At Canaan's Edge

by Taylor Branch

  “a conspicuous thread”: Branch, Parting, p. 183.

  recording played at his funeral: King, My Life, pp. 343–45.

  “bring back Hosea Williams”: Int. Hosea Williams, Oct. 29, 1991; int. Bernard Lafayette, March 22, 2005.

  “a grand piece of psychological warfare”: Kotz and Kotz, Passion, pp. 248–49.

  waited in the Chicago YMCA: SAC, Chicago, to Director, Feb. 5, 1968, FK-3207; NYT, Feb. 6, 1968, p. 28.

  “jumped on Martin”: Kotz and Kotz, Passion, p. 252.

  Bernard Lafayette rebelled: Int. Bernard Lafayette, May 28, 1990.

  George Wiley: Kotz and Kotz, Passion, pp. 34–40, 53–59, 169–73, 238–42.

  considered a position with SCLC: Wiretap transcript of telephone call between MLK and Stanley Levison, Sept. 9, 1967, FLNY-9-1057a.

  Wiley soon wrote Young: Wiley to Young, March 25, 1968, A/SC40f3.

  second nationwide mobilization: Hall, Because, pp. 62–64; Friedland, Lift Up, pp. 200–202; “Agenda for National Mobilization, February 5 & 6, 1968,” Series 3, Box 8, CALCAV, SCPC.

  “absolutely unsupportable”: “Clerics Accuse U.S. of War Crimes,” NYT, Feb. 4, 1968, pp. 1, 6; Melman, America, passim; press release for Feb. 4, 1968, Series 3, Box 8, CAL CAV, SCPC, pp. 1–5.

  protested the CALCAV mass meeting: NYT, Feb. 6, 1968, p. 15; WP, Feb. 6, 1968, p. B-1; FBI HQ LHM Feb. 6, 1968, FCLCV-15.

  “to preserve freedom”: Washington Evening Star, Feb. 6, 1968, p. 1.

  “hardening of the heart”: “In Whose Name?,” a CALCAV pamphlet of speeches delivered Feb. 5 and 6, 1968, CALCAV papers, SCPC, p. 8.

  “Guerilla warfare in the ghettos”: Ibid., pp. 12–13.

  Legal maneuvers intensified: “Clerics Rebuffed on a Protest Site,” NYT, Feb. 3, 1968, p. 5; Washington Evening Star, Feb. 6, 1968, p. 1; WP, Feb. 6, 1968, p. B-1; NYT, Feb. 6, 1968, p. 15.

  Two rabbis rushed off: Int. Balfour Brickner, Feb. 4, 1991.

  News stories translated: NYT, Feb. 7, 1968, p. 17; WP, Feb. 7, 1968, p. B-1; “Clergy in the Capitol,” Christianity and Crisis, March 4, 1968, pp. 36–37.

  Book of Psalms: Mark 15:34 and Psalms 22:1.

  King shuttled: SAC WFO to Director, Feb. 6, 1968, FK-3193; FBI HQ LHM dated Feb. 6, 1968, FCLCV-15.

  laid aside the drafted speech: Int. Robert McAfee Brown, July 17, 1991; int. Barry Johnson, Jan. 4, 2005; MLK speech text released Feb. 6, 1968, Series 3, Box 8, CAL CAV, SCPC; press release correction [“The speech was not (repeat) not delivered”], Feb. 6, 1968, Series 3, Box 8, CALCAV, SCPC.

  King spoke extemporaneously: Ibid.

  “I said some time ago”: MLK remarks at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Feb. 6, 1968, A/KS10.

  “seemed preoccupied with plans”: Newsweek, Feb. 19, 1968, p. 58.

  William Sloane Coffin closed: “In Whose Name?,” a CALCAV pamphlet of speeches delivered Feb. 5 and 6, 1968, CALCAV papers, SCPC, pp. 15–20.

  “You corrupted your wisdom”: Ezekiel 28:17.

  Washington’s Black United Front: NYT, Dec. 12, 1967, p. 14; NYT, Jan. 16, 1968, p. 22; Chuck Stone, “He Was Our Balm in Gilead,” Philadelphia Daily News, Jan. 16,1986.

  digest of his strident comments: Marvin Watson to LBJ, Dec. 28, 1967, with attached FBI special memorandum, dated Dec. 15, 1967, Box 73B, OFMS, LBJ.

  “SNCC/Black Power”: Hoover to Mildred Stegall, and Marvin Watson to LBJ, Aug. 23, 1967, with attached FBI monograph, “SNCC: Black Power,” Box 73B, OFMS, LBJ.

  “commandos occupying the place”: Wiretap transcript of telephone call between Stanley Levison and William Rutherford, 10:30 P.M., Feb. 8, 1968, FLNY-9-1579a.

  “serious tactical error”: Carmichael, Ready, pp. 646–50.

  “Well, if you are against this”: Int. William Rutherford, Dec. 7, 2004; int. Jefferson Rogers, June 14, 2005. 690 banished the word “Negro”: NYT, Feb. 26, 1968, p. 31. 690 King berated them: Garrow, Bearing, p. 596.

  “Martin got very upset”: Wiretap transcript of telephone call between Stanley Levison and William Rutherford, 10:30 P.M., Feb. 8, 1968, FLNY-9-1579a.

  “And if I can leave you”: MLK rally speech, Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, Feb. 7, 1968, A/KS10.

  self-interest of wealthy Americans: NYT, Feb. 8, 1968, p. 30.

  nearly missed his national appearance: Int. Harry Belafonte, March 7, 1985.

  sensitive transitions in media history: “Belafonte Power,” Newsweek, Feb. 19, 1968; Tonight Show notice for Feb. 8, 1968, A/KP4f17; Belafonte segment on CBS 60 Minutes, Sept. 28, 1997; Dates and Barlow, eds., Split Image, pp. 288–89.

  signal tragedy in Orangeburg: Nelson and Bass, Massacre, passim; Sellers, River, pp. 208–28; Marsh, Summer, pp. 185–88.

  “during a heavy exchange of gunfire”: Nelson and Bass, Massacre, pp. 99–105.

  Two reporters would write: Ibid., passim.

  Justice Department lawyers intervened: Ibid., pp. 115–18.

  laconic sense of recovery: Paul Good, “The American Dream of Cleveland Sellers,” New South, Spring 1973; int. Cleveland Sellers, Dec. 14, 1983.

  “Being locked up for something”: Sellers, River, p. 272.

  “We demand that you act now”: Undated statement with MLK signature in the hand of Andrew Young, A/SC39f23.

  three FBI agents hamstrung: Nelson and Bass, Massacre, pp. 168–70; Nelson, Terror, p. 88. Authors Nelson and Bass conclude that the agents likely were motivated by their desire not to have to testify against South Carolina law enforcement officials. Declassified documents also show that, within hours of the shooting, the FBI disseminated to the White House and other agencies false reports that the students precipitated the incident with gunfire: “Several Negroes, while fleeing, reportedly opened fire with handguns and one highway patrolman struck in face by object later determined not to be gunshot. Police guarding fire truck returned fire and three Negroes known to have been hit…. One Negro, who was shot, was reported to be Cleveland Louis Sellers, Jr…. He was later arrested by S.C. Law Enforcement Division.” FBI Director to LBJ, 4:00 A.M., Feb. 9, 1968, WH Confidential Files, Box 56, HU2/ST40, LBJ.

  Saturday in Philadelphia: NYT, Feb. 11, 1968, p. 60.

  “I throw this out to get us shocked”: “Action Committee Meeting,” Paschal’s Motor Hotel, Feb. 11, 1968, A/KP34f15; Garrow, Bearing, p. 597; Fairclough, Redeem, p. 366.

  $6.97 payroll deduction: Charles Blackburn oral history by Selma Lewis, Bill Thomas, and David Yellin, May 29, 1968, pp. 16–21, MVC.

  “Well, the men want”: Beifuss, River, pp. 31–35.

  “This was a strike”: Honey, Black Workers, pp. 293–98.

  sanitation workers walked off: McKnight, Crusade, p. 34.

  P. J. Ciampa dampened the euphoria: Beifuss, River, pp. 34–35; Goulden, Wurf, pp. 148–50.

  “Let no one make a mistake”: “Loeb Issues Order to Stop Garbage Strike,” MCA, Feb. 13, 1968, p. 1.

  second week of Tet rattled experts: Clifford, Counsel, pp. 476–77.

  “I do not want to argue”: Notes of LBJ breakfast meeting with Democratic congressional leadership, Feb. 6, 1968, Box 2, Tom Johnson Papers, p. 4, LBJ; see also LBJ’s discussion of the Byrd dissent with national security advisers the same day in FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 135ff.

  “reinforcements at any time”: Westmoreland to Wheeler, Feb. 9, 1968, in FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 153ff.

  “strange contradiction”: Notes of LBJ meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Feb. 9, 1968, Tom Johnson Papers, Box 2, p. 13, LBJ; “Johnson Says Foe’s Raids Are a Failure Militarily,” NYT, Feb. 3, 1968, p. 1.

  The Sunday war council puzzled: Notes of meeting, 4:25–6:15 P.M., Feb. 11, 1968, in FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 175ff.

  back-channel exchanges with the Pentagon: Karnow, Vietnam, pp. 562–64; FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 153, footnotes 1–3.

  “We are now in a new ball game”: Westmoreland to Sharp and Wheeler, Feb. 12, 1968, in FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 183ff.

  President Johnson regathered his advisers: Notes of meeting, 1:45–3:08 P.M., Feb. 12, 1968, in FRUS, Vol. 6,
p. 188ff. 694 News of the surprise escalation: “U.S. rushes 10,500 to Meet Threat of Vietnam Foe,” NYT, Feb. 14, 1968, p. 1.

  “More exploding rockets”: “At Khesanh: Life on the Bullseye,” NYT, Feb. 13, 1968, p. 1; Library of America Anthology, Reporting Vietnam, p. 576ff.

  “Wheeler Doubts Khesanh”: NYT, Feb. 15, 1968, p. 1.

  “Westmoreland doesn’t know”: Notes of LBJ Meeting with Foreign Policy Advisors,” 1:05–2:50 P.M., Feb. 20, 1968, Tom Johnson Papers, Box 2, LBJ.

  The President also toured military installations: NYT, Feb. 18, 1968, p. 1; Schandler, Unmaking, p. 103; McPherson, Political, pp. 425–27; notes of LBJ breakfast on the carrier USS Constellation, Feb. 18, 1968, Tom Johnson Papers, Box 2, LBJ.

  543 killed and 2,547 wounded: NYT, Feb. 23, 1968, p. 1; Langguth, Our Vietnam, p. 480.

  twin-engine Cessna 406: Jackson LHM dated Feb. 16, 1968, FK-3215.

  “I’m here to solicit”: SC, Feb. 24–25, 1968, pp. 1, 3.

  packed house at Selma’s Tabernacle Baptist: Int. L. L. Anderson, May 27, 1990; int. Marie Foster, Aug. 8, 1990; int. Jean Jackson, May 27, 1990.

  “Believe in your heart”: MLK speech at Tabernacle Baptist Church, Feb. 16, 1968, A/KS.

  Rev. M. C. Cleveland discreetly presented: Cleveland to MLK, Feb. 16, 1968, A/KP21f15.

  Holt Street Baptist: Branch, Parting, pp. 138–42.

  “and I see Brother Marlow”: MLK speech to mass meeting in Montgomery, Feb. 17, 1968, Tape 25, A/KS; NYT, Feb. 18, 1968, p. 61.

  favorite ecumenical parable: Luke 16:19–31.

  deacon R. D. Nesbitt: SC, Feb. 24–25, 1968, pp. 1, 3; Branch, Parting, pp. 5–6, 103–4.

  King described his two scariest memories: Citizen King, a Roja Production for The American Experience, PBS, 2004; “Assassination Attempt, in Plane,” 1968, A/KS.

  “Well, it came time to pray”: Jose Iglesias, “Dr. King’s March on Washington, Part II,” NYT Magazine, March 31, 1968, p. 30ff.

  parable of the Good Samaritan: Luke 10:25–37.

  “And until mankind rises above race”: MLK sermon, “Who Is My Neighbor?,” Feb. 18, 1968, A/KS.

  air of frantic melancholy: Barrett, News, p. 598.

  “plush new Sheraton–Four Ambassadors Hotel”: Hoover to Mildred Stegall, Feb. 21, 1968, with attached FBI HQ LHM and handwritten instructions for Rostow, Box 32, OFMS, LBJ.

  major shift by the Ford Foundation: NYT, Feb. 18, 1968, p. 1.

  “The first conclusion I offer”: “The Ford Foundation Annual Report 1967,” p. 2, AFF.

  “The problem is that the rising”: MLK remarks to the Ministers Leadership Training Program, Feb. 19, 1968, A/SC28f51.

  convinced King to miss two days: Miami LHM dated Feb. 23, 1968, “RE: Washington Spring Project,” FSC-NR; McKnight, Crusade, p. 69; Samuel B. (Billy) Kyles oral history, June 12, 1968, MVC; Garrow, Bearing, p. 598; Fairclough, Redeem, pp. 366–67.

  James Lawson declined the trip: Int. James Lawson, Nov. 9, 1983, and Nov. 14, 1983.

  Local editorials rallied behind city government: Beifuss, River, p. 45.

  “The city hired 47 new sanitation workers”: Lead story, WMC-TV Memphis, Six O’Clock News, Feb. 15, 1968, MVC.

  “CIAMPA GO HOME”: Beifuss, River, pp. 40–41.

  Jerry Wurf, AFSCME’s international president, assumed command: Goulden, Wurf, pp. 148–57.

  Loeb stood a head taller: Frank, American Death, pp. 10–11.

  public forum on Thursday, February 22: Beifuss, River, pp. 75–83; McKnight, Crusade, pp. 36–37.

  total mechanization of cotton farms: Honey, Black Workers, pp. 286–87.

  “The men were on their feet cheering”: Beifuss, River, p. 82.

  sanitation workers arrived: Bailey, Mine Eyes, p. 37.

  “as if it were a raid by barbaric Visigoths”: Goulden, Wurf, pp. 160–61.

  Council members entered long enough: Beifuss, River, p. 83ff; MCA, Feb. 24, 1968, pp. 1, 3.

  “could you give us a microphone?”: James Lawson oral history, Sept. 24, 1969, p. 1, MVC.

  Blanchard retained a stab of conscience: Jerred Blanchard oral history, pp. 5–8, 16–20.

  “Well, the police have their gas masks on”: Beifuss, River, p. 87.

  order to disperse the procession: Frank Holloman oral history, Aug. 14, 1973, pp. 14–15, MVC.

  Seventy-two-year-old O. B. Hicks: Memphis Tri-State Defender, March 2, 1968, p. 12; McKnight, Crusade, 40.

  dragged toward jail on their bellies: Citizen King, a Roja Production for The American Experience, PBS, 2004.

  P. J. Ciampa came there late: Goulden, Wurf, pp. 163–64.

  strange sight of polished spats: P. J. Ciampa oral history, Feb. 3, 1972, pp. 12–15, MVC.

  “This happened to me”: Beifuss, River, pp. 92–93; H. Ralph Jackson oral history, pp. 1–10, MVC; McKnight, Crusade, pp. 40–41.

  Rev. Bill Aldridge: Beifuss, River, pp. 180–81.

  “who breathes fire and smoke”: Bryant George, “Report to the Ford Foundation,” Feb. 25, 1968, p. 3, Grant 67-580, FFA. The FBI sent the White House and major government agencies sketchy intelligence on Bevel’s controversial rhetoric in Miami: “Concerning religion, Reverend Bevel advised he did not believe in the virgin birth of Christ. He advised he was firmly convinced that ‘Mary’ was raped by a Roman soldier.” G. C. Moore to W. C. Sullivan, Feb. 26, 1968, FK-3227.

  Daniel Moynihan had the misfortune: Ibid., p. 4; Moynihan to Bundy, Feb. 27, 1968, Grant 67-580, FFA; int. Marion Bascom, Jan. 19, 1995.

  “I have shouted until my garter-holders”: Address by C. T. Vivian, “Creative New Ministries,” Feb. 22, 1968, transcript in Grant 67-580, FFA.

  “And the valley calls us”: MLK speech, “Pre-Washington Campaign,” Feb. 23, 1968, A/KS.

  “Oh Lord, all hell’s broke”: Beifuss, River, p. 96.

  the Sheraton’s piano: Samuel B. (Billy) Kyles oral history, June 12, 1968, MVC; Gwen Kyles oral history, May 28, 1968, MVC.

  hundredth-birthday celebration: Lewis, King, p. 396; Garrow, FBI and King, p. 185; New York LHM dated Feb. 27, 1968, FK-NR.

  “civilization virtually collapsed”: MLK speech, “Honoring Dr. Du Bois,” Feb. 23, 1968, Freedomways, Spring 1968, p. 104ff.

  “I’ve never heard Martin”: Wiretap transcript of telephone call between Stanley Levison and Clarence Jones, 2:28 P.M., Feb. 24, 1968, FLNY-9-1590a.

  “Prime Minister of the Black Nation”: Carson, Struggle, pp. 278–82; Carmichael, Ready, p. 641; jail interview with Huey P. Newton, March 8, 1968, in Bracey et al., Black Nationalism, p. 534ff.

  “The vote in this country is”: Carmichael, Stokely Speaks, pp. 111–30.

  he turned also against any “white” Marxist anchor: Carmichael, Ready, p. 600; Carson, Struggle, p. 282; Gitlin, Sixties, p. 349.

  “The sky is the limit”: Forman, Making, pp. 526.

  menaced himself by Black Panthers: Ibid.; int. Ivanhoe Donaldson, Nov. 30, 2000; int. James Forman, Feb. 13, 2001.

  Newton wanted Carmichael: Hilliard and Cole, This Side, pp. 170–77.

  “suitcase full of African souvenirs”: Eldridge Cleaver, “Open Letter to Stokely,” Black Panther newspaper of Aug. 16, 1969, in FBI report dated Oct. 31, 1969, p. 54, FBI HQ File 100-446080-2370.

  “SNCC people were the bad niggers”: Carson, Struggle, p. 283.

  requesting 205,179 more U.S. soldiers: Wheeler to LBJ, Feb. 27, 1968, in FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 263ff.

  “This is unbelievable and futile”: Meeting notes, Feb. 27, 1968, in FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 260ff; Califano, Triumph, pp. 262–64.

  Cronkite asked his viewers: CBS Evening News, “Walter Cronkite Report from Vietnam: Who? What? When? Where? Why?,” Feb. 27, 1968, T79:0331, MOB; NYT, Feb. 28, 1968, p. 95; Dallek, Flawed, pp. 503–6; Appy, Patriots, p. 293; Karnow, Vietnam, p. 561.

  Wheeler’s manner was graver: Karnow, Vietnam, pp. 564–65; Clifford, Counsel, pp. 485–86.

  “Buzz, we are very thankful”: White House meeting notes, 8:35–11:15 A.M., Feb. 28, 196
8, in FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 267ff.

  Mendel Rivers irascibly said: NYT, March 1, 1968, p. 15.

  Henry “Scoop” Jackson warned that he would balk: Clifford, Counsel, pp. 497–99.

  “Well, did he call my name?”: LBJ phone call with Richard Russell, 4:10 P.M., March 7, 1968, Audiotape F6802.04, in FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 345.

  “Panel on Civil Disorders”: NYT, March 1, 1968, p. 1.

  The President steadfastly ignored: Califano, Triumph, pp. 260–62; Dallek, Flawed, pp. 515–16.

  “What white Americans”: Kerner, Report, pp. 2, 203.

  Aides bravely warned: McPherson to Califano, March 1, 1968, McPherson Papers, Box 32, LBJ; Louis Martin to Califano, March 5, 1968, Califano Papers, Box 9, LBJ.

  stealthy new travel regimen: “Johnson Berates Vietnam Critics,” NYT, March 2, 1968, p. 21; “On the Trail: Johnson Has Answers,” NYT, March 3, 1968, p. 1.

  740,000 paperback copies sold: NYT, March 14, 1968, p. 49.

  Potentates in Congress: NYT, March 2, 1968, p. 1.

  What Happened to the Riot Report?: NYT, April 24, 1968, p. 95.

  “Our nation is moving”: Kerner, Report, p. 1.

  “I’d be a hypocrite”: Lemann; Promised, pp. 190–91.

  Lawson made King laugh: Int. James Lawson, Nov. 9, 1983; Beifuss, River, p. 137.

  turned out in Atlanta on Monday: NYT, March 5, 1968, p. 28.

  backup force of ten thousand MPs: NYT, March 4, 1968, p. 22.

  he escaped to Mexico: Garrow, Bearing, p. 600.

  “We want arrest”: Beifuss, River, pp. 156–59.

  NAACP leader Maxine Smith: Ibid.; Maxine Smith oral history, June 13, 1968, pp. 1–16, MVC.

  he had invited King to Memphis: News script, Memphis WMC-TV Channel Five, March 5, 1968, MVC. The newscast reported that King’s Atlanta office said he was leaving the country until Saturday.

  “Unfulfilled Dreams”: MLK sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, March 3, 1968, A/KS; Carson and Holloran, eds., Knock, p. 191ff.

  “You did well that it was in your heart”: I Kings 8:18.

  Ralph Abernathy soon wangled rooms: Int. Ralph Abernathy, Nov. 19, 1984.

  He stared alone from a high balcony: Ibid.; Frank, American Death, pp. 90–93.

  Hoover circulated another secret report: Garrow, FBI and King, pp. 185–86.