Description:

Martin Luther King, Jr.
[Atlanta, GA], October 29, 1963
Martin L. King, Jr. TLS From Momentous Civil Rights Year, 1963: "this sweltering summer of discontent can be transformed into an invigorating autumn of justice and freedom for all people"
TLS

A 2pp typed letter boldly signed at its conclusion by Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), then in his role as President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), as "Martin L King Jr" above an additional signature IN PRINT as "Martin Luther King, Jr.," found at the top of the second page. October 29, 1963. [Atlanta, Georgia.] Typed on watermarked paper with "Southern Christian Leadership Conference" letterhead. With scattered original typographical errors, correction fluid marks, and spelling mistakes. Docketed on the first page at upper left. Expected wear including flattened transmittal folds. Gently creased upper left corners of both pages exhibit old staple holes. A few isolated scuffs towards the edges, else near fine. 8.375" x 11."

King wrote this thank-you letter to Reverend Thomas T. Chapin (1931-2013), a fellow minister and a contemporary around the same age, but white. Reverend Chapin and his First Presbyterian Church congregation in Morrison, Illinois had contributed $115.64 to the SCLC (over $1,200 in 2026 currency.)

In part:

"This letter comes to express my deep appreciation to you and the members of First Presbyterian Church for your generous contribution of $115.64 to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Such moral and financial support are of inestimable value for the continuance of our humble efforts. Without your dollars for freedom, the Conference would be unable to work effectively toward its goal of the full integration of the Negro into all aspects of American life. Your contribution will help our work in Birmingham and all across the South. At present, SCLC has staff members in more than 20 communities seeking through non-violent direct action and voter registration campaigns to break down the barriers of racial segregation and discrimination.

Without your moral support we would be caught in a dungeon of despair without knowing that many people all over the nation are supporting us in our struggle. By aiding us in this significant way, you are telling the world that the rithts [sic] of Negroes cannot be trampled in any community without impairing the rights of every other American.

Thank you for making our financial problems a little less burdensome. I am confident that if we continue to gain this type of support, this sweltering summer of discontent can be transformed into an invigorating autumn of justice and freedom for all people…"

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was a civil rights organization cofounded by Dr. King in 1957; he served as the group's first president from its inception until his assassination in 1968. The SCLC certainly had its hands full in 1963, which proved to be one of the most momentous years in the history of American civil rights. Six months earlier, in April 1963, the Birmingham Manifesto had been released, and King's participation in the Good Friday March had led to his incarceration and meditative "Letter From Birmingham Jail." On May 28, 1963 in Jackson, Mississippi, a student-led non-violent sit-in at a local Woolworth's produced some of the most disturbing imagery of the Civil Rights movement.

Throughout the months which King described as this "sweltering summer of discontent," other touchstone events occurred which galvanized the movement: on June 11, 1963, Alabama Governor George W. Wallace attempted to bar the entrance of three black college students at the University of Alabama; on June 12, 1963, NAACP state field director Medgar Evers was assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi; on August 28, 1963, hundreds of thousands of protesters arrived in at the nation's capital for The March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom.

King's optimism about "an invigorating autumn of justice and freedom for all people" was tested by further tumultuous events, especially the KKK bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham on September 15th. Nevertheless, non-violent activism continued nationwide, not just in the South.

King's correspondent, Reverend Thomas T. Chapin, truly practiced what he preached. Chapin had led the First Presbyterian Church in Morrison, Illinois since 1959. This mixed rural and industrial community of 4,200 people - almost without exception white - was located in northeastern Illinois around 12 miles east of the Iowa state line, and 130 miles west of Chicago. In July 1963, just three months before donating to the SCLC, Reverend Chapin had collaborated with Reverend Raymond K. Day and a Chicago-based Presbyterian agency called Beacon Neighborhood House to provide a retreat for 19 black children from Chicago's near West Side. 19 black children were hosted by 15 white families for a week-long stay in Morrison, which culminated in a picnic and a trip to see the Mississippi River. The story was picked up by the Associated Press and widely published in the Midwest. The "Southern Illinoisian" ran the story under the headline "City 'Adopts' Negro Children From Chicago" (July 14, 1963 issue.)

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 8.375" x 11"
  • Medium: TLS

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