Rev. Samuel B. McKinney, pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church, invited his friend and former classmate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to speak in Seattle in 1961. Dr. King arrived in Seattle on November 8, spoke at UW's Meany Hall and the Temple de Hirsch on November 9, and Garfield High School and the Eagles Auditorium on November 10. Afterward, at a reception at Plymouth Congregational Church, he called on President Kennedy to use an executive order to declare segregation unconstitutional, and urged people to use "creative protest" against segregation and racial discrimination.

Here, Rev. McKinney shakes hands with Coretta Scott King during Dr. and Mrs. King's 1961 visit to Seattle. Louise McKinney, Rev. McKinney's wife, looks on at right.

The black dress worn by Louise McKinney in this photo is now part of MOHAI's collection (2018.10.1).

Stamped on verso: Facts Photo Service, Seattle

Caption information source: 'Martin Luther King Jr. arrives for his only Seattle visit on November 8, 1961" by Mary T. Henry, HistoryLink.org Essay 673, retrieved at https://historylink.org/File/673