TLS as president, one page, 7 x 10.5, White House letterhead, January 16, 1964. Letter to former West Point football coach Earl Blaik, who was a mediator in Birmingham at the request of John F. Kennedy. In full, “I have the letter in which you and Mr. Royall advised that in your opinion there is no need for you to return to Birmingham and recommend that your Committee and assignment terminated. I am pleased that it is your judgement that the situation in Birmingham is such that further visits on your part are not deemed necessary. If I recall correctly, the major purpose of your assignment was to provide a means whereby communications between the white and Negro communities could be facilitated. This is, of course, vital and I hope that your presence in Birmingham achieved this basic goal and that through an earnest desire on the part of all citizens of Birmingham to meet the special problems of minority groups genuine and lasting process can continue to be made. Your willingness to have undertaken this important and delicate assignment is deeply appreciated.” A light horizontal mailing fold affecting tops of a couple letters of signature, otherwise very fine condition. On September 19, 1963, just days after a bomb killed four girls as they prepared for a church service and barely three weeks after the March on Washington, Martin Luther King went to Washington with other black leaders of Birmingham to talk to President Kennedy. The bombing, the latest in a rash of violence, had brought Birmingham to the edge of anarchy. King came to ask for federal help in protecting black citizens of Birmingham from further violence. Kennedy, however, had already decided against federal action and had instead appointed former Secretary of the Army Kenneth Royall and former West Point football coach Earl Blaik to go to Birmingham to mediate the crisis. Kennedy announced their mission just before meeting with King and the other leaders. King, although disappointed, endorsed Blaik and Royall’s mission in a press conference immediately after the meeting. LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
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