Emory University to Receive the Archives of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Last December, Emory University announced that it would be the repository for the papers of African-American literary icon Alice Walker.

Now Emory has scored a second coup. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) has announced that it will donate 1,100 boxes of documents from the organization’s files.

SCLC was established in 1957 by Martin Luther King Jr. and other black religious leaders in New Orleans. The group’s sole purpose was to advance the cause of racial equality in the United States.

The donated files include letters, speech drafts, press releases, memoranda, membership records, and other printed materials. There are also numerous photographs, audio recordings, and videotapes. Among the documents are thousands of sympathy cards received from people across the nation following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

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