Parting the Waters

by Taylor Branch

  “you bad policemen!”: Int. Rev. Robert Graetz.

  “publicity stunt”: MA, Aug. 26, 1956, p. 1.

  “without protecton of law”: King et al. to Eisenhower, WHCF, GF124A, 1956, DDE.

  Stevenson replied to Wilkins: Wilkins, Standing Fast, pp. 232-33.

  “I support this”: Martin, Adlai, p. 361.

  Ebbetts Field: Morrow, Black Man, p. 67.

  Adam Clayton Powell: Bernard M. Shanley, Memorandum of Conversation, Oct. 11,1956, 3:02-3:27 P.M., DDE. Also Coleman, Adam, p. 84.

  “from Dakar”: Ibid., p. 331.

  Fear of war: Manchester, Glory, p. 937.

  carried the city: Ibid., p. 943.

  Lewis B. Hershey: Yeakey, “Montgomery,” pp. 585-91.

  Negroes had voted Republican: Manchester, Glory, p. 943. Also Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 25; Rustin, Down the Line, p. 120.

  “quite bewildered”: Martin, Adlai, p. 394.

  “another blunder”: MA, Nov. 1, 1956, p. 4-A.

  surprise city witness: MA, Nov. 14,1956. p. 2-A.

  off the AP ticker: King Jr., Stride, pp. 159-60.

  “religious ecstasy”: MA, Nov. 14, 1956, p. 2-A.

  force of an epiphany: Int. Rev. Robert Graetz. Also King Jr., Stride, p. 161, and “We Are Still Walking,” Liberation, December 1956.

  six lessons: King speech of Dec. 3, 1956, BUK1f11b. King was adding to the speech until the last moment, as evident from the handwritten addendum located in BUK10f44.

  seventy-ninth anniversary: Evans, Dexter Avenue, p. 109.

  eight thousand people: Yeakey, “Montgomery,” p. 631.

  inviting Coretta: Reddick, Crusader, p. 177. Also Dexter Echo, Oct. 31, 1956, BUK10f13.

  “evil construction”: MA, Dec. 21, 1956, p. 1.

  “glad to have you”: King Jr., Stride, p. 173. NYT, Dec. 22, 1956, p. 1.

  moment of innocence: Int. Glenn Smiley and Rev. Robert Graetz.

  King asked Bayard Rustin: Int. Bayard Rustin, Feb. 21 and Sept. 24, 1984; King to Rustin, Sept. 20, 1956, enclosed with Rustin to Randolph, n.d., Box 2, APR.

  Nixon claimed more: E. D. Nixon, “How It All Started,” Liberation, December 1956, pp. 18-21.

  face down: Int. Bayard Rustin, Sept. 24, 1984, and Robert Williams, April 3, 1984.

  shotgun blast: MA, Dec. 24, 1956, p. 12-A.

  “not come to eat”: Int. Bayard Rustin, Nov. 28, 1983 and Sept. 24, 1984.

  five men jumped: Yeakey, “Montgomery,” p. 633.

  fifteen sticks of dynamite: Shuttlesworth, A/OH and CRDPOH. Also Westin and Mahoney, Trial, p. 17, and Raines, My Soul, p. 66.

  bushwhackers fired: Yeakey, “Montgomery,” p. 634.

  “so is the baby”: Int. Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, March 5, 1984.

  four bombed churches: MA, Jan. 11, 1956, p. 1.

  Sherman Adams replied: Assistant Attorney General Warren Olney III to King, Jan. 30, 1957, BUK9f16. Also Reddick, Crusader, p. 184.

  “Brother pastor”: Int. Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, March 5, 1984.

  neighbor snipped: Int. Rev. Robert Graetz. Also MA, Jan. 11, 1956, p. 2-A.

  mental breakdown: Int. Rev. Robert Graetz, Jan. 8, 1984.

  “Dear Sir”: Nixon to King, June 3, 1957, BUK4f16. Nixon says in the letter that he had advised King several months earlier of his intention to resign.

  “an adornment of the movement”: Reddick, Crusader, pp. 126-27.

  Montgomery airport: Int. Rev. Robert Graetz, Jan. 8, 1984.

  guilty and miserable: Reddick, Crusader, pp. 178-79; King Jr., Stride, p. 177.

  “let it be me!”: King Jr., Stride, p. 178.

  “Bob, I think”: Int. Robert Williams, April 3, 1984.

  twelve sticks: MA, Jan. 28. 1957, p. l.; King Jr., Stride, pp. 178-79.

  “vision in the kitchen”: MA, Jan. 28, 1957, p. 2-A. Also Reddick, Crusader, p. 166.

  “Enters Hagiology”: Reddick, Crusader, pp. 165-66.

  Gray had missed: Yeakey, “Montgomery,” p. 645.

  twin amnesty: Ibid., pp. 644-46.

  second inaugural: Morrow, Black Man, pp. 84-86.

  “Italian communists”: Luce to King, Jan. 2, 1957, BUK8f6.

  “Above all”: Time, Feb. 18, 1957, pp. 17ff.

  “Meet the Press”: Spivak to King, March 4, 1957, BUK8f12. The first Negro to appear had been Roy Wilkins the previous year.

  “earned our right”: Time, Feb. 18, 1957, p. 17.

  himself as James Lawson: Evans, Dexter Avenue, p. 110. Also, James Lawson, MYCOH and int. Lawson Nov. 9 and 14, 1983.

  Six

  A TASTE OF THE WORLD

  Harris Wofford: Wofford background from Wofford, Of Kennedys, passim; also, int. Wofford, June 26 and Aug. 28, 1984, and April 5, 1985.

  “I hate God!”: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 110.

  “some of the Gandhian techniques”: Wofford to Horton, June 28, 1954, SHSW/HP.

  “your arm chair strategist”: Wofford to King, April 25, 1956, BUK8f33.

  ran across him: Wofford to King, Aug. 20, 1956, BUK8f33.

  Omega Psi Phi: Evans, Dexter Avenue, p. 110. Also Dexter Echo, Oct. 31, 1956, BUK10f13.

  local Freemasons: Int. Elwood Sockley of Baltimore Omega Psi Phi, Oct. 2, 1984.

  Stanley Levison: General sources on Levison include Garrow, FBI, pp. 26-42, plus interviews and documents cited for p. 209. On the Baltimore story, sources include Levison interview, CRDPOH.

  prevailing Marxist jargon: Shannon, Decline, pp. 58-67.

  called In Friendship: NYT, March 1, 1956, p. 28; FBI In Friendship file, No. 100-424895. In Levison’s own FBI file, there is a long report on In Friendship, NY SAC to Director, Nov. 28, 1956, FL-NR. The FBI launched an investigation of In Friendship as a Communist front, with Hoover urging the utmost secrecy to protect informants. Most FBI information about In Friendship remained classified through 1987. Useful In Friendship papers include A. Philip Randolph to Rabbi Edward Klein, March 15, 1956, Box 23, APR; Agenda for June 20, 1956, Box 23, APR; Minutes of Executive Committee July 19, 1956, Box 23, APR; Ella Baker to Randolph, Aug. 29, 1956, Box 23, APR; Stanley Levison to Randolph, Jan. 2, 1957, Box 2, APR; “A Brief Digest of the Activities of ‘In Friendship,’” March 6, 1957, Box 23, APR; Levison to Randolph, April 22, 1958, Box 30, APR.

  Levison personally had raised: Int. Bayard Rustin, Feb. 21, 1984.

  “no doubt about it”: Watson to King, Aug. 14, 1952, BUK15f50.

  knew Ben Davis: Int. Bayard Rustin, Feb. 21, 1984. Davis sources include sketches in Scales, Cause, and Isserman, Hammer; NYT, July 7, 1960, p. 26, and Aug. 24, 1964, p. 27; Jet, May 16, 1963, pp. 8-9.

  Communist Party faced extinction: Howe, Communist, pp. 489-93; Isserman, Hammer, pp. 3-31.

  Hoover briefly entertained: Director to SAC Chicago, Nov. 23, 1956, FBI file No. 100-3-104-NR, cited in Powers, Hoover, p. 567. On Hoover’s response to the demise of CPUSA, Ibid., pp. 336—43.

  three warring factions: Int. John and Lillian Gates, Nov. 28, 1987; Albert Blumberg, June 29, 1988, Junius Scales June 28, 1988. Blumberg, who went to prison under a Smith Act conviction, as did his wife, says he recalls no such “truce” meeting before the 1957 convention, but the detailed memories of John and Lillian Gates are compelling.

  national convention gathered: Isserman, Hammer, pp. 28-29; Scales, Cause, pp. 315-17; Shannon, Decline, pp. 324-28.

  drafted by Stanley: Levison to King, Feb. 11, 1957, BUK9f16.

  “have no moral choice”: Draft telegram, Feb. 14, 1957, to Thomasville, Ga., BUK9f16.

  “legislate morality”: Golden, Mr. Kennedy, p. 73.

  “nigger jokes”: Ambrose, Eisenhower, pp. 327, 408.

  “colored retainers”: Ibid., p. 386.

  into the cockpit: Reddick, Crusader, p. 181.

  three billion people: MA, Oct. 16, 1957, p. 4-A.

  bonus of $2,500: Reddick, Crusader, p. 180.

  “thing that impressed me”: King sermon, “The Birth of a New Nation,” April 1957, A/KS1.

  discussed it in Ghana:
Reddick, Crusader, p. 186.

  Administration stalled: Asst. Sec. of Commerce to Maxwell Raab, April 17, 1957, WHCF, GF 124-A-l, DDE.

  headed off a plan by King: Ibid. Also note to Rabb, April 18, 1957, and Mitchell to Rabb with enclosure from Wilkins, April 24, 1957, WHCF, GF 124-A-l, DDE.

  “first-rate rabble-rouser”: FBI memo, May 9, 1957, FK27.

  “not be adversely affected”: Rabb to Sherman Adams, April 17, 1957, WHCF, OF Box 731, DDE.

  honed his text: Reddick, Crusader, pp. 193-94.

  “sit right on my tongue”: Int. Bayard Rustin, Feb. 21, 1984.

  high-spirited program: Reddick, Crusader, pp. 193ff; C. King, My Life, pp. 168ff.

  “Give us the ballot!”: King’s handwritten address for May 17, 1957, A/KS1.

  Rustin decided: Int. Bayard Rustin, Nov. 28, 1983.

  Reminding Nixon: King to Nixon, May 15, 1957, A/KP18f24.

  Nixon promptly: Nixon to King, May 23, 1957, and King to Nixon, May 28, 1957, BUK8f14.

  Eisenhower himself: Rabb memorandum, May 23, 1957, WHCF, GF Box 912, DDE.

  “non-partisan approach”: Rustin and Levison to King, June 1957, BUK1f29.

  appointment with Vice President Nixon: Reddick, Crusader, pp. 199-202. Also int. Bayard Rustin, Feb. 21, 1984.

  “most dangerous man in America”: King to Earl Mazo, Sept. 2, 1958, BUK4f4. This letter, repetitive and dotted with grammatical errors, was written during the Abernathy sex scandal, as described below, which was a time of great stress for King and Abernathy regarding the inner sincerity of preachers.

  voted Republican: Ambrose, Eisenhower, p. 412.

  Eisenhower would enjoy: Rabb to Adams, June 24, 1957, WHCF, GF Box 912, DDE.

  consumed 121 hours: Douglass Cater, “How the Senate Passed the Civil Rights Bill,” The Reporter, Sept. 5, 1957.

  filibuster record: Morris, Origins, p. 107.

  break into tears: Clarence Mitchell, CRDPOH.

  worst political losses: Adams, Firsthand, p. 342.

  “this century”: Kearns, Lyndon, p. 150.

  Wilkins finally decided: Int. Joseph Rauh, Oct. 17, 1983.

  King announced later: King to Nixon, Aug. 30, 1957, A/KP18f24.

  “offers you a spade”: Reddick, Crusader, p. 203.

  “What sound reason”: Morris, Origins, pp. 121-22.

  twenty-five separate lawsuits: NAACP Annual Report of 1957, cited in Ibid., p. 33.

  Little Rock: Account drawn generally from Huckaby, Central High, Adams, Firsthand, and Ambrose, Eisenhower.

  on-site news extravaganza: Ashmore, Hearts, p.269.

  sending telegrams: King to Eisenhower, Sept. 9, 1957, A/KP18f24. Also Wilkins, Standing Fast, p. 249.

  Faubus’ own father: Ashmore, Hearts, p. 260.

  Shays’s Rebellion: Herbert Brownell, Jan. 31, 1968, CUOH, p. 215.

  “if we have to do this”: Ibid., p. 212.

  before nightfall: Ambrose, Eisenhower, p. 420.

  into the girls’ bathrooms: Huckaby, Central High, p. 62.

  than Pearl Harbor: Ambrose, Eisenhower, p. 430.

  “Control of space”: Kearns, Lyndon, p. 145.

  780,000 miles: Reddick, Crusader, p. 179. Also C. King, My Life, p. 169.

  “All we need is the sponsor”: Levison to King, Feb. 11, 1957, BUK9f16.

  favorable to communism: Oates, Trumpet, p. 131.

  fell badly behind: Marie Rodell to King, Dec. 13, 1957, BUK1f14.

  pressure built steadily: Reflected in Levison to King, Jan. 24, 1958, BUK1f10.

  “your soul and body”: Eugene Exman to King, Feb. 6, 1958, BUK1f14.

  pay $2,000: Oates, Trumpet, p. 131.

  editorial network: Exman to King, Feb. 26, 1958, BUK1f14; Popper to King, March 27, 1958, BUK4f32.

  “most difficult job”: King to Levison, March 7, 1958, BUK5f15.

  “bonds do better”: Levison to King, Jan. 17, 1958. BUK1f10.

  King’s tax records: Levison to King, Jan. 17 and April 7, 1958; King to Levison, April 12 and June 30, 1958, all BUK1f10. Also int. Fred Gray, Dec. 21, 1984.

  favorite lemon pie: Levison to King, Feb. 28, 1958, BUK5f15.

  weakness for rich men: Int. Bayard Rustin, Nov. 27, 1983, and Harry Wachtel, Oct. 27, 1983.

  “You don’t know it, Stan”: Int. Beatrice Levison, Jan. 3, 1984.

  during the sixty-eight-night: Reddick, Crusader, p. 202.

  “No Color Line”: Rev. Howard Jones, in Ebony, September 1957. The clipped article is in the King files, BUK14f2.

  crusade committee: Crusade document, BUK14f20.

  Gardner Taylor and Thomas Kilgore: Int. Kilgore and Taylor.

  Graham held three private: Graham biographer John C. Pollack to author, Sept. 10, 1986.

  “Brother Graham”: King to Graham, July 23, 1958, A/SC32f14.

  first executive board: SCLC Executive Board Minutes, Oct. 18, 1957, BUK6f153.

  “sought to cut me down”: Evans, Dexter Avenue, p. 109.

  women huddled outside: Int. Dr. Zelia Evans, June 8, 1983.

  “Aristotle’s logic”: Speech, “Some Things We Must Do,” Dec. 5, 1957, A/KS1.

  “gonna be a Negro”: Ibid.

  described the week unsparingly: Reddick, Crusader, p. 211.

  carefully drafted letters: King to J. H. Jackson, Dec. 17, 1957, BUK8f6, and identical letters to a number of prominent people, all dated Dec. 18, 1957, BUK6f151.

  “in the public mind”: Bunche to King, Dec. 31, 1957, BUK6f151.

  “pushes the inebriate”: Granger to King, Dec. 27, 1957, BUK6f151.

  “number one activity for 1958”: Wilkins to King, Jan. 14, 1958 (two letters), BUK4f23 and BUK6f151.

  “year of disagreement”: Bennett, What Manner, p. 80.

  meet King alone: Int. Bayard Rustin, Feb. 21, 1984.

  Ella Baker: Ibid., and int. Ella Baker, Oct. 27, 1984. Also Morris, Origins, pp. 102-4; M. King, Freedom, pp. 42-46.

  dancing a roundelay: The slow pace of the process is reflected in the minutes of the SCLC administration committee, Dec. 19, 1957, A/SC32f5.

  married briefly: M. King, Freedom, p. 455.

  to a preacher: Int. Septima Clark, Dec. 16, 1983.

  faithful member of Kilgore’s church: Int. Ella Baker, Oct. 25, 1984. Also Baker to Kilgore, May 22, 1959 (apologizing for church absence and enclosing $160 to cover her regular contributions for the previous seventeen Sundays), A/SC32f33.

  she resented news: Ella Baker, CRDPOH. Also int. Baker, Oct. 25, 1984, and Bayard Rustin, Feb. 21, 1984.

  “fed to us in teaspoons”: King statement, Feb. 12, 1958, BUK1f11a.

  Associated Press released: Story dated March 12, 1958, cited in Ella Baker SCLC report, April 3, 1958, BUK8f26.

  “superfluous printing”: Rev. R. Julian Smith to King, Feb. 25, 1958, BUK9f2.

  sparks flew between them: Int. Ella Baker, Oct. 25, 1984, and Bayard Rustin, Feb. 21, 1984.

  “a little abrupt”: Maude Ballou note to King, May 16, 1958, BUK16f24.

  remained mired: Baker to King, April 24, 1958, A/SC53f1.

  to Levison for inclusion: Levison to Baker, April 14, 1958, BUK16f24.

  half-empty house: Int. James Lawson, Nov. 14, 1983.

  198-year sentence: Vincent Johnson to King, June 3, 1958, BUK3f28.

  “is dancing a sin”: Lucille Pete to King, June 5, 1958, BUK3f28.

  application on May 11: Clennon King to King, May 31, 1958, A/SC4f21.

  King issued: SCLC release, June 12, 1958, BUK6f154.

  Ella Baker asked: Rev. W. H. Hall to Baker, June 10, 1958, A/SC32f7.

  “day after tomorrow”: Rocco Siciliano, CUOH, pp. 102-3.

  Siciliano did not welcome: Ibid., p. 101.

  alone on June 9: Ibid. Also Siciliano to Adams, June 10, 1958, WHCF, OF 731, DDE; and Morrow, Black Man, p. 164.

  King pressed the White House: Memo to Appointments Secretary Stephens, June 13, 1958, WHCF, OF 731, DDE.

  Morrow left Washington: Morrow, Black Man, pp. 165-66.

&
nbsp; vague but careful: King to “Adam,” June 10, 1958, BUK4f31.

  “cash in an envelope”: Powell to “My dear Friend,” June 1958, BUK4f31.

  “help Adam mature”: Levison to King, June 10, 1958, BUK1f10.

  “Well, Siciliano”: Rocco Siciliano, CUOH, p. 105.

  wanted only to listen: Primary source for the meeting is Siciliano’s memorandum of June 24, 1958, Diary Series Box 33, DDE. Other sources include Reddick, Crusader, pp. 221f; Wilkins, Standing Fast, pp. 256f; Morrow, Black Man, pp. 169f; Morrow, CUOH; Siciliano, CUOH; Randolph to King et al., June 23, 1958, Box 31, APR; and int. William P. Rogers, June 11, 1984.

  Rogers dated his own: Int. William P. Rogers, June 11, 1984.

  “May I say”: Excerpts from press conference, June 23, 1958, A/KS1.

  “built on sand”: Siciliano to Eisenhower, June 25, 1958, Diary Series Box 33, DDE.

  “Rocco Siciliano—Minorities”: Rocco Siciliano, CUOH, p.109.

  group of prominent Indians: Bennett, What Manner, p. 97. Also Lewis, King, p. 96.

  Levison wrote him: Levison to King, Aug. 15, 1958, BUK1f10.

  bomb damage to Abernathy’s church: Abernathy to King, May 28, 1958, thanking King for bringing the Dexter congregation to First Baptist for the rededication service on April 27, BUK6f154.

  Baker was reminding: Baker to Abernathy, August 1958, A/SC53fa.

  “I have come to kill you”: Davis attack on Abernathy based on records of Case #8741, Montgomery Recorder’s Court. Also MA, August 30, 1958, p. 1, Aug. 31, p. 2, Sept. 4, p. 1, Nov. 22, p. 1; BW, Dec. 3, 1958, p. 3.

  “Big Two”: Sketch of Edward Davis drawn from interviews with Fred Gray, Nov. 21, 1984, Richmond Smiley, Dec. 28, 1983, Robert Williams, April 3, 1984, and Rufus Lewis, June 8, 1983, among others.

  confided to a colleague: Int. James Farmer, Nov, 18, 1983.

  “waiting to see my lawyer”: C. King, My Life, pp. 171-74. Other accounts of the September 3 events in Reddick, Crusader, pp. 225—26; MA, Sept. 4, 1958, p. 1; BW, Sept. 6, 1958, p. 1.

  lieutenant he knew: Int. Richmond Smiley, Dec. 28, 1983.

  serve out the time: King trial and aftermath from Reddick, Crusader, pp. 227-29; C. King, My Life, pp. 173-74; MA, Sept. 6, 1958, p. 1; MIA Newsletter, Sept. 27, 1958, BUK1f38.

  Gandhi’s famous declaration: Fischer, Gandhi, p. 72.

  “My action is motivated”: King statement, Sept. 5, 1958, BUK1f11a.

  “White women can be lures”: J. Raymond Henderson to King, Sept. 17, 1958, BUK4f4.