The photograph to the right of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was taken in Columbus, Georgia on July 1, 1958 at the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge. Saint James AME denied Dr. King's request to speak in their church because of the dangers and because of the political nature of King's message.

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The month prior was the end of the groundbreaking experience of the Little Rock Nine--the first blacks to be integrated at Central High in Little Rock Arkansas, compelled by the strong arm of President Eisenhower and the military. But Arkansas Judge Harry J. Lemley had decided to put an end to that integration for the following school year, 1958. A few days before coming to Columbus, Dr. King met with President Eisenhower at the White House protesting Lemley's actions. When he came to Columbus, GA, King used the opportunity to continue to criticize what Lemley was getting away with.

A bomb threat was called into the media on the eve of Dr. King's visit. As a result, security was beefed up around the Masonic Hall. Consequently, the bombers turned their wrath upon a local black woman who recently dared to buy a house in a white neighborhood. Mrs. Essie Mae Ellison bought the house at 2015 Fifth Avenue from a white woman, Mrs. Gibson Brooks. As soon as Mrs. Brooks sold the house to Mrs. Ellison in May, 1958, Mrs. Brooks began to get calls from a man identifying himself as Joe Musselwhite. Mr. Musselwhite said he was a real estate official who was going to punish Mrs. Brooks for selling her home to a black person. Mrs. Ellison reported that:



"there had been threats to blow up the negro Masonic Temple where the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke on the night of July 1. However," she continued, "police were believed to be guarding the Masonic temple, so I guess they decided to use the dynamite on me."



Mrs. Ellison's house was bombed shortly after midnight the night of Dr. King's visit. The glass from the windows in her bedroom shattered and landed all over her. After the bombing of the house, Mrs. Brooks received another call saying "the same thing could happen to your house."