UA Libraries to Receive One of the Original Letters Sent by Martin Luther King Jr. from the Birmingham Jail

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University Libraries at The University of Alabama announced today they will receive a rare and important document relating to the civil rights struggle in Alabama — one of the original letters sent by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from the Birmingham Jail.

At 10:30 a.m., Monday, Feb. 13 at the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library on the UA campus, Ann T. Higginbotham and her family will present the famous letter written by King on April 16, 1963 while he was held in the Birmingham City Jail. King’s letter was transcribed from text written on scraps of paper and then mailed to Birmingham area clergymen. Higginbotham’s late husband, the Rev. Joe C. Higginbotham, was among the clergymen who received the letter.

This important addition to the Hoole Special Collections Library’s holdings will be exhibited throughout the rest of February as part of an exhibit celebrating African-American Heritage Month.

Dr. Louis A. Pitschmann, dean of libraries at UA, said, “The letter is one of our country’s major historical documents, and we are honored that the Higginbotham family has chosen the University Libraries to receive and preserve this important gift.”

Dr. John C. Higginbotham, the late clergyman’s son and associate dean for research and health policy for UA’s College of Community Health Sciences, will make the presentation on behalf of his family.

It is the Higginbotham family’s wish to present this special gift in memory of the Rev. Higginbotham and in honor of the University’s Black Faculty and Staff Association, known as BFSA. Greg Singleton, director of engineering student services for the UA College of Engineering and president of the BFSA, will be on hand for the presentation. “We are truly appreciative of this distinct honor,” he said.

King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference led mass demonstrations in Birmingham in the spring of 1963. Clashes between unarmed African-American demonstrators and police armed with dogs and fire hoses generated newspaper headlines around the world. The Birmingham campaign proved to be the turning point in the struggle to end segregation in the South.

King’s letter, written during the 11 days he spent in jail, holds a significant place in our nation’s history as both a symbolic and historical touchstone of democracy and human rights. In response to the events in Birmingham and King’s leadership, President John F. Kennedy submitted broad civil rights legislation to Congress, which led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Subsequent mass demonstrations culminated in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August of 1963, where more than 250,000 protesters gathered. King was named Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1963 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

Visitors may view King’s letter and the special African-American Heritage Month exhibit at the W. S. Hoole Library on the second floor of Mary Harmon Bryant Hall on the UA campus. The Hoole Library is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. with Thursday evening hours until 9 p.m.