Parting the Waters

by Taylor Branch

  “Why should he be ashamed”: Int. Harris Wofford, Aug. 28, 1984, and William B. Hartsfield, JFKOH, p. 4.

  “I ran with the ball”: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 14.

  “The Senator is hopeful”: Ibid., p. 15.

  “shortest route to heaven”: ADW, Oct. 23, 1960, p. 4.

  “make love a reality”: NYT, Oct. 24, 1960, pp. 1, 12.

  preached six different sermons: PC, Nov. 3, 1960, p. 2.

  hold King in jail: C. King, My Life, p. 200; Lewis, King, p. 126; NYT, Oct. 25, 1960, p. 31.

  cellmates mutinied: Int. Bernard Lee, Oct. 25, 1984.

  “intention or desire”: ADW, Oct. 25, 1960, p. 3.

  fuzzy statements: Ibid.

  “M.L. will be”: Int. Bernard Lee, Oct. 25, 1984.

  white theology students: NYT, Oct. 26, 1960, p. 43.

  into cold fear: Int. Bernard Lee, Oct. 25, 1984.

  As for King: Ibid.

  Judge Mitchell’s hearing: Account taken from NYT, Oct. 26, 1960, p. 1; Oates, Trumpet, pp. 163-64; C. King, My Life, pp. 200-1; NYAN, Oct. 29, 1960, p. 1.

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

  Belafonte called: Int. Harry Belafonte, March 6-7, 1985.

  Wofford responded: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 16; Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 233.

  “What we want”: Wofford, Of Kennedys, pp. 16-17.

  Bowles readily agreed: Ibid.

  presence of Negroes: Ibid. Also int. Harris Wofford, June 26, 1984.

  “King! Get up!”: PC, Nov. 3, 1960, p. 2.

  Hollowell called: Ibid.

  nearly hysterical: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 17.

  safer at Reidsville: Ibid., p. 18.

  call found Shriver: Ibid. Also int. Harris Wofford, June 26, 1984, and Sargent Shriver, Nov. 30, 1983.

  “some good numbers”: Int. Sargent Shriver, Nov. 30, 1983.

  “What the hell”: Ibid.

  appointment with Morris Abram: C. King, My Life, p. 202; King Sr., Daddy, p. 175.

  “just wanted you to know”: C. King, My Life, p. 203; Jet, Nov. 10, 1960, p. 4.

  in solitary confinement: PC, Nov. 3, 1960, p. 2.

  “Hello Darling”: King to Coretta King, “Wednesday afternoon” (Oct. 26, 1960), A/KP7f24.

  Kennedy mentioned casually: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 19.

  lawyer who had pried: Sorensen, Kennedy, pp. 203-4.

  “threat to survival”: NYT, Oct. 26, 1960, p. 1.

  game ended abruptly: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 19.

  tongue-lashed and belittled: Int. Sargent Shriver, Nov. 30, 1983.

  “one to tell Bobby”: Int. Harris Wofford and Louis Martin.

  “heard that Jackie Robinson”: Louis Martin, CRDPOH, pp. 9-10. Also int. Martin, Oct. 14, 1983. Martin is the source for the dialogue of his meeting with Robert Kennedy.

  nothing else controversial: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 20.

  draw fire away: Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 234.

  “She is a friend”: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 20.

  never met Coretta: C. King, My Life, p. 245.

  charter a private plane: Lewis, King, p. 128.

  at 3:46 P.M.: PC, Nov. 3, 1960, p. 2.

  “look of vulnerability”: Watters, Down to Now, p. 53.

  Cadillac limousine: PC, Nov. 3, 1960, p. 2; C. King, My Life, p. 204.

  promised Harris Wofford: Int. Wofford, April 5, 1985; Abram, Day, p. 131.

  “dump them in his lap”: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 23; NYT, Oct. 29, 1960; NYAN, Nov. 5, 1960, p. 5. Both Daddy King and Coretta King democratized this quotation in their respective books some years later, changing it to read, “If I had a suitcase full of votes, I would…” The original wording appears in the contemporary accounts.

  “your Nixon buttons”: Oates, Trumpet, p. 165.

  All he said: PC, Nov. 3, 1960, p. 2.

  “that crazy judge”: Stein, Journey, p. 93; Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 234.

  “screwing up my brother’s”: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 21.

  “Can’t we just say”: Ibid.

  “honorary brother”: Int. Louis Martin. Also Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 22.

  featured the call: NYT, Oct. 28, 1960, p. 1.

  “These white folks”: PC, Nov. 3, 1960, p. 2.

  “sea change”: Int. Sargent Shriver, Nov. 30, 1983.

  say nothing of it: Int. Louis Martin, Harris Wofford, and Sargent Shriver.

  severe criticism: King Sr., Daddy, p. 175.

  “not pay your debt”: Int. Harry Belafonte, March 6-7, 1985.

  flying to Chicago: Jet, Nov. 10, 1960, p. 4.

  “being considered an ingrate”: Statement, Nov. 1, 1960, BUK1f11b, A/KS2.

  “firmly re-endorsing”: ADW, Nov. 2, 1960, p. 2.

  “blue bomb”: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 24.

  “we all have fathers”: Ibid., pp. 27-28. Also Schlesinger, Thousand Days, p. 76, and Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 235.

  bizarre trial: MA, Nov. 2, 3, and 4, 1960, all p. 1.

  “Senegambian”: Ashmore, Hearts, p. 21.

  Ike defended: MA, Nov. 3, 1960, p. 1.

  “enemy advances”: MA, Nov. 3, 1960, p. 1.

  “must be greater”: Ibid., p. 339.

  two million copies: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 25.

  Marshall L. Shepherd: PC, Sept. 24, 1960, p. 3.

  “racial elevation”: Jet, Nov. 10, 1960, p. 6.

  Sargent Shriver and Louis Martin: Int. Shriver, Nov. 30, 1983.

  fifteen hundred beauticians: ADW, Nov. 6, 1960, p. 2.

  not permitted to vote: NYT, Nov. 3, 1960, p. 30.

  Sorensen greeted him: White, 1960, p. 347; Sorensen, Kennedy, p. 212.

  tiniest of changes: White, 1960, p. 350.

  “sticking his nose”: Ambrose, Eisenhower, p. 604.

  “couple of phone calls”: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 25.

  30 percent shift: “Why Nixon Lost the Negro Vote,” The Crisis, January 1961.

  Morton declared: Ibid., p. 7.

  “fundamentally unjust”: NYT, Dec. 14, 1960.

  implored Nixon: Morrow, Black Man, p. 213; Int. William P. Rogers, June 11, 1984; Raines, My Soul, pp. 97ff.

  to hide Rogers: “Why Nixon Lost the Negro Vote,” The Crisis, January 1961, p. 12.

  Nixon implied: In his 1962 book, Six Crises. Also NYT, March 27, 1962, p. 52.

  not even drafted: Draft statement by Deputy Attorney General Judge Lawrence E. Walsh, Oct. 31, 1960, WHCF, DDE. (King was released on Oct. 27, 1960.)

  moved by memo: William B. Hartsfield, JFKOH, p. 6.

  “result of economic issues”: Sorensen, Kennedy, p. 216.

  carried the Negro precincts: ADW, Nov. 10, 1960, p. 1.

  Abram and Daddy King warmed to: Abram, Day, pp. 124-32; King Sr., Daddy, pp. 175-76.

  Wilkins, who promptly: Wilkins, Standing Fast, pp. 279-80.

  said with a laugh: Robert Kennedy, JFKOH, p. 514.

  “Sure I’m glad”: Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 235.

  he verified: White, 1960, pp. 323, 354.

  “master stroke”: Ibid., p. 354.

  Ten

  THE KENNEDY TRANSITION

  Winston Churchill: Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 238.

  fumigating machine: Nashville Banner, Nov. 11, 1960. Also John Lewis interview by Archie E. Allen, Feb. 14, 1969, AAP. Int. Lewis, May 31, 1984, and James Bevel, May 16, 1985.

  Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace: Daniel 3:12ff.

  behalf of Morris Abram: King interview, March 9, 1964, JFKOH.

  appoint Benjamin Mays: King to Kennedy, March 1, 1961, BUK9f16. Also int. Louis Martin, June 10, 1985; Jet, April 6, 1961, p. 3.

  Nigerian government: Jet, Nov. 17, 1960, p. 9. Also King speech, Jan. 1, 1961, A/KS2.

  televised debate: “The Nation’s Future,” NBC-TV debate, Nov. 26, 1960, A/KS2.

  failed to parry: Oates, Trumpet, pp. 168-69.

  JIM CROW MUST GO!: ADW, Nov. 26, 1960, p. 1; Jet, Dec. 15, 1960, p. 37.r />
  philanthropists were expanding: Steven Currier (of Taconic Foundation) to King, Jan. 5, 1961, BUK7f50; also a number of letters about a King meeting with Currier on Feb. 3, 1961, BUK7f50.

  Lee of the Montgomery: Lee to King, Nov. 9, 1960, A/SC36f5.

  Stokely Carmichael: Receiving $500, per Edwina Smith to J. C. Herrin, Jan. 4, 1961, A/SC36f5.

  transfer Septima Clark’s: Minutes, SCLC Admin. Committee, March 8-9, 1961, A/SC36F11.

  two major proposals: Ibid.

  politically cheap: Int. Louis Martin, Oct. 14, 1983, and June 10, 1985.

  twelve hundred new Negro votes: Forman, The Making, p. 130. Also int. Louis Martin, June 10, 1985.

  “appoint and appoint”: Joseph Rauh, JFKOH.

  “Negro by Negro”: Golden, Mr. Kennedy, pp. 131ff.

  each of the three sides: Int. Harris Wofford, Louis Martin, and Burke Marshall.

  “make things happen”: Wofford, Martin, and Marshall interviews, ibid.

  “We observe today”: Sorensen, Kennedy, pp. 245ff.

  “Negro ever played golf”: Speech at mass meeting, Jan. 23, 1961, BIR/BC9f24.

  danced with Negro women: Int. Simeon Booker, Feb. 11, 1985.

  included Louis Martin: Int. Martin, June 10, 1985.

  Sinatra produced: Jet, Feb. 2, 1961, p. 60. Also The Kennedy Years and the Negro (Johnson Publishing Co., 1964), distributed by the Kennedy Library.

  Sinatra reassembled: Int. Harry Belafonte, March 6-7, 1985, and Louis Martin, June 10, 1985; Stanley Levison to A. Philip Randolph, Jan. 10, 1961, with enclosed progress report on Carnegie Hall receipts, Box 23, APR.

  “associated in the public eye”: Henry Wheatley to Rockefeller, Jan. 4, 1961, RAC. Also Oren Root to Emmet Hughes, Nov. 17, 1960, Hughes to Root, Nov. 17, 1960, Root to Rockefeller, Dec. 29, 1960, Ilene Slater to Hugh Morrow, Jan. 12, 1961, among others, RAC.

  speeches on successive days: King’s report to Ebenezer for the church year 1960-61, A/KP9f6.

  sing for Pope John: Jet, Jan. 19, 1961, p. 60.

  “name it Mahalia”: Goreau, Mahalia, pp. 286-87.

  unusual Saturday meeting: McGeorge Bundy, Memorandum of Discussion on Cuba, Jan. 28, 1961, part of Taylor Report, JFK.

  ten White House meetings: General David W. Gray, Summary of White House Meetings, May 9, 1961, part of Taylor Report, JFK.

  “stand-ins at theatres”: NYT, Jan. 29, 1961.

  seized personal property: Jet, March 2, 1961, p. 25, and March 9, 1961, p. 8.

  the land $4,350: Jet, April 6, 1961, p. 16.

  King protested: King public letter, Feb. 2, 1961, A/KP1f6; King to William Kunstler, Feb. 6, 1961, A/KP1f6.

  first televised press conference: NYT, Jan. 26, 1961, p. 10.

  J. H. Meredith: Meredith, Three Years, pp. 50ff; Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 341.

  Evers, who felt wounded personally: Evers, For Us, p. 224.

  “tell me what you’re doing”: Int. John Doar, May 12, 1986.

  three hundred sharecroppers: Doar and Landsberg, “Performance,” pp. 29—32.

  chronicled daily: Cf. ADW, Dec. 15, 1960, p. 1, and Dec. 31, 1960, p. 1.

  “Mahalia Jackson Avenue”: Jet, Jan. 12, 1961, p. 8.

  “I want to move”: Int. John Doar, Oct. 25, 1983.

  opposition of Byron: Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 310; Wofford, Of Kennedys, pp. 92—94; int. Burke Marshall, June 27, 1984.

  White recommended: Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 310; Navasky, Justice, p. 163.

  “silent interview”: Guthman, Band, pp. 95—96; John Seigenthaler, JFKOH.

  Taylor helped King design: King to Harry Emerson Fosdick, April 12, 1961, BUK8f10.

  $5,000 contribution: Jet, May 11, 1961, p. 16.

  Taylor sponsored Abernathy: Int. Rev. Gardner Taylor, Oct. 25, 1983, and Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, Nov, 19, 1984.

  Taylor lost his last: Jet, Jan. 19, 1961, p. 45.

  “veiled dagger”: Jet, Feb. 2, 1961, p. 48.

  lining up votes: Int. Rev. Thomas Kilgore, Nov. 8, 1983.

  new national director: Meier and Rudwick, CORE, pp. 130—31; Farmer, Lay Bare, p. 194.

  scenes of his erudite father: Farmer, When?, p. xxi.

  wife had miscarried: Farmer, Lay Bare, pp. 161—65.

  made the official selection: Jet, Feb. 16, 1961, p. 9.

  “listened to Minnie”: Farmer, Lay Bare, pp. 194—95.

  Gordon Carey proposed: Ibid., pp. 195—96. Also Meier and Rudwick, CORE, pp. 135—44.

  jury were wearing beards: Jet, Feb. 16, 1961, p. 4.

  Jefferson Davis stand-in: NYT, Feb. 19, 1961, p. 50.

  Bernard Lee removed: Alabama Journal, Feb. 1, 1961, p. 1. Also Bernard Lee affidavit, A/SC60f10.

  pledge to take the hard labor: Meier and Rudwick, CORE, pp. 118—19; Carson, In Struggle, pp. 32—33.

  carried a toothbrush: Peck, Ride, p. 78.

  “Try to understand”: Ibid.

  at the Butler Street YMCA: Minutes of SNCC meetings of Feb. 3—5, 1961, A/SN7; int. Rev. Charles Sherrod, Jan. 23, 1986, and Rev. Charles Jones, Nov, 23, 1986.

  Tom Gaither: Int. Rev. Charles Sherrod, July 10, 1985.

  “we have no alternative”: Minutes of SNCC meetings of Feb. 3—5, 1961, A/SN7.

  “explosive trouble spot”: Gaither reports to CORE, March—April 1961, cited in Meier and Rudwick, CORE, p. 136.

  church in Cincinnati: Police notes of mass meeting, Feb. 6, 1961, BIR/BC9f24.

  “name of Jesus”: Mass meeting, Feb. 13, 1961, BIR/BC9f24.

  begging West Hunter: King to J. R. Butts, Feb. 8, 1961, A/KP1f1.

  he sent a letter: King to Nash and Sherrod, Feb. 17, 1961, BUK7f28.

  “matter of pride with you”: Archie E. Allen interview of Will Campbell, Sept. 1, 1968, AAP.

  “We’re gonna march”: Ibid.

  February 20: Archie E. Allen interview of John Lewis, AAP.

  saw in the same issue: Int. John Lewis, May 31, 1984.

  CORE’s first advertisement: Student Voice, March 1961, A/KP23f16.

  “give up all if necessary”: Meier and Rudwick, CORE, p. 136.

  close more than seventy: ADW, March 1, 1961, pp. 1, 5.

  Allen hesitated briefly: Allen, Mayor, p. 37.

  Many of the students: Lonnie King, CRDPOH; Raines, My Soul, pp. 94—95.

  made front pages: NYT, March 8, 1961, p. 1.

  “reinstated in every way”: ADW, March 8, 1961, p. 1.

  “Clarification Mass Meeting”: ADW, March 10, 1961, p. 1.

  “got to give and take”: ADW, March 11, 1961, p. 1.

  “That’s what’s wrong!”: Lonnie King, CRDPOH.

  “I’m surprised at you”: Allen, Mayor, p. 41.

  “cancer of disunity”: Raines, My Soul, pp. 96—97.

  Fulbright’s segregationist voting: Schlesinger, Thousand Days, p. 135.

  Ernest Vandiver Secretary: AC, Jan. 2, 1961, p. 1.

  Kennedy received John Hannah: Wofford, Of Kennedys, pp. 130ff; Navasky, Justice, pp. 160ff.

  White believed: Navasky, Justice, p. 161.

  Iowa legislature: Jet, March 2, 1961, p. 6.

  annual rash of spring training: Jet, March 9, 1961, p. 54.

  Hank Aaron: Hotel agreement, Feb. 28, 1961, cited in Tygiel, Baseball’s, p. 319.

  a Negro delegate: Ibid.

  letter to General Ulysses: NYT, March 18, 1961, p. 1; Jet, March 30, 1961, p. 4.

  controversy escalated: Cf. NYT, March 22, 1961, p. 34; March 27, p. 25; March 29, p. 25; April 2, p. 41; April 16, p. 72.

  slurs on the ancestry: NYT, April 13, 1961, pp. 1, 25.

  upside-down parody: NYT, April 12, 1961, p. 1.

  Gagarin’s first manned: NYT, April 12, 1961, p. 1.

  gracefully assumed: Schlesinger, Thousand Days, p. 271.

  “quiet landing of patriots”: Sorensen, Kennedy, p. 302.

  $17 billion nuclear missile: Ibid., p. 602.

  twelve thousand new Marines: Collier and Horowitz, Kennedys, p. 274.


  “before this decade is out”: Sorensen, Kennedy, p. 525.

  Oriental pageant: Robert Kennedy, JFKOH, passim; int. John Seigenthaler, Dec. 17, 1987, and Edwin Guthman, June 25, 1984.

  jump through hoops: Int. Cartha DeLoach, June 1, 1984.

  five Negro retainers: Powers, Hoover, pp. 313, 323, 442.

  FBI were integrated: Nation, Feb. 4, 1961, pp. 91ff.

  “call his hand”: M. A. Jones to DeLoach, Feb. 7, 1961, cited in Garrow, FBI, p. 24.

  on March 6: Int. Edwin Guthman, June 25, 1984, and review of Guthman’s personal notes of the “meeting with civil rights leaders” on March 6, 1961.

  appointment with President Kennedy: King to Kennedy, March 16, 1961, BUK9f16.

  O’Donnell turned him down: O’Donnell to King, March 25, 1961, BUK9f16.

  The King problem: Interviews with Louis Martin, Harris Wofford, and Burke Marshall, as listed below.

  Kennedy-style meeting over lunch: Mayflower meeting drawn from interviews with Wofford, June 26, 1984, and April 5, 1985, and Martin, Oct. 14, 1983, and June 10, 1985. Also King, JFKOH; John Seigenthaler, CRDPOH; Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 216; and Garrow, FBI, pp. 44, 240. Unfortunately, Burke Marshall (interview of June 27, 1984) had no memory of the Mayflower meeting at all. There is a time discrepancy between the account offered here and Garrow’s authoritative work, which has minor ramifications for interpretations of the history of the FBI’s campaign against King. Garrow, partly on information that Andrew Young was present, dates the Mayflower meeting in early 1962, but several factors make the spring 1961 setting more likely. Wofford and Martin independently described the meeting as the Administration’s first tentative contact with King, undertaken with some trepidation very early in the Kennedy presidency. Martin recalled distinctly that he and King were the only Negroes present, and that Andrew Young was not there. Also, King in his 1964 oral history described his first meeting with Attorney General Kennedy as having taken place between the Bay of Pigs and the Freedom Rides. King talked about Kennedy’s strong push for voter registration, but he discreetly omitted any mention of the complex, delicate arrangements that resulted in the creation of the Voter Education Project. The author, based on source recollections as corroborated by various details of internal consistency, believes that the Mayflower meeting dates to the 1961 period described by King.

  “colony at Oak Bluff”: Jet, May 4, 1961, p. 63.

  “You’re the best weapon”: Int. John Doar, May 12, 1986.

  Sheriff Claude Screws: Screws v. United States of America, 325 U.S. 91—161.