WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)

Description

In this series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips from a press conference held in Atlanta, Georgia on July 26, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. responds to charges that the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) employee Jack O'Dell is involved in the Communist movement. The clip's audio is inconsistent and some statements may not be recorded completely.The clip begins with a silent portion in which Dr. King is seen with SCLC leaders, Reverends Ralph D. Abernathy and Wyatt T. Walker as well as reporters who are taking notes. Reverend Walker appears to take notes, and King appears to be speaking while a photographer takes pictures. A car, possibly from a news station, appears through the window with two African Americans standing beside it. An unidentified man off-screen comments on someone helping the organization with public relations; the comments are incompletely recorded. Next King appears to answer a question about Jack O'Dell, an African American who worked for the SCLC for a time and was accused of Communist connections. King reports that SCLC has not employed O'Dell since June 26 of that year after a meeting held with eight members of the organization's executive committee. King also states that someone, presumably O'Dell, "took the fifth amendment" when he appeared before a Senate committee meeting held in New Orleans. In response to a reporter's question, King confirms that O'Dell is the only person who has been involved with the SCLC who has been called before a congressional committee investigating Communist influences. He emphasizes...

Record Contributed By

Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia