David S King was a leader of the Massachusetts unit of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) during the 1960s. He was very active in the civil rights movement, and was arrested and sent to jail during a protest in Williamston, N.C. King was a chaplain at Amherst College and later became an Associate Pastor at the First Congregational Church. In addition, he founded the Laymen's Academy Oecuminical Studies (LAOS), which encouraged people to act upon their religious faith in their everyday lives and occupations. Collection includes around 80 items, dated 1963 to 1968, that document events surrounding Rev. David S. King and his part in the civil rights movement. Items include letters to King while he was in jail and leading up to his arrest during a protest in Williamston, North Carolina in 1963. There are many letters and drawings from second and third graders at the Russell School in Pittsfield, Mass. Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) circular letters and press releases are present as well. In addition, there are numerous membership lists with contact information and clippings of articles about civil rights activities in Amherst, Mass. and Williamston, N.C. Other materials include a civil rights fact sheet, laws against housing discrimination, and a map of congressional districts in North Carolina.
