At Canaan's Edge (163 page)

General Loan marched him: Karnow,
Vietnam,
pp. 462, 542; Braestrup,
Big Story,
pp. 347–49; Langguth,
Our Vietnam,
p. 475.

most decisive single drop: Oberdorfer,
Tet!,
pp. 161–71; McPherson,
Political,
pp. 424–25; Dallek,
Flawed,
pp. 505–6.

38: MEMPHIS

PAGE

Elvis Presley's escape: Goldman,
Elvis,
pp. 479–81.

Assistant Police Chief Henry Lux announced: MCA, Feb. 2, 1968, p. 1.

“Tell him I moved for him”: MCA, Feb. 3, 1968, p. 7.

P. J. Ciampa flew in for a stopover: Beifuss,
River,
pp. 29–30; P. J. Ciampa oral history, Feb. 3, 1972, pp. 3–8, MVC.

Blackburn politely withheld: Ibid.; Charles Blackburn oral history, May 29, 1968, pp. 5–14, MVC.

Loeb answered all fifty-four citizens: MCA, Feb. 2, 1968, p. 9.

two Public Works vans startled Jones: T. O. Jones oral history, Jan. 30, 1970, pp. 11–12, MVC.

Willie Crain's five-man crew: Beifuss,
River,
p. 30; Lewis,
King,
p. 378; “Garbage Truck Kills 2 Crewmen,” MCA, Feb. 2, 1968, p. 1.

city rules barred shelter stops: Honey,
Black Workers,
pp. 294–96, 302–5; Young,
Burden,
p. 449.

Television newscasts ignored them: News scripts, Memphis WMC-TV Channel Five, Feb. 1–3, 1968, MVC.

“fortress of discrimination”: “Women Mistreated at P.O., Says NAPE,”
Memphis Tri-State Defender,
Feb. 17, 1968, p. 1.

emphasized technical efforts: “Garbage Vehicles Suspended by City,” MCA, Feb. 3, 1968, p. 25.

“Tom's boy mus' be”: MCA, Feb. 2, 1968, p. 21.

“unclassified workers”: Beifuss,
River,
p. 30; McKnight,
Crusade,
p. 34; T. O. Jones oral history, Jan. 30, 1970, pp. 16–18, MVC.

pregnant widow Earline Walker: “Worker's Final Check Pays on His Funeral,”
Memphis Tri-State Defender,
Feb. 10, 1968, p. 1.

cheap burial across the Mississippi line: Int. Constance Cury, Feb. 16, 1993; Curry to the author with enclosed photographs, March 13, 1993.

“The Drum Major Instinct”: MLK sermon at Ebenezer, Feb. 4, 1968, A/KS11; Washington, ed.,
Testament,
p. 259ff; Carson and Holloran, eds.
Knock,
p. 165ff.

He freely adapted a sermon published: Miller,
Voice,
pp. 1–8; Lischer,
Preacher King,
pp. 99–100. No sources have yet come to light about King's attitude toward footnotes and attributions in formal scholarship, which might help explain the clear instances of plagiarism disclosed by 1990 in his 1954 doctoral dissertation at Boston University. As for the pulpit, however, some records do indicate that King viewed preaching to audiences as a collaborative art like improvisational jazz, and openly treated the words and rhetorical techniques of other orators as fair game in developing his repertoire. Cf. Miller,
Voice,
pp. 60–61; Warren,
King Came,
p. 134.

Yet Jesus in the Bible account: Mark 10:35–45.

“a conspicuous thread”: Branch,
Parting,
p. 183.

recording played at his funeral: King,
My Life,
pp. 343–45.

“bring back Hosea Williams”: Int. Hosea Williams, Oct. 29, 1991; int. Bernard Lafayette, March 22, 2005.

“a grand piece of psychological warfare”: Kotz and Kotz,
Passion,
pp. 248–49.

waited in the Chicago YMCA: SAC, Chicago, to Director, Feb. 5, 1968, FK-3207; NYT, Feb. 6, 1968, p. 28.

“jumped on Martin”: Kotz and Kotz,
Passion,
p. 252.

Bernard Lafayette rebelled: Int. Bernard Lafayette, May 28, 1990.

George Wiley: Kotz and Kotz,
Passion,
pp. 34–40, 53–59, 169–73, 238–42.

considered a position with SCLC: Wiretap transcript of telephone call between MLK and Stanley Levison, Sept. 9, 1967, FLNY-9-1057a.

Wiley soon wrote Young: Wiley to Young, March 25, 1968, A/SC40f3.

second nationwide mobilization: Hall,
Because,
pp. 62–64; Friedland,
Lift Up,
pp. 200–202; “Agenda for National Mobilization, February 5 & 6, 1968,” Series 3, Box 8, CALCAV, SCPC.

“absolutely unsupportable”: “Clerics Accuse U.S. of War Crimes,” NYT, Feb. 4, 1968, pp. 1, 6; Melman,
America, passim;
press release for Feb. 4, 1968, Series 3, Box 8, CAL CAV, SCPC, pp. 1–5.

protested the CALCAV mass meeting: NYT, Feb. 6, 1968, p. 15; WP, Feb. 6, 1968, p. B-1; FBI HQ LHM Feb. 6, 1968, FCLCV-15.

“to preserve freedom”:
Washington Evening Star,
Feb. 6, 1968, p. 1.

“hardening of the heart”: “In Whose Name?,” a CALCAV pamphlet of speeches delivered Feb. 5 and 6, 1968, CALCAV papers, SCPC, p. 8.

“Guerilla warfare in the ghettos”: Ibid., pp. 12–13.

Legal maneuvers intensified: “Clerics Rebuffed on a Protest Site,” NYT, Feb. 3, 1968, p. 5;
Washington Evening Star,
Feb. 6, 1968, p. 1; WP, Feb. 6, 1968, p. B-1; NYT, Feb. 6, 1968, p. 15.

Two rabbis rushed off: Int. Balfour Brickner, Feb. 4, 1991.

News stories translated: NYT, Feb. 7, 1968, p. 17; WP, Feb. 7, 1968, p. B-1; “Clergy in the Capitol,”
Christianity and Crisis,
March 4, 1968, pp. 36–37.

Book of Psalms: Mark 15:34 and Psalms 22:1.

King shuttled: SAC WFO to Director, Feb. 6, 1968, FK-3193; FBI HQ LHM dated Feb. 6, 1968, FCLCV-15.

laid aside the drafted speech: Int. Robert McAfee Brown, July 17, 1991; int. Barry Johnson, Jan. 4, 2005; MLK speech text released Feb. 6, 1968, Series 3, Box 8, CAL CAV, SCPC; press release correction [“The speech was
not
(repeat)
not
delivered”], Feb. 6, 1968, Series 3, Box 8, CALCAV, SCPC.

King spoke extemporaneously: Ibid.

“I said some time ago”: MLK remarks at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Feb. 6, 1968, A/KS10.

“seemed preoccupied with plans”:
Newsweek,
Feb. 19, 1968, p. 58.

William Sloane Coffin closed: “In Whose Name?,” a CALCAV pamphlet of speeches delivered Feb. 5 and 6, 1968, CALCAV papers, SCPC, pp. 15–20.

“You corrupted your wisdom”: Ezekiel 28:17.

Washington's Black United Front: NYT, Dec. 12, 1967, p. 14; NYT, Jan. 16, 1968, p. 22; Chuck Stone, “He Was Our Balm in Gilead,”
Philadelphia Daily News,
Jan. 16,1986.

digest of his strident comments: Marvin Watson to LBJ, Dec. 28, 1967, with attached FBI special memorandum, dated Dec. 15, 1967, Box 73B, OFMS, LBJ.

“SNCC/Black Power”: Hoover to Mildred Stegall, and Marvin Watson to LBJ, Aug. 23, 1967, with attached FBI monograph, “SNCC: Black Power,” Box 73B, OFMS, LBJ.

“commandos occupying the place”: Wiretap transcript of telephone call between Stanley Levison and William Rutherford, 10:30
P.M.
, Feb. 8, 1968, FLNY-9-1579a.

“serious tactical error”: Carmichael,
Ready,
pp. 646–50.

“Well, if you are against this”: Int. William Rutherford, Dec. 7, 2004; int. Jefferson Rogers, June 14, 2005. 690 banished the word “Negro”: NYT, Feb. 26, 1968, p. 31. 690 King berated them: Garrow,
Bearing,
p. 596.

“Martin got very upset”: Wiretap transcript of telephone call between Stanley Levison and William Rutherford, 10:30
P.M.
, Feb. 8, 1968, FLNY-9-1579a.

“And if I can leave you”: MLK rally speech, Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, Feb. 7, 1968, A/KS10.

self-interest of wealthy Americans: NYT, Feb. 8, 1968, p. 30.

nearly missed his national appearance: Int. Harry Belafonte, March 7, 1985.

sensitive transitions in media history: “Belafonte Power,”
Newsweek,
Feb. 19, 1968;
Tonight Show
notice for Feb. 8, 1968, A/KP4f17; Belafonte segment on CBS
60 Minutes,
Sept. 28, 1997; Dates and Barlow, eds.,
Split Image,
pp. 288–89.

signal tragedy in Orangeburg: Nelson and Bass,
Massacre, passim;
Sellers,
River,
pp. 208–28; Marsh,
Summer,
pp. 185–88.

“during a heavy exchange of gunfire”: Nelson and Bass,
Massacre,
pp. 99–105.

Two reporters would write: Ibid.,
passim.

Justice Department lawyers intervened: Ibid., pp. 115–18.

laconic sense of recovery: Paul Good, “The American Dream of Cleveland Sellers,”
New South,
Spring 1973; int. Cleveland Sellers, Dec. 14, 1983.

“Being locked up for something”: Sellers,
River,
p. 272.

“We demand that you act now”: Undated statement with MLK signature in the hand of Andrew Young, A/SC39f23.

three FBI agents hamstrung: Nelson and Bass,
Massacre,
pp. 168–70; Nelson,
Terror,
p. 88. Authors Nelson and Bass conclude that the agents likely were motivated by their desire not to have to testify against South Carolina law enforcement officials. Declassified documents also show that, within hours of the shooting, the FBI disseminated to the White House and other agencies false reports that the students precipitated the incident with gunfire: “Several Negroes, while fleeing, reportedly opened fire with handguns and one highway patrolman struck in face by object later determined not to be gunshot. Police guarding fire truck returned fire and three Negroes known to have been hit…. One Negro, who was shot, was reported to be Cleveland Louis Sellers, Jr…. He was later arrested by S.C. Law Enforcement Division.” FBI Director to LBJ, 4:00
A.M.
, Feb. 9, 1968, WH Confidential Files, Box 56, HU2/ST40, LBJ.

Saturday in Philadelphia: NYT, Feb. 11, 1968, p. 60.

“I throw this out to get us shocked”: “Action Committee Meeting,” Paschal's Motor Hotel, Feb. 11, 1968, A/KP34f15; Garrow,
Bearing,
p. 597; Fairclough,
Redeem,
p. 366.

$6.97 payroll deduction: Charles Blackburn oral history by Selma Lewis, Bill Thomas, and David Yellin, May 29, 1968, pp. 16–21, MVC.

“Well, the men want”: Beifuss,
River,
pp. 31–35.

“This was a strike”: Honey,
Black Workers,
pp. 293–98.

sanitation workers walked off: McKnight,
Crusade,
p. 34.

P. J. Ciampa dampened the euphoria: Beifuss,
River,
pp. 34–35; Goulden,
Wurf,
pp. 148–50.

“Let no one make a mistake”: “Loeb Issues Order to Stop Garbage Strike,” MCA, Feb. 13, 1968, p. 1.

second week of Tet rattled experts: Clifford,
Counsel,
pp. 476–77.

“I do not want to argue”: Notes of LBJ breakfast meeting with Democratic congressional leadership, Feb. 6, 1968, Box 2, Tom Johnson Papers, p. 4, LBJ; see also LBJ's discussion of the Byrd dissent with national security advisers the same day in FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 135ff.

“reinforcements at any time”: Westmoreland to Wheeler, Feb. 9, 1968, in FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 153ff.

“strange contradiction”: Notes of LBJ meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Feb. 9, 1968, Tom Johnson Papers, Box 2, p. 13, LBJ; “Johnson Says Foe's Raids Are a Failure Militarily,” NYT, Feb. 3, 1968, p. 1.

The Sunday war council puzzled: Notes of meeting, 4:25–6:15
P.M.
, Feb. 11, 1968, in FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 175ff.

back-channel exchanges with the Pentagon: Karnow,
Vietnam,
pp. 562–64; FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 153, footnotes 1–3.

“We are now in a new ball game”: Westmoreland to Sharp and Wheeler, Feb. 12, 1968, in FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 183ff.

President Johnson regathered his advisers: Notes of meeting, 1:45–3:08
P.M.
, Feb. 12, 1968, in FRUS, Vol. 6, p. 188ff. 694 News of the surprise escalation: “U.S. rushes 10,500 to Meet Threat of Vietnam Foe,” NYT, Feb. 14, 1968, p. 1.

“More exploding rockets”: “At Khesanh: Life on the Bullseye,” NYT, Feb. 13, 1968, p. 1; Library of America Anthology,
Reporting Vietnam,
p. 576ff.