches with Jayaprakash Narayan. |
3 Mar | King joins Vinoba on a three mile march back to Kishingarh. Following the march, King interviews Vinoba, excerpts of which are published in Bhoodan, the weekly newspaper of the Bhoodan movement. In the evening, Vinoba grants him an additional meeting. |
4 Mar | In Agra, King visits the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort before departing for New Delhi. |
5 Mar | King spends much of the day at the Quaker Centre before attending a South Indian circus in New Delhi. |
6 Mar | King visits the office of Gandhi’s secretary, Pyarelal Nayyar, and dines with G. Ramachandran, the director of the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi. |
7 Mar | At the Quaker Centre, King attends a discussion with representatives of the U.S. Embassy. After lunch with Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, King returns to the circus. Later, he has tea at the home of Gandhi’s doctor, Sushila Nayyar. |
8 Mar | Following worship service, King attends a farewell reception in his honor at the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi. |
9 Mar | On King’s last day in New Delhi, he holds a press conference at the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi before attending a luncheon at the home of Ellsworth Bunker, U.S. ambassador to India. At the Quaker Centre, he records a message for broadcast on All India Radio. In the evening, King has dinner at the home of J. B. and Sucheta Kripalani. |
10-17 Mar | King departs from New Delhi and travels to Karachi, Beirut, Jerusalem, and Cairo before returning to New York. |
18 Mar | Upon his return from India, King holds a press conference at New York’s Statler Hilton Hotel. He later attends a showing of the film The Diary of Anne Frank and visits the home of actor Harry Belafonte. |
21 Mar | King returns to Montgomery. |
22 Mar | King preaches a Palm Sunday sermon on Mahatma Gandhi at Dexter. |
27 Mar | In Montgomery, King conducts an interview with students from Baldwin-Wallace College. He later attends a birthday party at the home of a Dexter member. |
29 Mar | King preaches “A Walk Through the Holy Land” at Dexter. |
Apr | King’s “The Future of Integration,” appears in Crisis in Modern America. Christian Education Press publishes King's The Measure of a Man, a book of two sermons. |
2 Apr | King convenes an SCLC administrative committee meeting in Montgomery, and they decide to request the resignation of SCLC executive director, John Tilley. |
3 Apr | Administrative committee members meet with King at his Dexter office to discuss his commitment to SCLC. |
5 Apr | King preaches “Unfulfilled Hopes” at Dexter. He later delivers an address at Holt Street Baptist Church during a benefit for the Hale Infirmary. |
12 Apr | King delivers “Making Use of What You Have” at Dexter. At Mount Vernon First Baptist Church in Newnan, Georgia, he participates in his brother A. D. King’s installation service. |
16 Apr | At Dexter, the Kings present a travelogue of their trip to India and the Middle East. |
18 Apr | King addresses the second Youth March for Integrated Schools at the Washington Monument. |
19 Apr | At Orchestra Hall, King delivers “The Dimensions of a Complete Life” before the Chicago Sunday Evening Club. |
20 Apr | King delivers “Paul’s Letter to American Christians” at the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. |
22 Apr | At the Memorial Auditorium in Gary, Indiana, King signs copies of Stride Toward Freedom before speaking on behalf of the Fair Share Organization. |
23 Apr | King delivers “Real Progress in the Area of Race Relations” at the Earlham College convocation in Richmond, Indiana. |
26 Apr | King preaches “The Art of Getting Along with Others” at Dexter. |
28 Apr | In Toronto, King appears on the Canadian television program “Front Page Challenge.” |
29 Apr | King embarks on a three day speaking tour in New York sponsored by the Empire State Baptist Missionary Convention. He addresses a worship service held at Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn. |
30 Apr | King speaks at a rally held at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, New York. |
1 May | King addresses mass meetings held at New York’s Convent Avenue Baptist Church and Mount Olivet Baptist Church. |
2 May | At Dexter, King delivers the eulogy for church member Nellie Williams. In the evening he attends a party sponsored by the church’s April Club at the home of a Dexter member. |
3 May | King preaches “Sleeping Through a Revolution” at Dexter. In the afternoon he delivers a sermon for G. W. Smiley’s 54th anniversary as pastor of Elizabeth Baptist Church in Union Springs, Alabama. |
5 May | King speaks at Calvary Baptist Church in New York City. |
7 May | King delivers “The Future of Integration” at the University of Hartford's Bushnell Memorial Hall. |
8 May | King addresses a Negro Affairs rally at the New York office of District 65 of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU). |
9 May | At a press conference in New York, King comments on federal intervention into the Mack Charles Parker lynching in Mississippi and the rape of a black girl by white men in Tallahassee. |
10 May | King preaches “A New Challenge for Modern Mothers” at Dexter. |
11 May | At Washington’s Sheraton Park Hotel, King addresses the Religious Leaders Conference, sponsored by the President’s Committee on Government Contracts. He later addresses a mass meeting at Thessalonia Baptist Church in New York. Stride Toward Freedom is published in England by Victor Gollancz, Ltd. |
13 May | King greets Kenyan leader Tom Mboya at Atlanta Municipal Airport. He later delivers opening remarks at the SCLC sponsored “African Freedom Dinner” in honor of Mboya, held at Atlanta University. Following the dinner King and others socialize at Lawrence Dunbar Reddick’s house. |
14 May | In Tallahassee, Florida, King presides over the two-day annual SCLC conference. He speaks at a mass meeting at Bethel Baptist Church. |
15 May | On the second day of the conference, SCLC demands that President Eisenhower investigate the lynching of Mack Charles Parker in Mississippi. |
17 May | King preaches at Dexter. |
22 May | King delivers the convocation address at Bishop College in Marshall, Texas. |
24 May | King delivers the commencement address at Maryland State College in Princess Anne. |
31 May | King preaches “The Service of the Church to Mental Health” at Dexter. After services he flies to New Orleans and delivers “The Dimensions of a Complete Life” at Dillard University’s baccalaureate service. |
1 June | King delivers the commencement address in DeForest Chapel at Talladega College in Alabama. |
2 June | In Atlanta, King delivers “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution” at Morehouse College’s Ninety-second Anniversary commencement and speaks at a post-commencement banquet. |
5 June | King speaks at an SCLC fund raiser at Third Baptist Church in Springfield, Massachusetts. |
7 June | King preaches at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts. At Boston University’s commencement exercises, held at the Boston Garden, King recites the benediction and receives an honorary degree from his alma mater. |
14 June | King preaches “Unconditioned Faith” at Dexter. |
16 June | King speaks at the Emery Auditorium in Cincinnati to support a local register-to-vote campaign. He also speaks to the Council of Churches of Greater Cincinnati. |
21 June | King preaches “On Knowing How to Live with Prosperity” at Dexter. |
22-28 June | King is reelected vice president of the National Sunday School and Baptist Training Union (BTU) Congress at the group’s annual meeting in Memphis. |
25 June | King speaks at an SCLC fundraising rally held at Memphis’s Metropolitan Baptist Church. |
28 June | At Dexter, King delivers “On Knowing How to Live With Poverty.” |
July | Ebony publishes "My Trip to the Land of Gandhi," King's account of his India trip. |
17 July | At the New York Coliseum, King addresses the NAACP’s fiftieth annual convention honoring the association’s Youth Council. |
19 July | King preaches at Dexter. |
22 July | At Spelman College, King delivers the keynote address on the opening day of the First Southwide Institute on Nonviolent Resistance to Segregation. |
23 July | King leads a panel at the institute on “The Mass Process of Nonviolent Resistance;” he serves as an advisor during a subsequent discussion. |
26 July | King preaches at Dexter. |
31 July | King attends a meeting of the Public Advisory Review Commission of the United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA) at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago. At Bishop Charles Mason Temple in Memphis, King addresses a freedom rally on behalf of several black candidates for local office. |
2 Aug | King preaches at Dexter. |
9 Aug | King preaches "Man's Helplessness Without God" at Dexter. |
16 Aug | King preaches "The Conflict in Human Nature" at Dexter. |
20 Aug | In Milwaukee, King addresses the National Bar Association convention. |
21 Aug | King delivers “The Future of Integration” at the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) national convention in Green Lake, Wisconsin. |
23 Aug | King preaches “Loving Your Enemies” at Central Methodist Church in Detroit. |
30 Aug | King preaches “A Tough Mind and a Tender Heart” at Dexter. |
2 Sept | In Montgomery, King meets with black homeowners from Gadsden, Alabama, to discuss efforts to protect their houses from city demolition plans. |
6 Sept | King preaches at Dexter. |
8 Sept | King arrives in San Francisco for the annual meeting of the National Baptist Convention. |
11 Sept | King addresses the Laymen’s Movement of the National Baptist Convention at Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church in San Francisco. |
13 Sept | King preaches at Victory Baptist Church in Los Angeles. |
14 Sept | King holds a press conference upon his arrival in Honolulu. |
15 Sept | King addresses the Honolulu Ministerial Union at the Armed Forces YMCA. He also speaks at two assemblies at Punahou School. |
16 Sept | At an event sponsored by the Honolulu Council of Churches, King delivers “A Pastor’s Hope for America” in the McKinley High School Auditorium. |
17 Sept | In the Iolani Palace, King addresses the House of Representatives of the Hawaiian State legislature. He tours the Pearl Harbor memorial aboard a private yacht. |
20 Sept | King delivers the Youth Day sermon at Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles. In Tucson that evening, he delivers “A Great Time to Be Alive” for the Sunday Evening Forum at the University of Arizona auditorium. |
21 Sept | At a mass meeting sponsored by the local SCLC affiliate, King speaks at the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) Union Hall Auditorium in New Orleans. |
23 Sept | King gives a press conference prior to attending a faculty luncheon and discussion session at Campbell College in Jackson, Mississippi. At Pearl Street AME Church, King speaks before the Southern Christian Ministers Conference of Mississippi. |
27 Sept | King preaches “Understanding Life’s Injustices” at Dexter. In the evening he delivers the invocation and benediction at a concert at Dexter featuring Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church choir. |
30 Sept | King presides over an SCLC executive board meeting at the organization’s fall conference at First Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina. Conference delegates honor King and other civil rights leaders at a “Crusade for Citizenship Dinner” held at the Township Auditorium, followed by a mass meeting during which King speaks on “Rays of Hope.” |
Oct | Liberation publishes King's "The Social Organization of Nonviolence." |
1 Oct | SCLC concludes its fall meeting in Columbia. |
4 Oct | King preaches at Dexter. |
11 Oct | King officiates at the funeral of church member P. H. Hobson and that evening delivers the invocation before Dexter's Women’s Day program. |
14 Oct | At Denver’s Manual High School, King speaks at an SCLC fundraising event sponsored by the East Denver Ministerial Alliance. |
16 Oct | King delivers “The Future of Integration” at the American Studies Conference on Civil Rights held at the University of Minnesota’s Northrop Auditorium. He then attends a luncheon in his honor at the Coffman Memorial Union. Later that afternoon, King tapes a segment of “That Free Men May Live,” a national educational television program. |
18 Oct | King preaches at Dexter. He conducts a telephone interview with a committee of students and faculty from the United Campus Christian Fellowship at the University of North Dakota. |
22 Oct | King speaks at a mass meeting at the Majestic Theater Auditorium in Fort Worth, Texas. |
25 Oct | At the University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, King delivers “Remember Who You Are.” After services, he attends a reception in his honor sponsored by the Hillel and Methodist Foundations. |
29 Oct | At New York City’s Manhattan Center King addresses a rally at an SCLC and NAACP joint fundraising event sponsored by the Federation of Negro Civil Service Organizations. |
1 Nov | King preaches at Dexter. |
2 Nov | In Chester, Pennsylvania, Crozer Theological Seminary honors King with its first Alumni Achievement Award. |
3 Nov | King conducts a morning and an evening worship service during the Samuel A. Crozer lecture series at Crozer. |
4 Nov | King presides over morning worship services during the Crozer lectures. Later that evening, he addresses Chester’s West Branch YMCA. |
5 Nov | At Philadelphia’s Baptist Temple Church, King delivers the opening address at a Crusade for Citizenship Rally. |
8 Nov | At White Rock Baptist Church, King is presented with the proceeds from the 5 November rally. |
10 Nov | King addresses the Waterloo, Iowa, NAACP. |
11 Nov | In Cedar Falls, Iowa, King delivers “The Montgomery Story” to students and faculty at Iowa State Teachers College. In the evening, he holds a press conference before delivering “The Future of Integration” at the State University of Iowa Memorial Auditorium in Iowa City. |
12 Nov | At University Christian Church in Des Moines, Iowa, King addresses the local branch of the NAACP. |
15 Nov | King preaches at Dexter. |
22 Nov | In Columbus, Ohio, King speaks at the 71st Anniversary of Union Grove Baptist Church. |
29 Nov | King announces his resignation from Dexter during Sunday morning services. In the evening he is the guest preacher at Ralph Abernathy’s First Baptist Church in Montgomery. |
30 Nov | In New York, King discusses a voter registration campaign with NAACP executive secretary Roy Wilkins. |
3 Dec | King delivers the presidential address at the MIA’s Fourth Annual Institute on Non-Violence and Social Change at Montgomery’s Bethel Baptist Church. |
6 Dec | At Holt Street Baptist Church, King presides over the last day of the MIA’s institute on nonviolence. |
8 Dec | At Birmingham’s St. James Baptist Church, King convenes an SCLC board meeting. Following the meeting, he delivers “Freedom’s Role” at a rally held at the church. |
10 Dec | In Indianapolis, King delivers “Remaining Awake Through a Revolution” at the New Fall Creek Parkway YMCA. |
11 Dec | In the morning King speaks during an assembly at Graham Chapel, Washington University in St. Louis. He later delivers “The Christian Way of Life in Human Relations” during the National Council of Churches conference. |
14 Dec | In Chicago, King is greeted by a 100 car motorcade at the Midway Airport. Prior to addressing an audience at Tabernacle Baptist Church, King attends a dinner in his honor at the Sherman Hotel. |
15 Dec | King attends a dinner in his honor at Ted’s Diner in Chicago. He later speaks at Stone Temple Baptist Church. |
20 Dec | King preaches “The Significance of the Manger” at Dexter. |
27 Dec | At Dexter, King preaches “After Christmas, What?” |
28 Dec | After a meeting with twenty-three black leaders from SCLC and the NAACP held at Atlanta’s Waluhaje hotel, King and Wilkins announce plans for a voter registration campaign. |
30 Dec | At Ohio University in Athens, King delivers the keynote address at the Eighteenth Ecumenical Student Conference on the Christian World Mission and holds a press conference. |
1960
Date | Event |
---|---|
1 Jan | At the Mosque Auditorium in Richmond, Virginia, King delivers the keynote address at the Second Annual Pilgrimage of Prayer for Public Schools. Following his address, King leads a two-mile march to the state capitol. |
3 Jan | King preaches at Dexter. |
10 Jan | At Harvard University’s Memorial Church, King delivers “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life.” In the afternoon King meets with students and faculty. That evening, King delivers “St. Paul’s Letter to America" under the auspices of the Cambridge Council of Churches. |
13 Jan | In Washington, D.C., King attends a dinner with congressional leaders at the Willard Hotel. |
14 Jan | King attends a meeting of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in Washington, D.C. |
17 Jan | King delivers “The Dilemma of the Righteous Man” at Dexter. |
21 Jan | In North Newton, Kansas, King attends a tea in his honor before delivering “The Future of Integration” at Bethel College’s Memorial Hall Series. |
22 Jan | At Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, King delivers “The Moral Challenge of a New Age.” |
24 Jan | In Charleston, West Virginia, King preaches at First Baptist Church’s morning worship service. Later that evening, King delivers greetings at the Carnegie Hall Salute to A. Philip Randolph in New York. |
27 Jan | The Kings attend a farewell party in their honor at Ralph and Juanita Abernathy’s home. |
30 Jan | Members of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity hold a party in King's honor at the Montgomery home of J. Garrick Hardy. |
31 Jan | In his final sermon as pastor of Dexter, King delivers “Lessons from History.” Later that evening, the Kings attend a farewell program in their honor at the church. |
1 Feb | At First Baptist Church, King offers his valediction at an MIA farewell celebration. |
4 Feb | King relocates to Atlanta, Georgia. |
7 Feb | King delivers “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,” his first sermon as co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. |
12 Feb | A Montgomery County, Alabama, grand jury indicts King on two counts of perjury for falsifying his 1956 and 1958 tax returns. |
14 Feb | King delivers “Looking Beyond Difficult Circumstances” at Ebenezer. |
15 Feb | At Harry Belafonte’s home in New York, King meets with Bayard Rustin, Ralph Abernathy, and Sidney Poitier to discuss financial support for SCLC. |
16 Feb | In Durham, North Carolina, King tours segregated stores that had been targeted by the city’s sit-in protesters. He later delivers “A Creative Protest” at White Rock Baptist Church. |
17 Feb | In Atlanta, King is arrested on his Alabama tax violation. |
19 Feb | At Ebenezer, King and members of SCLC's personnel committee meet to interview Harry Blake for a field secretary position. |
21 Feb | At Chicago’s Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church, King preaches “Going Forward by Going Backward” at the Chicago Sunday Evening Club. |
23 Feb | In Los Angeles, he delivers “The Struggle for Racial Justice” at Temple Isaiah. |
25 Feb | In Bakersfield, California, King delivers an address at the city’s Harvey Auditorium. |
26 Feb | King arrives in San Diego and attends a luncheon sponsored by city ministers. That evening, he holds a press conference before addressing a rally at Calvary Baptist Church. |
27 Feb | In Los Angeles, King delivers “The Power Struggle and Security in a Nuclear Space Age” at Wilshire Methodist Church. At the home of Mr. and Mrs. George G. Smith, King discusses race relations and civil rights with other Morehouse College alumni. |
28 Feb | In the morning, King delivers “Three Dimensions of a Complete Life” at Pasadena’s Friendship Baptist Church. That afternoon, he speaks at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Los Angeles and later delivers “Going Forward by Going Backward” at Mt. Sinai Baptist Church. |
29 Feb | Facing Alabama perjury charges, King surrenders to state authorities in Montgomery and is released on $4,000 bail. Following his arraignment, King holds a press conference at Dexter and later addresses protesting Alabama State College students at Hutchinson Street Baptist Church and Bethel Baptist Church. |
3 Mar | King attends an SCLC board meeting at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. |
4 Mar | King attends the second day of the SCLC board meeting. In the afternoon he is the guest speaker to Alabama State College students at Beulah Baptist Church in Montgomery. |
6 Mar | King preaches at Ebenezer. He is later the guest speaker at New Pilgrim Baptist Church’s Annual Men’s Day Celebration in Birmingham. |
7 Mar | King speaks at student rallies at Tuskegee Institute and Maggie Street Baptist Church in Montgomery. |
10 Mar | King delivers “The Future of Integration” at Goshen College in Indiana. |
13 Mar | King speaks at Princeton University’s Chapel. |
15 Mar | King attends an executive committee meeting of the National Sunday School and BTU Congress at Mount Olivet Baptist Church in New York City. |
20 Mar | King preaches at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan. That evening, he delivers “Paul’s Letter to American Christians” at First Methodist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan. |
27 Mar | King delivers “Rediscovering Lost Values” at Ebenezer. |
31 Mar | In Scarsdale, New York, King delivers “Loving Your Enemies” at Scarsdale Community Baptist Church. He has dinner with Eugene Exman of Harper & Brothers. |
1 Apr | King speaks at a fundraising event at Salem Methodist Church in Harlem |
3 Apr | King delivers “Love In Action” at Ebenezer. Later that day, King appears on “Open End,” a television talk show, with segregationist editor James Kilpatrick. |
10 Apr | King delivers “The Tension Between Life's Palm Sunday and Life's Good Friday” at Ebenezer. In the afternoon, he delivers “Keep Moving from this Mountain” at the Spelman College Founders Day. |
13 Apr | King’s “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence” appears in Christian Century. |
15 Apr | King speaks to the press on the opening day of the Youth Leadership Conference at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. |
16 Apr | At Raleigh Memorial Auditorium, King addresses students attending the Youth Leadership Conference. |
17 Apr | King appears on “Meet the Press.” |
20 Apr | At the Fisk University gymnasium in Nashville, a bomb scare delays King’s address before a mass meeting sponsored by the Nashville Christian Leadership Conference. |
21 Apr | In Minneapolis, Minnesota, King addresses the local Urban League at the Leamington Hotel. |
24 Apr | King delivers “Three Dimensions of a Complete Life” at the morning worship service at Howard University’s Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel. |
25 Apr | At Howard University, King delivers “Paul’s Letter to American Christians” for the Washington Ministerial Association. |
26 Apr | A cross is burned on the front lawn of King’s home in Atlanta. |
27 Apr | Christian Century publishes King’s “Suffering and Faith." |
29 Apr | At Atlanta’s First Congregational Church, King delivers “The Struggle for Racial Justice,” at a human relations workshop. |
May | King’s “The Burning Truth in the South,” appears in The Progressive. The Spelman Messenger publishes King's "Keep Moving From This Mountain." |
1 May | King delivers “A Doing Religion” at Ebenezer. |
4 May | King is cited for driving with an invalid license and improper registration while driving white author Lillian Smith to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. |
5 May | King holds a press conference with African independence leader Kenneth Kaunda at Ebenezer. |
7 May | In Atlanta, King meets with Roy Wilkins to discuss alleged remarks made by James Lawson criticizing the NAACP. |
8 May | King speaks on the subject “The Church’s Mission on the Frontier of Racial Tension” at University Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. |
9 May | Prior to delivering “The Struggle for Racial Tension” at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, King speaks to two undergraduate sociology classes and meets with members of the YMCA and YWCA. |
10 May | In New York, King meets with Stanley Levison, Bayard Rustin, and Wyatt Tee Walker to discuss SCLC. |
11 May | At New York’s Trade Show Building, King is the guest of honor at a luncheon for the city’s labor leaders. |
13-14 May | At Atlanta University, King attends the first meeting of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). |
15 May | King delivers “Why Jesus Called a Man a Fool” at Ebenezer. |
16 May | After appearing in a Montgomery courtroom, King's arraignment on perjury charges is postponed. |
17 May | At Atlanta’s Wheat Street Baptist Church, King addresses student protesters at an event commemorating the sixth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. |
22 May | King delivers the baccalaureate sermon at Tuskegee Institute. |
25-28 May | King's tax trial begins in Montgomery. |
27 May | King testifies at his trial. |
28 May | A jury of twelve white men acquits King of falsifying his 1956 tax return. |
29 May | At Ebenezer, King delivers the “Autobiography of Suffering.” |
30 May | King delivers “A Great Time to Be Alive” at Knoxville College’s commencement exercises in Tennessee. |
June | King’s “To Win Racial Justice” appears in the inaugural issue of the Student Voice, the SNCC newsletter. AME Church Review publishes King's "Going Forward by Going Backward." |
1 June | In Virginia, King addresses a mass meeting of the Petersburg Improvement Association. |
5 June | King delivers the “Tragedy of Almost” at Ebenezer. |
9 June | At A. Philip Randolph’s New York office, King and Randolph hold a press conference announcing protests at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. |
12 June | King delivers “Who is Truly Great?” at Ebenezer. |
14 June | King speaks to a group of clergy for the Council of Churches of Greater Cincinnati. |
15 June | King is the keynote speaker at a public meeting at Zion Baptist Church in Cincinnati. |
17 June | In Buffalo, King attends the National Sunday School and Baptist Training Union (BTU) Congress Meeting. |
18 June | Still in Buffalo, King addresses a youth rally. |
19 June | In Pittsburgh, King speaks at the Freedom Jubilee at Forbes Field. |
23 June | In New York, King discusses civil rights issues with Massachusetts senator John F. Kennedy. |
24 June | En route for the Tenth Annual Baptist World Alliance in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, King arrives in Miami for an overnight layover. |
25 June | King leaves Miami, Florida, and arrives in Nassau, Bahamas. |
27 June | King leaves Nassau and arrives in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In the evening he leaves for Rio de Janeiro. |
28 June - 3 July | King attends the Tenth Annual Baptist World Alliance in Rio de Janeiro. |
3 July | King departs Rio De Janeiro and arrives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. |
5 July | King departs Buenos Aires and arrives in Caracas, Venezuela. |
6 July | King departs Caracas and arrives in New York before returning to Atlanta. |
7 July | After missing his scheduled appearance before the Democratic Party Platform Committee held in Los Angeles, King's remarks are read by a representative. |
8 July | King arrives in Los Angeles for the March on the Conventions Movement at the Democratic National Convention. |
9 July | King and Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., lead a prayer rally at People’s Independent Church in Los Angeles. |
10 July | King addresses protesters during an NAACP-sponsored march and rally on civil rights in Los Angeles. |
13 July | At the Watkins Hotel in Los Angeles, King is interviewed by a Montgomery Advertiser reporter regarding Senator John F. Kennedy’s civil rights stance. |
18 July | Alabama officials drop charges related to King's 1958 income tax return. |
24 July | King delivers “Beyond Condemnation” at Ebenezer. King travels to Chicago to address a rally with New York governor and GOP presidential nominee Nelson Rockefeller at Liberty Baptist Church on the eve of the Republican National Convention. Later, he addresses a rally at Stone Temple Baptist Church on the West Side of Chicago. |
25 July | King, Roy Wilkins, and Randolph lead protesters on a march to the International Amphitheater, site of the Republican Convention. |
28 July | At the conclusion of the March on the Conventions Movement, King and Randolph hold a press conference at Chicago’s Conrad Hilton Hotel. King is later greeted by a 200 car motorcade at North Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Municipal Airport; that evening, King addresses a rally at First Baptist Church. |
29 July | The Tulsa Ministerial Alliance hosts a breakfast in King’s honor at the YWCA. In Oklahoma City, King delivers "Our Role in the Freedom Struggle" at a rally at Calvary Baptist Church. King is awarded an inscribed plaque by local Morehouse alumni. |
31 July | King delivers “Making the Most of a Difficult Situation” at Ebenezer. At the evening worship service, King gives a report on the Baptist World Alliance conference he attended in June. |
4 Aug | At Atlanta’s Butler Street YMCA, King delivers “Nonviolence: Its Basic Precepts” at SCLC’s Second Statewide Institute on Nonviolent Resistance to Segregation. |
5 Aug | King delivers closing remarks at the final session of the two-day Institute on Nonviolent Resistance to Segregation. He later attends a SNCC meeting at Morehouse College. |
7 Aug | King delivers “Does God Answer Prayer?” at Ebenezer. |
14 Aug | King delivers “Levels of Love” at Ebenezer. In the afternoon, King preaches at his brother A. D. King’s Mt. Vernon First Baptist Church in Newnan, Georgia. |
19 Aug | King and A.D. perform the marriage ceremony of their sister Christine to Isaac Farris at Ebenezer |
21 Aug | King delivers “Why Jesus Called a Man a Fool” at Central Methodist Church in Detroit. Following the address, King participates in a question and answer session with the church’s Young Adult Fellowship. |
23 Aug | Upon his arrival in Louisville, Kentucky, King holds a press conference at Standiford Field and later rides in a parade sponsored by the Non-Partisan Registration Committee. At Jefferson County Armory, King speaks before a capacity crowd at a mass rally in support of voter registration efforts in the South. |
28 Aug | King preaches at Ebenezer. |
31 Aug | King conducts nonviolent training at CORE’s Interracial Action Institute in Miami, Florida. |
1 Sept | King attends the second day of the CORE Institute. |
4 Sept | King preaches “Why God Called a Man a Fool” at Ebenezer. |
5 Sept | King delivers “Paul’s Letter to American Christians” before five hundred ministers at DePauw University’s School of the Prophets in Greencastle, Indiana. |
6 Sept | King delivers “The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness” at the Golden Anniversary Conference of the National Urban League at Community Church of New York. Following his address, executives of the Harlem Labor Union present King with a $1,250 contribution for SCLC. |
7 Sept | In New York, King makes a guest appearance on "Today." |
8 Sept | Over two hundred people gather at Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Hotel to hear King address a dinner meeting sponsored by the Berean Institute. |
9 Sept | At Philadelphia’s Concert Hall King speaks to the National Baptist Laymen’s Movement at the 80th Annual session of the National Baptist Convention. |
11 Sept | King is the guest speaker at Philadelphia’s Pinn Memorial Baptist Church’s morning worship service. In the afternoon, King is the featured speaker at Salem Baptist Church’s annual Men’s Day service and in the evening, he addresses the congregation of Bright Hope Baptist Church. |
12 Sept | At the Howard High School auditorium in Wilmington, Delaware, King speaks at a public meeting sponsored by the local branch of the NAACP. |
14 Sept | King delivers the church anniversary sermon at Dexter and later addresses the concluding assembly of the MIA’s annual institute at First Baptist Church. |
18 Sept | King delivers “The Goodness of the Good Samaritan” at Ebenezer. |
21 Sept | King delivers “Nonviolent Resistance to Segregation” at the fall session of the Southern Christian Ministers Conference in Jackson, Mississippi. |
23 Sept | King pleads guilty before Judge J. Oscar Mitchell to driving with an improper license. He is fined $25 and given a twelve-month suspended sentence. |
25 Sept | In Charlotte, North Carolina, King delivers “The Negro and the American Dream” at a mass rally sponsored by the local NAACP. |
30 Sept | At Omaha’s Civic Auditorium, King is the guest speaker at an event sponsored by the Western Baptist Bible College. |
2 Oct | King delivers “The Seeking God” at Ebenezer Baptist Church. |
7 Oct | In South Orange, New Jersey, King is the featured speaker at a mass meeting sponsored by the General Baptist Convention of New Jersey at First Baptist Church. |
8 Oct | At the Laurels Country Club in Sackett Lake, New York, King delivers "The Future of Integration" before District 65 of the RWDSU. |
9 Oct | King delivers “Why Jesus Called Man a Fool” at Shiloh Baptist Church’s Men’s Day service in Washington, D.C. At Shiloh’s afternoon service, King delivers “The Negro and the American Dream.” |
11 Oct | At the Evergreen Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, King meets with the SCLC executive board prior to the start of the organization’s annual conference. |
12 Oct | At Galilee Baptist Church in Shreveport, King speaks at a freedom rally. |
13 Oct | On the final day of SCLC's annual conference, King participates in a workshop held at Evergreen Baptist Church. |
14 Oct | King delivers “The Philosophy of Nonviolence” at a SNCC conference in Atlanta. |
16 Oct | King preaches at Ebenezer. Following the morning worship service, King meets with the chairman of the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, R. R. Diwakar of Bangalore, India. |
19 Oct | King and dozens of others are arrested and for participating in a sit-in demonstration at Rich’s department store in Atlanta. King and others are taken to Fulton County Jail after refusing to post bond. |
20-24 Oct | Although charges are dropped against King for his participation in the sit-in demonstrations at Rich’s, he remains in jail for violating the terms of a suspended sentence he received for his May traffic violation. |
25 Oct | At the DeKalb County courthouse, King is sentenced to four months in a public work camp at Georgia State Prison at Reidsville. |
26 Oct | Before daybreak, Georgia law officials transport King to Georgia State Prison at Reidsville where he is to begin serving his four month term. In the evening, presidential candidate John F. Kennedy phones Coretta Scott King to express his concern over King’s jailing. |
27 Oct | Following a call to Atlanta Judge J. Oscar Mitchell by Robert F. Kennedy, brother and campaign manager to John F. Kennedy, King is freed on $2,000 bond. King flies back to Atlanta and addresses a mass rally at Ebenezer. |
1 Nov | In a press conference in Atlanta, King refuses to endorse either the Republican or Democratic presidential candidate. |
2 Nov | King meets with a committee of local college administrators in Atlanta to discuss the sit-in demonstrations. |
4 Nov | At Virginia Union University, King delivers “Education–The Road to Freedom” before the Virginia Teachers Association Convention in Richmond. |
6 Nov | King delivers “Eight Days Behind Bars” at Ebenezer. Atlanta radio station WAOK airs a prerecorded interview with King in which he discusses the presidential election. |
7 Nov | In Atlanta’s Auburn Avenue Casino, King speaks at a trade show sponsored by the Bronner Bros’ Beauty Supply Company. At Atlanta University’s Harkness Hall, King meets with local leaders to form an Over-all Advisory Committee to assist the lunch counter desegregation efforts in the city. |
9 Nov | At Brown University, King delivers “The Future of Integration.” |
10 Nov | In the morning, King holds a press conference before delivering “Facing the Challenge of the New Age" at Brown University. |
13 Nov | King delivers “The Dimensions of a Complete Life” at Cornell University’s Sage Chapel. Following the speech, he answers questions by students before departing for Nigeria. |
14-18 Nov | In Lagos, Nigeria, King attends the inauguration festivities for Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe. |
20 Nov | King preaches at Ebenezer. At the Southern Regional Council office in Atlanta, King has lunch with Adlai Stevenson and trustees of the Field Foundation. |
21 Nov | King delivers “Strides Toward Freedom” at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Following the worship service, King attends a luncheon at the student union and delivers a public lecture in the evening. |
23 Nov | King meets with Atlanta student leaders. |
25 Nov | King meets with the student advisory committee to discuss the protests in Atlanta. |
26 Nov | King debates the sit-in demonstrations with segregationist newspaper editor James J. Kilpatrick on NBC’s “The Nation’s Future” in New York. |
27 Nov | At St. Louis’s United Hebrew Temple, King delivers “The Future of Integration” before the Liberal Forum of the Jewish Community Centers Association. |
Dec | The YWCA Magazine publishes King’s “The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness,” an address delivered at the September 1960 Golden Anniversary of the National Urban League. |
4 Dec | King delivers “Pride Versus Humility” at Ebenezer. |
5-7 Dec | King is a National Baptist Convention delegate to the National Council of the Churches of Christ meeting in San Francisco. |
10 Dec | At New York City’s Belmont Plaza Hotel, King meets with civil rights leaders to discuss current desegregation efforts in the South. |
11 Dec | In the morning, King delivers “Three Dimensions of a Complete Life” at the Unitarian Church of Germantown in Philadelphia. Later, King delivers “The Future of Integration” at the Ford Hall Forum in Boston. |
14 Dec | At King’s office in Atlanta, he meets with SCLC and Southern Conference Education Fund (SCEF) leaders to discuss organizational cooperation. |
15 Dec | King attends a YWCA dinner meeting at Atlanta University’s Bumstead Hall. |
18 Dec | King preaches “Christ Our Starting Point” at Ebenezer. Following the morning worship service, King meets with the church’s district leaders. |
19 Dec | King addresses a rally at Wheat Street Baptist Church in Atlanta. |
20 Dec | In Atlanta, King meets with local ministers and college administrators to discuss the student sit-ins. |
24 Dec | King conducts the wedding of former Morehouse classmate Barney Rutledge. |
30 Dec | After the Chattanooga, Tennessee school board refused use of Howard High School, King speaks at Memorial Auditorium. Prior to his address, King attends a dinner in his honor held at the Henry Branch of the YMCA. |
In this Publication
To Chester Bowles
King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Ebenezer Baptist Church)
June 24, 1960