AN AMAZING ASSOCIATION FIRST EDITION ‘STRENGTH TO LOVE’ BOOK SIGNED BY  MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. TO CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS,  ARTHUR AND MARIAN  LOGAN.

First edition of Dr. King’s second book, Strength to Love. New York: Harper & Row, [1963], of which Coretta Scott King noted, “If there is one book Martin Luther King, Jr. has written that people consistently tell me has changed their lives, it is Strength to Love. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper,  “Best Wishes Martin Luther King.” Fine and in a very good dust jacket with light rubbing and a few small closed tears. Rare and desirable edition signed  by Dr. King. Strength to Love was Martin Luther King’s first volume of sermons, published the same year in which he penned his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, joined the historic March on Washington and delivered his famous I have a dream speech. The following year he won the Nobel Peace Prize. King notes in the preface: In these turbulent days of uncertainty the evils of war and of economic and racial injustice threaten the very survival of the human race. Indeed, we live in a day of grave crisis. The sermons in this volume have the present crisis as their background; and they have been selected for this volume because, in one way or another, they deal with the personal and collective problems that the crisis presents.” Coretta Scott King said about this book that it “best explains the central element of Martin Luther King, Jr.’ s philosophy of nonviolence: His belief in a divine, loving presence that binds all life. By reaching into and beyond ourselves and tapping the transcendent moral ethic of love, we shall overcome these evils.”.

Provenance:
Arthur & Marian Logan;By descent in the family. Originally a cabaret singer, Marian Bruce Logan (1920-1993) became a civil rights activist. Marian Logan’s friendship with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King began when Marian raised over one thousand dollars to buy food and entertainment for those participating in the diner sit-in protests and those who had been arrested doing so.

After her successful efforts in that cause, Dr. King approached Marian and asked her to help him with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in a similar way. She agreed and soon became the first Northern member of the board of directors of the SCLC.

The Kings and the Logans became good friends, with Dr. King often stopping by the Logans’ house whenever he was in New York City.

When Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize, Marian accompanied him to Oslo, Norway. One of the copies of his Nobel Lecture in the University of South Carolina ‘Marian Bruce Logan Collection of Civil Rights Collection’ shows some correction notes in Marian’s handwriting, which indicates she may have helped King edit and refine his lecture.

After Dr. King’s assassination in 1968, Marian continued work with the SCLC until 1969, when she resigned from the board, stating that she felt they were no longer following the path down which Dr. King had led them.