Parting the Waters (166 page)

rattled even Nixon: E. D. Nixon, A/OH, and int. Nixon.

they reassembled that afternoon: Account of afternoon meeting drawn from interviews with E. D. Nixon, Rufus Lewis, S. S. Seay, and Ralph Abernathy. Also E. D. Nixon, A/OH; Virginia Durr, A/OH; Raines,
My Soul
, pp. 40-42; King Jr.,
Stride
, pp. 55-58; Reddick,
Crusader
, p. 134; and Oates,
Trumpet
, pp. 67-69.

verge of approval: King Jr.,
Stride
, p. 58.

from his conscience: Ibid., p. 60.

“into something big”: Int. Elliott Finley, Dec. 28, 1983.

“for serious business”: Recording and transcript of speech, A/KS1.

“runs down like water”: Amos 5:24.

Five
THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT

James Lawson: Lawson, MVCOH. also int. Lawson, Nov. 9 and 14, 1983.

Juliette Morgan: King Jr.,
Stride
, p. 85; MA, Dec. 12, 1955, p. 4-A. Also int. Jo Ann Robinson, Nov. 14, 1983, and William McDonald, Dec. 29, 1983.

simple decent treatment: Cf. letters from Frances P. McLeod, Dec. 9, 1955, MA, p. 4-A; Mrs. J. B. Rutledge, Dec. 9, 1955, p. 4-A; Helen R. Gross, Dec. 15, 1955, p. 4-A; Mrs. E.J.R., Dec. 25, 1955, p. 4-A.

One woman correspondent: Mrs. C.S. to MA, Dec. 15, 1955, p. 4-A.

first editorial: MA, Dec. 8, 1955, p. 4-A.

friend T. J. Jemison: King Jr.,
Stride
, p. 57; Yeakey, “Montgomery,” pp. 385ff.

call him Mike: See Jemison to King, Oct. 27, 1956, BUK8f29.

150 car owners: Yeakey, “Montgomery,” p. 388.

40,000 Negro fares: Ibid., p. 527.

boasting of a victory: King Jr.,
Stride
, p. 112.

“practically rubbing knees”: Yeakey, “Montgomery,” p. 435.

At their next meeting: King Jr.,
Stride
, pp. 114-19; Yeakey, “Montgomery,” pp. 445-53.

“almost godly”: Jo Ann Robinson private memoir, cited in Yeakey, “Montgomery,” p. 451.

from start to finish: Int. W. Thomas Johnson, Dec. 29, 1983.

Six days before Christmas: King Jr.,
Stride
, pp. 119-22; Yeakey, “Montgomery,” pp. 454-60.

“terrible sense of guilt”: King Jr.,
Stride
, p. 121. See also King speech of Dec. 3, 1956, pp. 2-3, BUK1f16.

“any queen”: BW, Dec. 20, 1955, as quoted in Yeakey, “Montgomery,” p. 463.

“feets is tired”: The story first appeared publicly in Tom Johnson's profile of Graetz, MA, Jan. 10, 1956, p. 4-A. Also King Jr.,
Strength
, p. 125. Part of the quotation later became the title of Raines,
My Soul
, derived from an anecdote described therein on p. 56. It is not clear from any of the earlier sources that King was the preacher to whom Mother Pollard spoke. This is doubtful, as King did not say so himself when telling the story.

“trade my Southern”: MA, Jan. 7. 1956, p. 1.

Daddy King's sermon: Dexter church program, Jan. 8, 1956, BUK10f10.

Gray's legal presentation: Yeakey, “Montgomery,” pp. 468-70.

“wear the other down”: Minutes of the MIA Executive Board, Jan. 12, 1956, Hazel Gregory Papers, cited in Yeakey, “Montgomery,” p. 470.

anything but a conventional: Hall portrait drawn from Hollis,
Hall
, passim King Jr.,
Stride
, p. 176; Reddick,
Crusader
, pp. 163-65; Yeakey, “Montgomery,” pp. 444, 489, 590, 595, 614; int. Jo Ann Robinson, Nov. 14, 1983, W. Thomas Johnson, Dec. 29, 1983, and William McDonald, Dec. 29, 1983.

“who is behind the MIA”: Int. W. Thomas Johnson, Dec. 29, 1983.

nearly $7,000: MA, Jan. 10, 1956, p. 4-A.

next Saturday morning: Int. W. Thomas Johnson, Dec. 29, 1983. Also Dexter church program for Jan. 15, 1956, BUK10f10.

“sitting by”: MA, Jan. 18, 1956, p. 1.

rumor campaign: King Jr.,
Stride
, pp. 22-24.

“tough on us niggers”: Int. William McDonald, Dec. 29, 1983.

protect them from the goon squads: Virginia Durr, CRDPOH.

like the Durrs: Virginia Durr, A/OH; Durr,
Outside
, pp. 282-84.

“stays off the buses”: Ibid.

Carl Rowan: King Jr.,
Stride
, pp. 124-26. Also Yeakey, “Montgomery,” pp. 482-85, and Rowan,
Go South
, pp. 130-32.

betrayed him behind his back: King Jr.,
Stride
, p. 125.

a Holiness church: Minutes of the MIA Executive Board, Jan. 23, 1956, cited in Yeakey, “Montgomery,” p. 484.

all three names before midnight: Rev. B. F. Mosely, Baptist; Rev. W. K. Kinds, Presbyterian; and Rev. Bishop Rice, Holiness. Ibid.

“no noticeable increase”: MA, Jan. 24, 1956, pp. 1, 2-A.

“pussyfooted around”: Ibid.

“laughing at white people”: Ibid., p. 1.

“bunions and blisters”: Ibid.

offered his resignation: Minutes of the MIA Executive Board, Jan. 23, 1956, Hazel Gregory Papers, cited in Yeakey, “Montgomery,” p. 481.

“drink my portion”: Int. S. S. Seay, Sr., Dec. 20, 1983.

NAACP lawyers in New York: Gray to Robert L. Carter, Dec. 10, 1955, cited in Yeakey, “Montgomery,” p. 502.

Durr warned Gray: Clifford Durr, CRDPOH.

ticketed them anyway: King Jr.,
Stride
, p. 127. Also int. Rufus Lewis, Richmond Smiley, and Robert Williams.

seventeen tickets: Int. Jo Ann Robinson, Nov, 14, 1983.

too dictatorial: Int. Hazel Gregory, Dec. 22, 1983.

“Get out, King”: King Jr.,
Stride
, pp. 127-31.

seven mass meetings: King, “Our Struggle,”
Liberation
, April 1956, p. 5.

corps of drivers: Int. Robert Williams, Elliott Finley, and Richmond Smiley, Jr., Dec. 28, 1983.

“Listen, nigger”: King Jr.,
Stride
, p. 134.

“I've come to the point”: Ibid.

thank Roy Wilkins: King to Wilkins, Jan. 28, 1956, BUK8f14.

“transferred them stealthily”: Int. E. D. Nixon, Dec. 29, 1983, William Beasley, Dec. 20, 1983, and Rufus Lewis, June 8, 1983. Also King Jr.,
Stride
, pp. 83—84. Those interviewed are not certain beyond doubt that the emergency transfer into the church occurred that last Sunday in January, but they remember it as shortly after King's first arrest, as early in the boycott, or as about the time of the bombing.

“Come here, son”: King Jr.,
Strength
, pp. 125—26.

raw energy: Ibid.

“house has been bombed”: King Jr.,
Stride
, pp. 136-38. Also C. King,
My Life
, pp. 139-41; MA, Jan. 31, 1956, p. 1; Reddick,
Crusader
, pp. 134-36; N. W. Walton, “The Walking City: A History of the Montgomery Boycott,”
Negro History Bulletin
, Pt. I, October-November, 1956, p. 5; int. Richmond Smiley and Robert Williams.

“Don't get panicky”: King Jr.,
Stride
, p. 138, and MA, Jan. 31, 1956, p. 2-A.

“better to be a live dog”: C. King,
My Life
, p. 142. It is interesting that King's own version of the wake-up after the bombing in
Stride
, pp. 139-40, does not mention Daddy King. He wrote only of a visit from Coretta's father, while she wrote of both fathers.

to four cents: Donovan,
Eisenhower
, p. 385.

“nothing to do with that mess”: MA, Feb. 4, 1956, p. 1.

The police car: Rustin,
Down the Line
, p. 56.

white students rioted: Woodward,
Strange Career
, p. 155.

hundred-dollar bill: Irving Howe, “Reverberations in the North,”
Dissent
, Spring 1956, p. 122.

“it's oiled, it's greased”: Martin,
Deep South
, p. 39.

revoked his minister's deferment: MA, Feb. 8, 1956, p. 1.

Senator James Eastland: MA, Feb. 11, 1956, p. 1. Also Martin,
Deep South
, pp. 39ff.

impaneled a special grand jury: MA, Feb. 14, 1956, p. 1.

1921 statute: Yeakey, “Montgomery,” p. 516.

fingerprinted Fred Gray: MA, Feb, 19, 1956, p. 1.

“full scale racial war”: MA, Feb, 6, 1956.

still in Nashville: Int. Major Jones, March 7, 1984, and Paul Deats, Aug. 1, 1984.

Bayard Rustin: Rustin portrait drawn mainly from interviews with Rustin, Nov. 28, 1983, and Feb. 21, 1984. Also Meier and Rudwick,
CORE
, pp. 3-39, and Harrington,
Fragments
, pp. 68-69, 98-103; biographical sketch of Feb. 13, 1957, FR-NR, and other materials from the Rustin FBI file; int. James Farmer, Nov. 18, 1983, Michael Harrington, Oct. 27, 1983, Glenn Smiley, Nov. 14, 1983, and Irving Howe, Nov. 28, 1983.

Finn named August Yokinen: Howe,
Communist
, pp. 209-10. Also int. Bayard Rustin, Feb. 21, 1984.

“no retaliation whatsoever”: Yeakey, “Montgomery,” pp. 473-74.

“weather is warming up”: Ibid.

“cut off the head”: Int. Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, March 5, 1984.

“let's all go to jail!”: Int. S. S. Seay, Sr., Dec. 20, 1983.

only two voted to end: Yeakey, “Montgomery,” p. 475.

Abernathy formally notified: Ibid.

Rustin knocked: Rustin, “Montgomery Diary,”
Liberation
, April 1956, pp. 6-11.

raised the money: Raines,
My Soul
, p. 46.

phone to Nashville: King Jr.,
Stride
, p. 143.

securing a loan: Fulton County Deed Book 3089. p. 326.

self-description in church programs: For example, the Dexter church program of Jan. 8, 1956, BUK10f10, which states that Dr. King Sr. “is leading the Ebenezer Baptist Church in an expansion program which will exceed $200,000.”

opened his attack: King Jr.,
Stride
, p. 144.

115 Negroes had been indicted: MA, Feb. 22, 1956, p. 1.

there in the King home: King, Jr.,
Stride
, pp. 144—46.

“Well, here I am”: Rustin, “Montgomery Diary,” p. 8.

actually traded jokes: Reddick,
Crusader
, p. 136.

“no vaudeville show!”: Ibid.

loan of $5,000: Rustin to King, May 9, 1956, BUK8f34.

second consecutive night walk: Rustin, “Montgomery Diary,” pp. 8-9.

Le Figaro
: Int. Rev. Robert Graetz, and Glenn Smiley, Nov, 14, 1983. Also Rustin to King, March 8, 1956, BUK1f29.

“wouldn't be alive”: “Montgomery Diary,” p. 9.

twenty-fourth minister: MA, Feb. 24, 1956, p. 1.

five prayers: “Montgomery Diary,” p. 9.

thirty-five reporters: MA, Feb. 24, 1956, p. 1.

called John Swomley: Int. Glenn Smiley, Nov. 14, 1984.

Rustin attended Dexter: “Montgomery Diary,” p. 10.

history of the boycott: Rustin prepared an article on the origins of the boycott, which appeared under King's name as “Our Struggle,”
Liberation
, April 1956, p. 5. This was the first of many works for which King used collaborators or ghostwriters.

Coretta remembered: C. King,
My Life
, p. 148.

offering a reward: See Rustin to King, March 8, 1956, BUK1f29.

threatening to expose Rustin: Int. Glenn Smiley, Nov. 14, 1984, and Rev. Robert Graetz. Smiley says he heard this story through Swomley and Muste and later again from King. Graetz says he heard it at MIA meetings. Both identify the reporter as Emory Jackson of the Birmingham
World
. Jackson, a powerful figure in the Alabama NAACP, covered the boycott from its inception.

rather sad briefing: Int. Glenn Smiley, Nov. 14, 1984.

smuggled to Birmingham: Raines,
My Soul
, p. 48.

mild-mannered white Methodist: Int. Bayard Rustin, Nov. 28, 1983; James Lawson, Nov. 14, 1983; Glenn Smiley, Nov. 14, 1983.

“Don't bother me”: Int. Glenn Smiley, Nov. 14, 1983.