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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. John C. Bennett, Dr. Henry Steele Commager, Rabbi Abraham Heschel Speak on the War in Vietnam.
New York: Clergy and Laymen Concerned About the War in Viet Nam, 1967. 4to (10.75” x 8.25”), printed wrappers. 30 pp., 1 full-page portrait. With form letter from William Sloan Coffin. CONDITION: Very good, light wear to wrappers. Letter very good, top and right edges toned with a few short tears. An anti-Vietnam War booklet featuring two notable speeches of Martin Lither King, Jr. which brought him to the fore as an important voice in the movement. In October 1965, a group of 100 clergymen gathered in New York to consider how best to challenge U.S. policy in Vietnam. They believed that a broad, multi-faith coalition could lend credibility to antiwar activism often dismissed as Communist-inspired. Out of that meeting came the Clergy Concerned about Vietnam, with Martin Luther King, Jr., standing out as one of the few Black members and the only representative from the South. As the group expanded to include laypeople and adopted the new name National Emergency Committee of Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam (CALCAV), King became more deeply involved. He used its platform in April 1967 for his landmark “Beyond Vietnam” address, delivered at Riverside Church in New York City, in which he forcefully denounced the war. Earlier that year, on February 25th, 1967, King had delivered his first major antiwar address, “The Casualties of the War in Vietnam.” Determined that his message not be distorted, he turned to CALCAV to organize a high-profile public event. The group hired a publicist and drew over 3,000 people to Riverside Church on April 4th, where King made his most significant antiwar statement to date. CALCAV distributed 100,000 copies of the present publication, and King soon accepted an invitation to serve as co-chair of the organization. Included here are King’s “The Casualties of the War in Vietnam” and “Beyond Vietnam” as well as statements by Dr. Henry Steele Commager, Professor of American History at Amherst College; Dr. John C. Bennett, President, Union Theological Seminary, New York; and Rabbi Abraham Heschel, Professor of Ethics and Mysticism, Jewish Theological Seminary, New York; a “Questions & Answers” section, an interview with Dr. King, King’s comments on “NAACP Resolution April 12, 1967,” and letters to the editor first printed in the New York TImes. Tipped into the booklet is a form letter from Rev. William Sloane Coffin soliciting donations to CALCAV. REFERENCES: “Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam (CALCAV)” at Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute online.
Item #9635
Price: $375.00
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