Written by
Dr. King, Martin Luther Jr., American, 1929 - 1968
Published by
New American Library, Inc., American, founded 1948
Subject of
Rock Rest Tourist Home, American, 1948 - 1976
Owned by
Sinclair, Clayton, American
Sinclair, Hazel, American
Date
1964
Medium
ink on paper (fiber product) and adhesive
Dimensions
H x W x D: 7 1/16 × 4 1/4 × 7/16 in. (18 × 10.8 × 1.1 cm)
Description
A soft cover copy of Why We Can't Wait by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The soft cover book has an adhesive binding. The front cover is white with a large black box dominating the top half of the cover. Inside the box is yellow and white text that reads [MARTIN / LUTHER / KING, Jr. / “Martin Luther King has made himself the unchallenged / voice of the Negro people – and the disquieting conscience / of the whites. That voice in turn has infused the Negroes / with the fiber that gives their revolution its stature.” / -TIME / EIGHT PAGES OF PHOTOGRAPHS]. Below is the box is the book title printed in large black text that reads [WHY WE / CAN’T / WAIT]. At the bottom of the cover, is additional small black text that reads [A SIGNET BOOK COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED]. In the top right corner, is the publisher logo: the name [SIGNET / BOOKS] printed around a black oval with the book price, [60¢] printed in the negative at the center. Above is the text [P2476]. Printed on the spine is the Signet logo, the title of the book, and the author’s name. The back cover is predominately white with black text. The text at the top reads, [WHY WE CAN'T WAIT / is / MARTIN LUTHER KING’S / explanation of the events, the forces, / the pressures behind today’s / - and tomorrow’s - / quest for civil rights.] At the center of the back cover is a black rectangular box with yellow text that reads, [IN THIS BOOK / FOR THE FIRST TIME / ? The complete, full-length text of Dr. King’s / famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail, in / which he answers the churchmen who criti- / cized him for “unwise and untimely” dem- / onstrations. / ? Dr. King’s personal assessment of the / pattern that the Negro Revolution will take / in the future – a chapter in which he spells / out clearly the full political implications of / the civil rights movement… especially in / an election year.]. Printed inside a thin rectangular frame on the bottom third of the back cover is a short biography of King. The publisher’s information is printed in black text at the bottom of the back cover that reads [PUBLISHED BY THE NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY]. The interior pages are white with black text. Contents include acknowledgments, an introduction, eight chapters, and an index. The chapter titles are [The Negro Revolution, why 1963?], [The Sword That Heals], [Bull Connor's Birmingham], [New Day in Birmingham], [Letter from Birmingham Jail], [Black and White Together], [The Summer of Our Discontent], and [The Days to Come]. The book has 159 pages and five pages of printed black-and-white photographs.
Place collected
Kittery, York County, Maine, United States, North and Central America
Place printed
New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
Collection title
The Rock Rest Tourist Home Collection
Classification
Books and Published Materials
Type
paperbacks
Topic
Activism
Black Enterprise
Black interiors
Civil rights
Race discrimination
Race relations
Resistance
Segregation
Travel
U.S. History, 1961-1969
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail, Inc.
Object number
2011.12.52.20
Restrictions & Rights
© Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd57a35324b-3c99-447d-a0ac-e2f7337bfbc5

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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