Benjamin Hunt House and MLK Jr.

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The attached house at 753 Walnut Street once was the residence of Martin Luther King, Jr. He rented a room in the home of Benjamin Hunt from 1949 to 1951 while he was a student in seminary school near Philadelphia, on the opposite side of the Delaware River. Jeannette Lilly Hunt, the widow of the oldest Hunt son, Jethroe, was in her late teens at the time. Mrs. Hunt recalls King and another man boarding in the home; she owned the home in 2016. The house, vacant for decades, was saved from demolition and the family hoped to preserve it for its history. The City of Camden has recognized the house as historic; efforts are underway to list the house on the National Register. Title was transferred to Cooper's Ferry Partnership, who planned to install a new roof on the house in 2017. Mrs. Hunt had plans to sell the house in 2018. The house may become part museum and part some other function to be determined.

Images

Graphic of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (clipartpanda)

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Benjamin Hunt was born around 1900 in South Carolina. He was head of the household at another location in Camden in 1940, at 751 Kaighn Ave., a few blocks south of the 753 Walnut St. house. The African-American was employed in public emergency work as a laborer in "fire lane protection," possibly creating fire breaks through wooded areas. Mr. Hunt had attended school through second grade; he worked for wages and earned $620 in 1939 while working 40 weeks. The family rented their home for $20 per month. Benjamin's wife also was a South Carolina native, and was born in 1900 or 1901; the 39-year-old was not working in 1940. Five Hunt children completed the household in 1940: Jethroe (age 19); Mary (17); Sarah (14); Selma (7); and Benjamin (2). The three older children were born in South Carolina; the two younger Hunt children were born in New Jersey.

The Hunt family rented a different house in Camden in 1930, at 1003 S. 2nd St., for $25 per month. Mr. Hunt worked as a laborer, and both he and Mrs. Hunt could read and write; the couple had married ten years ago, at age 21. Their two elder children (then ages 8 and 9) were attending school; the younger two (ages 5 and 2) were not. Benjamin Hunt stopped renting and bought the house at 753 Walnut Street sometime in the 1940s.

Martin Luther King, Jr. ["King"] was a few years younger than Benjamin Hunt's second daughter, Sarah. In 1940, King was an 11-year-old, living in his parents' home on Auburn avenue in Atlanta, Georgia. His father, Martin Luther King, Sr., worked as a church pastor for about 60 hours per week, earning $2,500 in 52 weeks in 1939. The elder King was the same age as Benjamin Hunt but was born in Georgia in 1900. King's mother, Alberta, worked for 8 weeks in 1939 as a church pianist and music director. King was a 5th grader and shared the home with an older sister, Willie Christine (age 12, 6th grade), and little brother, Alfred (age 9, 3rd grade). King's maternal widowed grandmother, Jennie Williams (65), and widowed great-aunt, Ida Wortham (63) also lived in the house, as did a lodger, Carrie Rutland (44), who worked as a servant in a private home. The elder King owned his home, valued at $4,000.

King enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary at age 19 in 1948, located in Chester, just outside of Philadelphia. Relatives of Benjamin Hunt told of King renting a room in Benjamin's house at 753 Walnut St. beginning in late 1948, while King was a seminary student. The Reverend J. Pius Barbour, of Calvary Baptist Church, was King's mentor during the three years at Crozer. Another local influence on King was Reverend William H. Gray, Jr., who King met in 1949. King also audited courses at the University of Pennsylvania. In his autobiography, King wrote of heading into Philadelphia to hear a speech by the President of Howard University, Dr. Mordecai Johnson, at the Fellowship House at Broad and Girard Streets. Johnson spoke of his trip to India and the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi; King subsequently bought books by Gandhi. Some of these topics may have come up during dinner at the Benjamin Hunt home in Camden, with the Hunt family and a second seminary student boarder, Walter McCall. McCall was a cousin of Mr. Hunt, so likely was the person who arranged for the boarding. King and McCall shared a bedroom on the second floor at the back of the house.

King returned to the Philadelphia area many times over the years. He spoke at the American Baptist Convention in Philadelphia at Convention Hall in June 1957; later that year in December, he was guest of honor at the Christmas Cotillion of the New Jersey Links. In February 1959, King was honored at the National Freedom Day celebration at the Liberty Bell in Independence Hall.

Sources

Burney, Melanie. "Plans to put Camden house with ties to Martin Luther King up for sale." Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA) August 21st 2018.

Kelly, William E. New Life for Forgotten MLK Site in Camden. Camden Monthly. January 12th 2017.

Ross, Ashley. "A Camden Home With a Link to Martin Luther King Jr.." New York Times (New York, NY) January 15th 2017.

Turner, Diane. Martin Luther King's Philadelphia Connections, UShistory.org. Accessed January 11th 2021. https://www.ushistory.org/people/mlk_philadelphia.htm.

U.S. Census. Household of Benjamin Hunt at 1003 S. 2nd St., Camden District 20, N.J., Dwelling 307, Family 307 Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1930.

U.S. Census. Household of Benjamin Hunt at 751 Kaighn Ave., Camden Ward 7, N.J., Dwelling 127. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1940.

U.S. Census. Household of Martin L.[uther] King [Sr.] at 501 Auburn Ave., Atlanta Ward 5, GA, Dwelling 268. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1940.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

http://www.clipartpanda.com/clipart_images/martin-luther-king-71598626