Presents the texts of the letters, speeches, sermons, student papers, and articles of Martin Luther King, Jr. This title includes letters that the King wrote to his mother and father during his childhood.

Volume One contains many previously unpublished documents, beginning with childhood letters King wrote to his mother and father. Throughout this first volume are intimations of King's mature rhetorical talents, as in his 1945 letter to the Atlanta Constitution speaking out against white racism.