policedogs

Martin Luther King Jr. in St. Augustine, Florida

from Florida Memory

• 1 older comment, and then…
• Florida Memory said:

  King played a significant role in organizing the Civil Rights Movement in the South. His most important contributions to the struggle in Florida occurred in St. Augustine in the summer of 1964. On June 11, 1964, Dr. King and several other activists were arrested for attempting to integrate the Monson Motor Lodge. When interviewed during his brief incarceration, King pledged to challenge segregation in St. Augustine "even if it takes all summer." Dan R. Warren, State Attorney for the Seventh Judicial Circuit, convened a Grand Jury to hear King's perspective on the situation in the Ancient City. This photograph shows Dr. King in the backseat of a highway patrol car with a police dog, moments after he testified before the Grand Jury about segregation in St. Augustine, a city he referred to as the "most segregated" in America. Quotes attributed to King appear in Dan R. Warren, If It Takes All Summer: Martin Luther King, the KKK, and States' Rights in St. Augustine, 1964 (University of Alabama, 2008).

• grytlappar said:

  I love seeing him with the doggy! They seem to be great pals. I'm wondering what the handwriting says – I can make out "with great respect" but that's about it.

• thelightinlife said:

  grytlappar looks like it MIGHT be / contain: "To ? Toby ? xxxxxxxxx? With great respect and Warm Pos.....? xxx? ? Martin Luther King" @floridamemory can you clarify?

• thelightinlife said:

  Florida Memory thank you for sharing - can you clarify the inscription?

• Florida Memory said:

  thelightinlife The best we can tell is: To Toby Simon/ With great respect and warm personal regards/ Martin Luther King