Collection of Ephemera From Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Mainly Dating From the Pastorate of Martin Luther King Sr.
Atlanta, Georgia: 1970 to 1995. A collection of approximately 52 ephemeral items, including newsletters, programs, and flyers, issued by Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta between 1970 and 1995. Ebenezer Baptist is the historic African American church where Martin Luther King Sr. served as pastor between 1931 and 1975, and Martin Luther King Jr. served as co-pastor between 1960 and 1968 (the latter's funeral was also held at the church). Much of the included ephemera dates from MLK Sr's pastorate, and provides insight into the legacy and memorialization of MLK Jr. at the church, as well as the church's transition into the television era. Overall in good to very good condition, some items with creasing, soiling, and/or tearing.
The collection includes 21 issues, each 8 pp, of a weekly newsletter or program distributed each Sunday at the church, dating from 1972 to 1975. Each program lists Martin Luther King Sr. as pastor, both on the front, and within a church directory printed on the back of each program. The newsletters contain program of Sunday worship, lists of hymns (plus some of the hymns themselves), a weekly schedule of church events, lists of new members as well as sick and shut in members, words of appreciation submitted by members, memorials to deceased members, and more. One issue contains a blurb warning young people against skipping Sunday school ("Lost: Young man, carefully reared, not long from home and for a time he showed promise"). Another program contains a "prayer for retarded persons", and a program from 1975 contains a schedule of events in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 46th birthday. Two of the programs contain supplemental flyers laid in.
Also included are eight souvenir programs for events held at the church. Includes church anniversary programs from 1973, 1975, and 1976, printing histories of the church focusing in part on Martin Luther King Jr., his legacy, and the King family's civil rights achievements. The 1975 program contains dedication text to Mr. and Mrs. Martin Luther King Sr. There are also programs for annual Men's Day observances held in 1972, 1980, and 1990, and for a Women's Day celebration held in 1971. Perhaps most significant is a "Program of Events in Celebration of The Fiftieth Birthday Anniversary of the Revered Doctor Martin Luther King Jr." This quarto program runs to 40 pages, and was also issued to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Social Change, which was presided over by Coretta Scott King. The program reprints letters of greeting sent to Coretta Scott King by President Carter and other figures, and contains programs of events, including a "Seminar on Dr. King and the Social Ministry," as well as a memorial hymn for Dr. King, and a page of text dedicating the center's 1979 Nonviolent Peace Prize to President Carter.
Other items include: a 21 page mimeographed church annual report for 1978, including much on church finances and recommendations for the upcoming year; a booklet printing the 1985 roster of the church's Woman's Missionary Union; a program from a 1970 children's chapel service; 12 programs, mostly single sided leaflets, for Ebenezer Baptist Church TV Services held between 1971 and 1973, presided over by Martin Luther King Sr. and featuring music by the M.L. King Choir; a 1994 memorial program and four 1990s Sunday worship programs; and a series of hymn sheets. Item #11530
Price: $3,250.00