The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change
Fellowship House
Founded in 1931 as the Young People’s Interracial Fellowship of Philadelphia, Fellowship House is an interracial and inter-religious community center with Quaker roots. In the spring of 1950, while a student at Crozer Seminary, Dr. King heard Howard University President Mordecai Johnson speak about Mahatma Gandhi at Fellowship House. He was so profoundly moved that he bought “a half-dozen books” about the Indian nonviolent revolutionary. As an advocacy organization, Fellowship House was active in the Civil Rights Movement. It was the center of controversy in the summer of 1965, having arranged a two-day visit to Philadelphia by Dr. King. The planned visit angered the president of the local NAACP. Negotiations followed cancellation of the tour. King made the trip, stopping at Girard College where the NAACP was leading protests against the school’s refusal to admit blacks. He also addressed a breakfast meeting at Fellowship House, the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and several rallies.
Associated Archive Content : 7 results
Letter from Ludwig Meyer to MLKLudwig Meyer, Chairman of the Frankford Friends Meeting's Forum Committee, invites Dr. King to speak at his organization. Meyer states that if the date of the event is not convenient, he would like Coretta Scott King to be present. |
Letter from Ruth A. Salinger to MLKSalinger requests that Dr. King provide contact information for civil rights leaders along the route of a scheduled trip to study race relations to be taken by high school students from the church communities of Concord, Massachusetts. |
Letter from Ruth Decker to MLKRuth Decker acknowledges her complete support to organizations such as the Southern Conference Education Fund and the Fellowship of Reconciliation. She encloses a generous gift to Dr. King to aid in his struggle for peace and compares his dilemma to Gandhi's situation. |
Letter from Thomas K. Gilhool to MLKThe Fellowship House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania invites Dr. King to be a speaker at a dinner honoring Marjorie Penney for her 35 years of service as Director. |
Letter from W. A. Rutherford to James OrangeMr. Rutherford encourages Reverend Orange to be patient regarding his request for a raise, which must receive Dr. King's final approval. |
People-to-People Tour: PhiladelphiaThis itinerary details Dr. King's schedule during his stay in Philadelphia. |
Telegram from Thomas K. Gilmool and David N. Wice to Dora McDonaldMr. Gilmool and Mr. Wice write to confirm the date that Dr. King will be speaking at a dinner honoring Marjorie Penney. |