Parting the Waters

by Taylor Branch

  sent autographed books to: Eisenhower to King, Nov. 13, 1958, Nixon to King, Dec. 5, 1958, Truman to King, Dec. 10, 1958, all BUK11f21; Warren to King, Jan. 27, 1959, BUK9f13. Niebuhr’s copy in the possession of Mrs. Reinhold Niebuhr, courtesy of Elisabeth Sifton.

  Levison to send complimentary: King to Levison, Aug. 11, 1958, and Levison to King, Aug. 14, 1958, BUK1f10.

  Wofford found too tepid: Wofford to King, Sept. 5, 1958, and Wofford to Levison, Sept. 5, 1958, BUK9f13.

  plunged deep into his chest: New York Daily News, Sept. 21, 1958, pp. 1, 3, 64; New York Age, Sept. 27, 1958, p. 3; Reddick, Crusader, pp. 229-32; Bennett, What Manner, p. 99.

  Magistrate Vincent Rao’s: Bennett, What Manner, p. 99.

  slender Japanese penknife: Photo of weapon, BUK5f179.

  indefinite commitment: Int. Bellevue spokesman James Walsh, Dec. 7, 1984.

  delivered no speeches: As indicated by the absence of records and by John Tilley to King, Dec. 3, 1958, A/SC53f1.

  locked twelve thousand: B. Smith, They Closed, p. 152.

  “need now, Mike”: Wyatt Tee Walker to King, Nov. 6, 1958, cited in Morris, Origins, p. 185.

  Randolph’s Youth March: Int. Bayard Rustin, Nov. 28, 1983, and Michael Harrington, Oct. 27, 1983. Also Morrow, Black Man, p. 190.

  Harry Belafonte: Int. Harry Belafonte, March 7, 1985.

  “If the young people are aroused”: Levison to King, Nov. 3, 1958, BUK1f10.

  Davis trial: MA, Nov, 2, 1958, p. 1; BW, Dec. 3, 1958, p. 3; int. Richmond Smiley and Robert Williams.

  proving to be a disappointment: Int. Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, Nov. 19, 1984.

  “the secondary functions”: Tilley to King, Oct. 17, 1958, BUK16f24.

  “Well, I don’t want to”: Ella Baker, CRDPOH. Also int. Baker, Oct. 27, 1984.

  “guilt-ridden man”: C. King, My Life, p. 179.

  “natural turning point”: Reddick, Crusader, p. 232.

  nicknamed the Taj Mahal: Evans and Novak, Johnson, p. 216.

  Rogers told a White House: Int. William P. Rogers, June 11, 1984.

  “setting you up”: Ibid., and Ann Whitman diary for Feb. 3, 1959, AWDS Box 10, DDE. Johnson had introduced his own minimal civil rights bill on Jan. 20, 1959, Miller, Lyndon, p. 276.

  “if Lyndon tries”: Int. William P. Rogers, June 11, 1984.

  “haven for socialists”: Manchester, Glory, p. 1034.

  “erosion of the middle class”: Ambrose, Eisenhower, p. 512.

  stack of materials about India: “Notes for a Conversation Between King and Nehru,” BUK1f5.

  shanti sena: Lewis, King, p. 101.

  excess baggage: $88.02, by King’s accounting to the AFSC, BUK1f5.

  old friend Richard Wright: Int. Rudolph Aggrey, Oct. 8, 1986. (Aggrey was present at the Kings’ dinner with Wright.) Also King, “My Trip to India,” BUK1f5.

  dense fog: King, “My Trip to India,” BUK1f5.

  gathered at the airport: Int. James Bristol, Oct. 22, 1984.

  recoiled from the sight: C. King, My Life, pp. 181f.

  small replica: With the Kings in India, p. 8. With the Kings in India is a pamphlet containing memories of the King journey by Swami Vishwananda and James Bristol, published in New Delhi by the Gandhi National Memorial Fund. King’s copy is located in A/KP12f57. Also Lewis, King, p. 99.

  nothing less than a miracle: With the Kings in India, p. 8.

  Prime Minister greeted: C. King, My Life, p. 182.

  other guests: Countess Mountbatten (Lady Brabourne) to author, Nov. 12, 1984. Also King sermon, March 22, 1959, A/KS2.

  Nehru felt obliged: Lady Pamela Hicks to author, Feb. 8, 1985.

  Coretta retained: C. King, My Life, p. 182.

  correlate shades of color: Int. James Bristol, Oct. 25, 1984.

  Kings did not complain: Int. S. K. De, June 18, 1985.

  Arthur Koestler: Ibid. The Koestler novel was The Lotus and the Robot, which contrasted India with imperial Japan.

  rendezvous with Vinoba: With the Kings in India, p. 22.

  impossibly vague: Int. James Bristol, Oct. 25, 1984.

  three thirty in the morning: Ibid.

  “Americanized” walk: Lewis, King, p. 104.

  King put to Vinoba: Int. James Bristol, Jan. 11, 1985.

  King was careful: Ibid.

  “India should declare itself”: Statement March 9, 1959, A/KS2.

  Egypt and Greece: Bristol to King, April 16, 1959, BUK3f10b.

  “palatial apartment”: King to Belafonte, March 25, 1959, BUK3f11.

  private home screening: Int. Harry Belafonte, March 6, 1985.

  Belafonte offered: King to Belafonte, March 24, 1959, BUK3f11.

  “absolute self-discipline”: Sermon, March 22, 1959, A/KS2.

  “call thee Allah”: Ibid.

  submarine slipped: Manchester, Glory, p. 1001.

  Joan Baez: Rolling Stone, Almanac, p. 47.

  Kennedy conclave: Sorensen, Kennedy, p. 119.

  Pentagon demonstrated: Manchester, Glory, p. 1002.

  muttering witticisms: Int. Michael Harrington, Oct. 27, 1983, and Bayard Rustin, Nov. 28, 1983.

  “Do you realize”: Speech, April 18, 1959, A/KS2.

  “direction of the CP”: Baumgardner to Belmont, April 22, 1959, FL-NR.

  “closely associated”: Hoover to NY SAC, April 22, 1959, FL-NR.

  Hoover directed: Ibid.

  a consummate bureaucrat: Hoover portrait drawn from Powers, Hoover; Ungar, FBI; Sullivan, The Bureau; Garrow, FBI; plus Hoover’s written comments throughout the FBI files on Levison and King.

  mushroomed in size: Powers, Hoover, pp. 135, 255.

  set foot outside: Sullivan, The Bureau, p. 101.

  “violently defensive”: Powers, Hoover, p. 274.

  assigned four hundred: Ibid., p. 335.

  buffalo hunters: Ibid., p. 340.

  recruit Levison as an informant: Garrow, FBI, p. 42; SAC NY to Director, Nov. 27, 1959, Feb. 9, 1960, and March 4, 1960, all FL-NR.

  “mob action was invited”: King to Rogers, April 25, 1959, BUK4f40.

  sixty agents: Doar and Landsberg, “Performance,” p. 30ff.

  “flagrant and calculated”: Ibid.

  ten thousand Negroes: Baker to Tilley, Feb. 7, 1959, A/SC32f8.

  along well with C. O. Simpkins: Int. Ella Baker, Oct. 27, 1984.

  registered only fifteen: Baker report, May 15, 1959, BUK6f151.

  he fired someone: King to Tilley, April 2, 1959, and Tilley to King, April 13, 1959, BUK9f10.

  “acting” rather than permanent: Int. Ella Baker, Wyatt Tee Walker, and Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy.

  leaky roof: Baker to Abernathy and King, July 10, 1959, A/SC32f39.

  “even more keyed up”: King to Nelson, April 24, 1959, BUK4f23.

  registered attendance: Baker to King, July 7, 1959, BUK1f5. As of that date, Baker reported registration of sixty people, including the speakers.

  virtual absence: Smiley to Baker, A/KP33f7.

  band of nonviolence leaders: Taken from “Proposed Schedule,” BUK1f15, and related correspondence as cited.

  “balanced with practical”: James Lawson evaluation, A/KP33f7.

  ice cream parlor: Morris, Origins, p. 198.

  “break the backbone”: Moore to King, Oct. 24, 1956, BUK8f10, and Maude L. Ballou (for King) to Moore, Dec. 7, 1956, BUK8f10.

  make the long lonely drives: Int. Rev. Douglas Moore, Oct. 24, 1984.

  one day that summer: June 13, 1959, per Fred Gray’s letter to Lewis, June 9, 1959, AAP.

  introduced as John Lewis: Lewis material from Archie E. Allen interviews with Lewis, Lewis’ parents, and Abernathy, AAP. Also Lewis, CRDPOH, and int. Lewis, May 31, 1984.

  Glenn Smiley often filled in: Nashville Banner, March 24, 1958.

  refused to attend Lawson’s workshops: Int. John Lewis, May 31, 1984.

  shuttling between a mother: Int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985.

  shower after his shower: Int. John Lewis, May 31, 1984.

&n
bsp; like Socrates: Morris, Origins, p. 147.

  “winding around the maypole”: Archie E. Allen interview with Septima Clark, Sept. 21, 1968, AAP.

  Septima Clark: Generally from Clark, HOH, 1983. Also Clark, A/OH, and int. Clark, Dec. 17, 1983.

  special trip to Highlander: Baker report, Oct. 23, 1959, cited in Morris, Origins, pp. 114, 156.

  “authorized to explore”: Ibid.

  “Honesty impels us”: King recommendations, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 1959, BUK6f151.

  “not been publicized”: Ibid.

  not mention Rustin’s name: Levison to King, Sept. 1, 1959, and Oct. 1, 1959, BUK1f10.

  “headlines won’t do it”: Jet, Oct. 20, 1959, pp. 10-11.

  “counteract some false ideas”: King recommendations, Oct. 27, 1959, BUK6f151.

  political caravan: King to Levison, Nov. 19, 1959, BUK1f10, and Levison to King, Dec. 21, 1959, BUK7f25.

  “I can’t wait on you forever”: Int. Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, Nov. 19, 1984.

  “walk the benches”: Ibid.

  King told Nesbitt: Int. R. D. Nesbitt, Dec. 29, 1983.

  making the announcement: King to Levison, Nov. 25, 1959, BUK1f10.

  November 29: C. King, My Life, p. 190. Also Lewis, King, p. 109; Evans, Dexter Avenue, p. 140; Dexter Echo, Dec. 9, 1959, BUK10f13; King’s handwritten statement, A/KS2.

  expansive declaration: Statement, Dec. 1, 1959, C. King, My Life, p. 191.

  “not welcome to Georgia”: ADW, Dec. 2, 1959, p. 2.

  “medieval walled cities”: Ashmore, Hearts, p. 287.

  1954 Pontiac: ADW, Feb. 18, 1960, p. 4.

  told Negro reporters: ADW, Dec. 29, 1959, pp. 1, 3.

  Harvard University: SCLC release, Jan. 6, 1960, BUK4f40.

  find a babysitter: Gwendolyn Middlebrook (a King babysitter), A/OH.

  Lawson sent a dozen: John Lewis chronology files, AAP.

  “appointed you the guardian”: Goulden, Meany, pp. 311ff.

  “Castro begins to look”: Ambrose, Eisenhower, p. 556.

  “damn near treason”: Ibid., p. 561.

  settled with the IRS: MA, May 28, 1960, p. 7A. Also ADW, May 27, 1960, p. 1.

  silver tea service: C. King, My Life, p. 191.

  “Testimonial of Love”: Program dated Feb. 1, 1960, BUK1f38.

  “to escort our children”: Abernathy speech, Feb. 1, 1960, BUK1f38.

  official gavel: Jet, Feb. 18, 1960, p. 4.

  box filled with cash: Ibid.

  money be divided: ADW, Feb. 7, 1960, pp. 1, 3.

  “every penny of it”: PC, Feb. 13, 1960, p. 3.

  “I cannot claim”: Statement, Feb. 1, 1960, BUK1f38.

  “might as well go now”: Ottawa Citizen, June 13, 1961. This account of the sit-in by Canadian reporter Tim Creery, though written more than a year later, contains some of the most realistic interviews with the first four sit-in students: Ezell Blair, Jr., Franklin McCain, Joe McNeil, and David Richmond.

  Seven

  THE QUICKENING

  sixteen other cities: Morris, Origins, p. 188.

  contacted Floyd McKissick: Ibid., p. 198.

  National Student Association: Int. Curtis Gans, Jan. 5, 1985.

  Moore called James Lawson: Morris, Origins, p. 205. Also int. Rev. Douglas Moore, Oct. 25, 1984.

  Carey flew: Morris, Origins, p. 200.

  four hundred students: ADW, Feb. 7, 1960, p. 1.

  fresh sit-ins broke out: Watters, Down to Now, pp. 72-81; Morris, Origins, p. 200; ADW, Feb. 13, 1960, p. 1.

  “You must tell Martin”: Morris, Origins, p. 201.

  preacher in Rock Hill: Ibid.

  arrested forty-one students: ADW, Feb. 13, 1960, p. 1.

  Lawson presided: Morris, Origins, p. 206. Also Viorst, Fire, p. 107, and int. John Lewis, May 31, 1984.

  thirty-one Southern cities: Morris, Origins, p. 197.

  “another panty raid”: Ibid., p. 200.

  extracted from him on January 18: Chauncey Eskridge to Clay Blair, Jr. (editor of the Saturday Evening Post), June 24, 1963, A/KP25f25.

  urgent telegrams: Implied in Belafonte response telegram, Feb. 5, 1960, BUK3f11.

  Wilkins recommended two: Int. Chauncey Eskridge, Feb. 20, 1985.

  guarded letter: Implied in Judge Hubert Delaney to King, Feb. 1, 1960, BUK3f20a.

  visit to the F. W. Woolworth: Photograph of Abernathy and King at Woolworth’s in “A Creative Protest,” King address of Feb. 16, 1960, A/KS2.

  “Men are tired”: Ibid.

  reporting the sit-ins cautiously: See for example Jet’s report on the sit-ins, March 3, 1960, pp. 4-5.

  Defense Fund refrained: Morris, Origins, p. 198. See also NYAN, March 5, 1960, p. 1.

  “fill up the jails”: Address, “A Creative Protest,” Feb. 16, 1960, A/KS2.

  warrant for King’s arrest: ADW, Feb. 18, 1960, p. 1.

  first citizen in the history: MA, May 29, 1960, p. 2A.

  “If you dance”: ADW, March 1, 1960, p. 1.

  King so distraught: C. King, My Life, p. 192.

  Roy Wilkins declared: ADW, Feb. 20, 1960, p. 1.

  tried to recruit: Jet, March 3, 1960, p. 8.

  preachers met to formulate: ADW, Feb. 21, 1960, p. 1.

  heading off the threat: Meeting described (with differing emphases) in Mays, Born, pp. 288ff, and in Lonnie King, CRDPOH, pp. 26ff. Also int. Marian Wright Edelman, March 5, 1985.

  In Nashville: Nashville sit-ins and Lawson case from James Lawson, MVCOH, and int. Lawson, Nov. 14, 1983; int. John Lewis, May 31, 1984, and John Lewis, CRDPOH; Viorst, Fire, pp. 108ff; “Sit-In,” Folkways Album No. FH5590; Christian Century, March 16, 1960, p. 309, June 8, 1960, pp. 685-86, Aug. 10, 1960, pp. 921-25.

  planning session in Abernathy’s: Int. Bernard Lee, Oct. 17, 1984.

  “totalitarian in spirit”: Alabama Journal, Feb. 26, 1960, p. 1.

  “Boy, they really love you”: Int. Bernard Lee, Oct. 27, 1984.

  moved in perfect concert: Bernard Lee, CRDPOH.

  photograph with a caption: MA, Feb. 28, 1960, p. 1.

  “Sullivan’s problem”: MA, March 2, 1960, p. 4A.

  King surrendered: ADW, March 1, 1960, p. 1.

  not to flunk: Int. Robert Williams, April 3, 1984.

  students all sang: Bernard Lee affidavit, February 1961, A/SC60f10.

  At Orangeburg: Morris, Origins, p. 204.

  arrested 388: Ibid., p. 209

  sight of it haunted McDew: Charles McDew, CRDPOH.

  forty new cities: Morris, Origins, p. 197.

  “flaunting their arrogance”: MA, March 6, 1960.

  “Don’t all of you pile”: Bernard Lee affidavit, February 1961, A/SC60f10.

  “Fred, I’m not a dictator”: Shuttlesworth, A/OH.

  suppressed Birmingham’s: Report of Lt. George Wall, Feb. 29, 1960, BIR/BC6f14.

  Connor issued: Connor press release, Feb. 26, 1960, BIR/BC6f14.

  “Keep your eyes open”: Connor to T. H. Cook, March 8, 1960, BIR/BC5f24.

  offered Ella Baker’s SCLC post: King to Walker, March 5, 1960, BUK9f16.

  Including Wyatt Walker: Int. Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Aug. 20, 1984.

  Walker was a hotspur: Ibid., Dec. 21, 1984; also Walker, CRDPOH, Oct. 11, 1967.

  Walker asked the librarian: Walker interviews and CRDPOH, Ibid.

  He sent Walker: King to Walker, March 8, 1960, BUK9f16.

  telegram to Fred: King to Shuttlesworth, April 4, 1960, BUK6f154.

  Pat Stephens issued: Meier and Rudwick, CORE, pp. 106-7.

  “nothing more majestic”: King to C. K. Steele, March 19, 1960, BUK9f2.

  “reign of terror”: King to Eisenhower, March 9, 1960, BUK1f38.

  “An Appeal for Human Rights”: ADW, March 9, 1960. Also published in AC, AJ, and NYT.

  seventy-seven students arrested: ADW, March 16, 1960, p. 1.

  billed King $1,000: Blayton to Judge Hubert Delaney, April 29, 1960, BUK1f24.

  charged King nearly: Blayton to King, June 8, 1960, BUK1f24, by which t
ime Blayton’s fee was listed at $4,610.18.

  lawyers thought Blayton: Int. Chauncey Eskridge, Feb. 20, 1985. Also int. Clarence Jones, Nov. 21, 1983, and Delaney to Ming, April 15, 1960, BUK1f24. In Delaney to King, May 2, 1960, BUK1f24, Delaney told King he did “not care to make a comment” about Blayton’s latest bill, but that he hoped King could persuade Blayton to make an adjustment. He advised King that Stanley Levison was planning to talk to Blayton himself, which Delaney, evidently aware of Levison’s blunt manner, believed would be a mistake.

  He had five of them: King to Ming, Delaney, Gray, Shores, and Seay, March 5, 1960, BUK1f24.

  Northerners complaining: Int. Chauncey Eskridge, Feb. 20, 1985. Also Levison to King, July 13, 1960, BUK1f10.

  Southerners complaining: Int. Fred Gray, Nov. 21, 1984.

  astonished Levison and Harry: Int. Harry Belafonte, March 6, 1985.

  Committee to Defend: Committee documents in the A. Philip Randolph Papers include “Statement on the Indictment of Martin Luther King, Jr.,” March 3, 1960; minutes of board meetings of March 7, March 21, March 28, and April 4, 1960; and Stanley Levison to Randolph, Sept. 2, 1960 (with financial statement enclosed)—all Box 23, APR.

  sat down with Harry: Int. Bayard Rustin, Feb. 21, 1984.

  suing the Times: Facts on the genesis of the lawsuit taken from petitioners’ brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in The New York Times v. Sullivan, Case No. 40, October Term, 1963, pp. 8, 9, 28.

  Besides, said Rustin: Int. Bayard Rustin, Feb. 21, 1984.

  bluster and petty bickering: Int. Bayard Rustin, Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, and Joseph Lowery.

  surprise raid: Clark, Echo, pp. 3ff.

  “integrated whorehouse”: Bledsoe, All Hang, pp. 106-7. Also Nashville Tennessean, cited in Clark, Echo, p. 10.

  first padlocked: ADW, Oct. 1, 1959, p. 1, and Feb. 18, 1960, p. 4. Also Clark, Echo, p. 229.

  moonshine laws: Clark, Echo, p. 8.

  Clark hosted the first: Morris, Origins, pp. 218-19. Roster and agenda in Harris Wofford correspondence file, SHSW/HP.

  “You Better Leave Segregation Alone”: Int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985; Folkways Album #FH5590.

  taught them old songs: Carawan report to Myles Horton, c. 1965, Reel 7, SHSW/ HP.

  guarantee the expenses with $800: Carson, In Struggle, p. 20.

  $600 contribution: Abernathy to SCLC board, April 7, 1960, A/SC53f5.

  The trio agreed: Baker to King and Abernathy, March 23, 1960, A/SC32f39.

  “Love is the central motif”: Carson, In Struggle, p. 22.