The Martin Luther King, Jr., FBI File
- Location: McKeldin Library
Call Number: Microfilm E185.97.K5M268 - edited by David J. Garrow.
(16 reels)
Description
This collection is a heavily censored reproduction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's file on Martin Luther King, Jr.
Roughly chronological order.
This is a collection of about 17,000 pages of material concerning Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. which was collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The F.B.I. released these materials in compliance with a Freedom of Information Act filing. While they contain a tremendous number of useful documents about Dr. King, this is still, in many ways, a very incomplete collection.
The Freedom of Information Act can compel federal agencies to release materials to the public; however, the FOIA also allows, even requires, an issuing agency to withhold certain categories of sensitive information. As a result, the F.B.I. withheld a good deal of information when it released Dr. King's file. Many of the pages in this collection have massive amounts of material blotted out with heavy black ink. Additionally, many whole pages of material have been completely removed. Missing pages have each been replaced by an F.B.I. "FOIPA Deleted Page Information Sheet," which cryptically explains the page's absence.
Deletions fit into several categories. First, the F.B.I. was authorized to delete any material related solely to its own internal rules and practices. Also it was allowed to delete any records which would invade someone's personal privacy or any material which would reveal the identity of any confidential source of information. Additionally, as a result of a 1977 court order, all recordings, transcripts of recordings or descriptions of recordings which originated with F.B.I. wiretaps on Martin Luther King have been removed from the jurisdiction of the F.B.I. They were handed over to the National Archives under a court order directing that these materials remain confidential for fifty years, till the year 2027.
As for the arrangement of the materials in this collection, the sixteen reels which comprise it are organized into three main sections. Reels 1 through 14 and part of reel 15 are referred to as the "Main File." This part of the F.B.I. file on Martin Luther King is divided into 104 sections. The materials in the "Main File" are a miscellany of memos, correspondence, logs, reports, press clippings, etc. filmed in roughly chronological order, starting in 1958 and continuing through 1977.
Towards the end of reel 15 two further sections of this collection are reproduced. Together these two sections, also organized in roughly chronological order, are referred to as "June Mail." These sections were originally filed separately from materials in the "Main File." Their contents cover a period starting in 1963 and primarily include documents concerning the day to day logistics of maintaining wiretap surveillance on Dr.King.
The last section of this collection is contained on reel 16. It is a chronologically organized collection of newspaper clippings concerning Martin Luther King. It starts in 1958 and concludes in early 1977.
The index to this collection is pretty sketchy. In fairness to the compiler, though, so much of the material in this collection is of such a fragmentary nature that production of a more comprehensive index would have been an enormous undertaking.
Essentially, the index to The Martin Luther King, Jr., FBI File is a short pamphlet which provides the user with little more than a rough contents list. It does tell you which chronological section of this collection can be found on which reel of microfilm but subject descriptions, such as they are, are extremely broad. When you look in the index you are referred to the appropriate microfilm reel and the number of the frame on that reel where the period you are interested in begins. Numbers for each frame appear in a black border which runs along the top edge of each reel of microfilm.
Index/Guide
The following source provides more detailed information about the contents of each microfilm reel in the collection:
- MCK REF E185.95.K5M268 INDEX
- The Martin Luther King, Jr., FBI File. compiled by Robert Lester.
