Melvin Watson, 98, Mentor to M.L. King
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The Reverend Melvin H.Watson, who helped train Martin Luther King Jr., and other civil rights leaders, died June 19 in an Atlanta hospital. He was 98.
As senior pastor of Liberty Baptist Church in Atlanta and a religion professor at Morehouse College, Watson exerted a quiet but important influence.
Many of his students became civil rights leaders. When King was studying at Boston University and pastoring at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, he turned to Watson for advice.
In a series of letters, Watson critiqued King’s views of socialism and philosophy and recommended books to read, Watson’s son-in-law, Walter Fluker said.
