M.L. King Dexter Avenue Baptist Church Archive, 1958-1960, 7 Items

The archive is comprised of seven items relating to the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, spanning the years 1958 through 1960. The items date from the last few years of Dr. King's leadership at the church and include:

The Dexter Echo. Volume 4, Number 2. 6pp, 8.5" x 11", October 7, 1959. With a reprinted, September 9, 1959, article from the "Birmingham World" titled "South's Goodwill Leader." The article ranks "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the book-writing, PhD-trained, world-traveling pastor . . . at the top of goodwill leaders in Alabama" and attacks the "deliberate, adroit campaign of flagrant distortion, vicious misrepresentation and studied confusion aimed at tearing down Dr. King and spoiling the correct image of him" by the Alabama daily press. Also contains articles on the observation of "Woman's Day," the Ebenezer choir, and other church news. "The Echo" was a bi-weekly publication.

A Service Program for the Joint Re-dedication Worship Service of First Baptist Church of Montgomery. 1p, 8.5" x 11", April 27, 1958. One year after the January 1957 bombing of the First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Dr. King and the congregation of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church joined the members of the First Baptist church at the rededication of the bombed building. The service was presided over by both Dr. King and Dr. Ralph Abernathy, pastor of First Baptist church and King's close friend and mentor.

"Dexter Avenue Baptist Church Annual Report." 23pp, 8.5" x 11", November 31, 1959. For the period of December 1, 1958 to November 31, 1959. The report contains a directory of church officers and leaders, along with a financial report for individual members, including their name, total amount pledged, amount paid on pledge, spec. & month club contributions, and total amount. Also reported are receipts, disbursements, estimated budget for the first six months of the 1959-60 church year, and a memorial for those church members who passed during the year.

"Dexter Avenue Baptist Church January Club 1960 Yearbook." 35pp, 8.5" x 11". Contains short biographical information on each of the thirty-seven church members, including Dr. King. Written in pencil on the front cover in two unknown hands reads, "What's the little violinist's name again? A daughter?" and "Annie Ruth - an adopted daughted (but really his blood relative - possibly a niece)."

Three Financial Statements for the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church." 12pp each, 8.5" x 11". The first, dating August 8, 1958, covers the months May through July 1958. The second, dating June 29, 1959, covers the months December 1958 through May 1959. And the third, dating September 21, 1959, covers the months June through August 1959.

Founded in 1877 in Montgomery, Alabama, the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church was first known as the Second Colored Baptist Church. The congregation originally met in a small wooden building, but in 1883, construction began on the current building, which was completed in 1889. Over the course of seventy-one years, the church had a total of twenty different pastors, but the church, and the country, changed forever in 1954 when twenty-five year old Martin Luther King, Jr., took the pulpit. Dexter would remain the epicenter of the civil rights movement (King's basement office being the headquarters for the Montgomery Bus Boycott) until 1960, when King moved to Atlanta to focus his efforts on heading the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Light uneven soiling and toning throughout.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.?
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