Lot 251
King, Martin Luther, Jr (1929-1968) African American clergyman and civil rights leader. Book Inscribed and Signed, "To: Senator Paul H. Douglas In appreciation for the great work you have so unselfishly done for the cause of freedom and human dignity. With warm Regards Martin L. King Jr." on the first end page. Written by a youthful Dr. King, the book is Stride Toward Freedom. The Montgomery Story (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958). First edition, later printing. 8vo, cloth-backed boards in a very good dust jacket.
King was ordained a Baptist minister in 1954. After Rosa Parks was arrested on Dec. 1, 1955 for not giving up her seat on the bus to a white passenger, Dr. King led a year-long boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama transit system (the subject of this book), which led to the Supreme Court's 1956 decision that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. He founded (1957) and was president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which advocated nonviolence and racial brotherhood. In August 1963 he helped organize the massive March on Washington, where he gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968.
Paul H. Douglas (1892-1976) was an economics professor and war hero who became a liberal Democratic senator from Illinois, serving until 1966. Known as the "conscience of the U.S. Senate," Douglas made it his mission to get civil rights legislation passed. He was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Martin Luther King called him "the greatest of all senators."
Estimated Value $5,000 - 7,500.
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