8 December 1959
[Montgomery, Ala.]
Chief Luthuli
Groutville, Natal
SOUTH AFRICA
Dear Chief Luthuli:
My good friend Dr. McLeod Bryan wrote me the other day and said he had an opportunity to talk with you when he was in South Africa. He spoke of you in very glowing and warm terms. In fact, he said one of the greatest experiences he has had in all of Africa came when he spent those creative moments with you. May I say that I too have admired you tremendously from a distance. I only regret that circumstances and spacial divisions have made it impossible for us to meet. But I admire your great witness and your dedication to the cause of freedom and human dignity. You have stood amid persecution, abuse, and oppression with a dignity and calmness of spirit seldom paralleled in human history. One day all of Africa will be proud of your achievements.
Dr. Bryant mentioned to me that you are interested in having copies of my book, Stride Toward Freedom. I am sending you, under separate cover, one copy of my book, and if you are desirous of having additional copies please feel free to write me and I will be more than happy to send them. I will appreciate knowing whether you receive this copy alright.
You have my prayers and best wishes in the days ahead.
Very sincerely yours,
Martin L. King, Jr.
From: Clayborne Carson (ed.), The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Volume 5, ( University of California Press , 2005), pages 344-45