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The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Volume V

The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Volume V: Threshold of a New Decade, January 1959-December 1960, Clayborne Carson, Senior Editor

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.

Download the Introduction to Volume 5 (pdf)

Contents 

Date Title
1959 Foreword to The Power of Nonviolence
6 Jan 1959 To Aubre de L. Maynard
6 Jan 1959 From Reinhold Niebuhr
8 Jan 1959 From Stanley D. Levison
12 Jan 1959 To George Meany
14 Jan 1959 From Jawaharlal Nehru
16 Jan 1959 From Wyatt Tee Walker
25 Jan 1959 To Dwight D. Eisenhower
28 Jan 1959 To G. Mennen Williams
28 Jan 1959 To Jesse Hill, Jr.
1 Feb 1959 “The Negro Is Part of That Huge Community Who Seek New Freedom in Every Area of Life”
2 Feb 1959 Address at the Thirty-sixth Annual Dinner of the War Resisters League
10 Feb 1959 Account by Lawrence Dunbar Reddick of Press Conference in New Delhi on 10 February 1959
10 Feb 1959 “Notes for Conversation between King and Nehru”
21 Feb 1959 From Wonwihari Prasad Bhoop
24 Feb 1959 From R. S. Hukkerikar
9 Mar 1959 Farewell Statement for All India Radio
10 Mar 1959 James E. Bristol to Corinne B. Johnson
18 Mar 1959 Statement Upon Return from India
20 Mar 1959 From Myles Horton
22 Mar 1959 Palm Sunday Sermon on Mohandas K. Gandhi, Sermon Delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
23 Mar 1959 To Reuben E. Nelson
23 Mar 1959 To Corinne B. Johnson
25 Mar 1959 To Harry Belafonte
26 Mar 1959 From Martin Luther King, Sr.
26 Mar 1959 From Ella J. Baker
29 Mar 1959 A Walk Through the Holy Land, Easter Sunday Sermon Delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
30 Mar 1959 To James E. Bristol
Apr 1959 Notes by Lawrence Dunbar Reddick on SCLC Administrative Committee Meetings on 2 April and 3 April 1959
3 Apr 1959 To John Lee Tilley
7 Apr 1959 To William Stuart Nelson
13 Apr 1959 From John Lee Tilley
15 Apr 1959 To Branch Rickey
17 Apr 1959 To Kwame Nkrumah
18 Apr 1959 Address at the Youth March for Integrated Schools on 18 April 1959
24 Apr 1959 From Fred L. Shuttlesworth
25 Apr 1959 To James P. Coleman
28 Apr 1959 Interview on “Front Page Challenge”
4 May 1959 To K. A. Gbedemah
5 May 1959 To Clifford C. Taylor
11 May 1959 Address at the Religious Leaders Conference on 11 May 1959
13 May 1959 Remarks Delivered at Africa Freedom Dinner at Atlanta University
15 May 1959 Statement Adopted at Spring Session of SCLC in Tallahassee, Florida
19 May 1959 To Thomas Jovin
19 May 1959 To Jayaprakash Narayan
19 May 1959 To G. Ramachandran
22 May 1959 From Hilda S. Proctor
25 May 1959 To Lewis Happ
28 May 1959 To John Malcolm Patterson
1 June 1959 To Hilda S. Proctor
2 June 1959 “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” Address at Morehouse College Commencement
11 June 1959 Statement on House Committee on Un-American Activities Hearings on the United Packinghouse Workers of America
15 June 1959 To G. W. Sanders
July 1959 “My Trip to the Land of Gandhi”
2 July 1959 From Swami Vishwananda
3 July 1959 To Ella J. Baker
8 July 1959 To Tom Mboya
11 July 1959 From Lynward W. Stevenson
17 July 1959 Address at the Fiftieth Annual NAACP Convention
21 July 1959 To Deolinda Rodrigues
31 July 1959 From Lawrence Dunbar Reddick
7 Aug 1959 To James O. Grigsby
8 Aug 1959 To Ramdas M. Gandhi
8 Aug 1959 To Joseph Tusiani
8 Aug 1959 To Tracy D. Mygatt
8 Aug 1959 To Juanita Jelks
11 Aug 1959 Resolutions, First Southwide Institute on Nonviolent Resistance to Segregation held on 22-24 July 1959
13 Aug 1959 To Dwight D. Eisenhower
20 Aug 1959 Address at the Thirty-fourth Annual Convention of the National Bar Association
28 Aug 1959 To the Montgomery County Board of Education
31 Aug 1959 To J. Charles Whitfield
1 Sept 1959 From Norman Thomas
4 Sept 1959 To Marjorie McKenzie Lawson
17 Sept 1959 Address to the House of Representatives of the First Legislature, State of Hawaii, on 17 September 1959
23 Sept 1959 “Address at Public Meeting of the Southern Christian Ministers Conference of Mississippi”
23 Sept 1959 From Anne Braden
25 Sept 1959 To Adlai E. Stevenson
30 Sept 1959 Recommendations to the SCLC Executive Committee
Oct 1959 Introduction to Southwest Africa: The UN’s Stepchild
Oct 1959 “The Social Organization of Nonviolence”
6 Oct 1959 To Thomas Kilgore
7 Oct 1959 To Anne Braden
10 Oct 1959 From G. McLeod Bryan
12 Oct 1959 To Alberta Williams King
19 Oct 1959 To Kenneth H. Tuggle
19 Oct 1959 To Theodore E. Brown
20 Oct 1959 To Simeon Booker
27 Oct 1959 Recommendations to SCLC Committee on Future Program
10 Nov 1959 From John F. Kennedy
12 Nov 1959 To Friend
17 Nov 1959 To Paul G. Landis
17 Nov 1959 From Ebenezer Baptist Church
18 Nov 1959 To Nettie K. Hurlburt
19 Nov 1959 To P. O. Watson
19 Nov 1959 To William P. Rogers
29 Nov 1959 Draft, Resignation from Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
1 Dec 1959 SCLC Press Release, “Dr. King Leaves Montgomery for Atlanta”
1 Dec 1959 From T. H. Randall
3 Dec 1959 Address at the Fourth Annual Institute on Nonviolence and Social Change at Bethel Baptist Church
8 Dec 1959 To Albert J. Lutuli
21 Dec 1959 To Deolinda Rodrigues
23 Dec 1959 To Ingeborg Teek-Frank
29 Dec 1959 To Langston Hughes
1960 Introduction to Cracking the Color Line: Non-Violent Direct Action Methods of Eliminating Racial Discrimination
24 Jan 1960 Outline, Remarks for “A Salute To A. Philip Randolph”
31 Jan 1960 Address Delivered during “A Salute to Dr. and Mrs. Martin Luther King” at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
1 Feb 1960 Address Delivered at the Montgomery Improvement Association’s “Testimonial of Love and Loyalty”
1 Feb 1960 To Martin Luther King, Sr.
3 Feb 1960 “Dexter Honors Dr. & Mrs. King!!”
8 Feb 1960 From Roy Wilkins
16 Feb 1960 “A Creative Protest”
17 Feb 1960 Interview on Arrest following Indictment by Grand Jury of Montgomery County
20 Feb 1960 From E. D. Nixon
21 Feb 1960 From Cynthia and Julius Alexander
24 Feb 1960 To Daniel W. Wynn
Mar 1960 “Recommendations to the Ebenezer Baptist Church for the Fiscal Year 1960-1961”
Mar 1960 From Stanley D. Levison
5 Mar 1960 To Wyatt Tee Walker
9 Mar 1960 To Dwight D. Eisenhower
10 Mar 1960 To Rebecca Dixon
14 Mar 1960 From Rosa Parks
18 Mar 1960 To Edward P. Gottlieb
19 Mar 1960 To C. Kenzie Steele
21 Mar 1960 “Revolt Without Violence—The Negroes' New Strategy”
23 Mar 1960 From Ella J. Baker
24 Mar 1960 To Claude Barnett
26 Mar 1960 To Dwight D. Eisenhower
1 Apr 1960 From Harris Wofford
4 Apr 1960 To Fred L. Shuttlesworth
5 Apr 1960 To Mary Fair Burks
6 Apr 1960 To William H. Gray, Jr.
10 Apr 1960 “Keep Moving from This Mountain,” Address at Spelman College on 10 April 1960
13 Apr 1960 “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence”
14 Apr 1960 To John Malcolm Patterson
15 Apr 1960 “Statement to the Press at the Beginning of the Youth Leadership Conference”
17 Apr 1960 Interview on “Meet the Press”
18 Apr 1960 To Allan Knight Chalmers
19 Apr 1960 To Harry S. Truman
21 Apr 1960 From Jacob K. Javits
23 Apr 1960 To Earl Wesley Lawson
23 Apr 1960 To Benjamin J. Davis
27 Apr 1960 “Suffering and Faith”
27 Apr 1960 From Roy Wilkins
May 1960 “The Burning Truth in the South”
3 May 1960 To Kivie Kaplan
4 May 1960 To Benjamin Elijah Mays
5 May 1960 From Jackie Robinson
8 May 1960 From Vernon Johns
9 May 1960 From John Malcolm Patterson
13 May 1960 From James R. Robinson
18 May 1960 To William P. Rogers
26 May 1960 From James Baldwin
28 May 1960 Statement on Perjury Acquittal
28 May 1960 From Wyatt Tee Walker and Dorothy Cotton
2 June 1960 From Clennon King
9 June 1960 To Kelly Miller Smith
9 June 1960 Statement Announcing the March on the Conventions Movement for Freedom Now
10 June 1960 From Walter E. Fauntroy
16 June 1960 To Patrick Murphy Malin, Roy Wilkins, and Carl J. Megel
16 June 1960 To L. Harold DeWolf
18 June 1960 To T. Y. Rogers
19 June 1960 To Jackie Robinson
24 June 1960 To Chester Bowles
24 June 1960 To Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
7 July 1960 Joint Platform Proposals to the 1960 Democratic Party Platform Committee, Read by L. B. Thompson
10 July 1960 Address at NAACP Mass Rally for Civil Rights
18 July 1960 To Friend of Freedom
20 July 1960 From Ella J. Baker
21 July 1960 From Malcolm X
25 July 1960 Interview by Lee Nichols at Republican National Convention
3 Aug 1960 To William Michelson
9 Aug 1960 To John Malcolm Patterson
18 Aug 1960 To William P. Rogers
29 Aug 1960 To Johnnie H. Goodson
6 Sept 1960 “The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness,” Address at the Golden Anniversary Conference of the National Urban League
25 Sept 1960 “The Negro and the American Dream,” Excerpt from Address at the Annual Freedom Mass Meeting of the North Carolina State Conference of Branches of the NAACP
27 Sept 1960 To George W. Lee
30 Sept 1960 To Herbert H. Eaton
3 Oct 1960 From Maude L. Ballou
6 Oct 1960 To Eleanor Roosevelt
13 Oct 1960 “Message from the President”
13 Oct 1960 From Stanley D. Levison
14 Oct 1960 Outline, The Philosophy of Nonviolence
19 Oct 1960 Draft, Statement to Judge James E. Webb after Arrest at Rich’s Department Store
19 Oct 1960 From Nashville Nonviolent Student Movement
20 Oct 1960 From Candie Anderson
21 Oct 1960 “Press Release from Dr. King (Inside Fulton County Jail)”
23 Oct 1960 To Female Inmates
24 Oct 1960 From Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
26 Oct 1960 From the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
26 Oct 1960 To Coretta Scott King
26 Oct 1960 From Michael Meeropol
26 Oct 1960 From Nnamdi Azikiwe
27 Oct 1960 Interview after Release from Georgia State Prison at Reidsville
1 Nov 1960 Statement on Presidential Endorsement
2 Nov 1960 “Special Meeting with Doctors M. L. King, Jr. and Samuel W. Williams”
5 Nov 1960 To Walter R. Chivers
5 Nov 1960 To Ray A. Burchfield
6 Nov 1960 Interview by Zenas Sears on “For Your Information”
15 Nov 1960 From L. Harold DeWolf
17 Nov 1960 From James M. Lawson
26 Nov 1960 Debate with James J. Kilpatrick on “The Nation’s Future”
28 Nov 1960 From Lyndon B. Johnson
30 Nov 1960 To Marie F. Rodell
Dec 1960 To James F. Estes
Dec 1960 “A Talk with Martin Luther King”
8 Dec 1960 To the Montgomery Improvement Association
11 Dec 1960 “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,” Sermon Delivered at the Unitarian Church of Germantown
14 Dec 1960 To Fred D. Gray
16 Dec 1960 To Samuel L. Spear
20 Dec 1960 To Sammy Davis, Jr.

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

Interview on Arrest following Indictment by Grand Jury of Montgomery County

King, Martin Luther, Jr.
February 17, 1960

Author(s)
Clayborne Carson
Tenisha Armstrong
Susan Carson
Adrienne Clay
Kieran Taylor, eds.
Publisher
University of California Press
Publication Date
2005