Alpha King, Signed (1 results)

Although he is not able to attend due the ramping up of the Civil Rights movement, "but for this I would be more than happy to serve you.??We are not aware of another letter having reached the market connecting him with this important African American institution, to which he is so closely tiedWhile the Civil Rights movement had been gaining momentum for several years prior, with key events like the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and the Greensboro sit-ins in 1960, the year 1961 marked a significant escalation and expansion of the movement. Some historians say that 1961 was when the movement truly gained national attention and began to coalesce as a more unified force.In 1961, Martin Luther King Jr. was actively involved in the Movement, delivering speeches, participating in protests, and supporting the cause generally. The was the first year after his return to Atlanta that his activities routinely went beyond his home base there. In May 1961, King's support of the Freedom Rides in Alabama, which aimed to challenge segregation on interstate buses, was crucial. In October, he spoke at Columbia University in New York about the need for an executive order to outlaw segregation in federal programs and other areas of American public life. King visited Seattle in November 1961, and was initially scheduled to speak at First Presbyterian Church, but the invitation was rescinded. He ultimately spoke at the University of Washington, Temple De Hirsch Sinai, Garfield High School, and the Eagles Auditorium.On December 15, King famously spoke at a mass meeting in Albany, Georgia, which began the Albany Movement. That movement aimed to end all forms of racial segregation in the city, making it the first major effort in the modern civil rights era to desegregate an entire community. The next day, King and Ralph Abernathy joined hundreds of black citizens behind bars on charges of parading without a permit and obstructing the sidewalk. King?s involvement attracted national media attention and inspired more people to join the protests. Albany and King entered into an agreement that if King left Albany, the city would release jailed protesters on bail. However, after King left Albany the city failed to uphold the agreement, and protests and subsequent arrests continued into 1962.Thus, with the Albany speech imminent, and many other speaking engagements upcoming, his schedule was full. He had to turn down an invitation to speak at Texas Southern University for April 1962, as there were just too many conflicting obligations. In that month he had arranged a visit to Augusta, Georgia, to speak at Tabernacle Baptist Church alongside other SCLC leaders, and was set to preach a sermon to a large crowd of around 3,500 people in the Princeton University Chapel. His sermon there would focus on the importance of understanding and concern for others in the fight against racial hatred, emphasizing that no race was superior and that both black and white people shared the responsibility to love their fellow humans. In April 1962, King was also involved in the development of the newly formed Gandhi Society for Human Rights, an organization focused on non-violent civil rights activities.Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. is the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African American men.In 1956, Martin Luther King was given the Alpha Award of Honor for ?Christian leadership in the cause of first class citizenship for all mankind? at the 50th-anniversary convention of Alpha Phi Alpha. King called the event one of the happiest moments of his life and said that the award gave him ?renewed courage to continue in the great and momentous struggle for justice?.Founded in 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Alpha Phi Alpha was the first fraternity created by African American students. Operating under the guiding principles of scholarship, fellowship, good character, and the uplifting of humanity, the fraternity counts Thurgood Marshall, W. E. B. Du Bois, and King among its notable members. King joined the Boston Sigma chapter of Alpha in June 1952, while a student at Boston University. Fraternity brothers supported King during the Montgomery bus boycott, sitting behind him at his trial and donating money to the Montgomery Improvement Association.Typed letter signed, on his personal letterhead, Atlanta, December 1, 1961, to Willard C. McCleary of Texas Southern University, who had invited King to speak in Houston in April 1962. ?This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter of recent date inviting me to speak in Houston, Texas under the auspices of Delta Theta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. in April, 1962. First, let me say how deeply grateful I am to you and the men of Delta Theta Chapter for extending this invitation. Unfortunately, however, my calendar reveals that I have accepted as many speaking engagements as my schedule will allow for the 1961-62 academic year. But for this I would be more than happy to serve you. Please know that I deeply regret my inability to come.?Letters of King connecting him to his own fraternity and one with such significance in the African American story are very uncommon.