David Morath worked on staff at Emmaus House from September 1970 until August 1972. The letters in this collection — from David to his parents in Westminster, Maryland — were saved by his mother, who died in 2002. Rich with descriptions of neighborhood conditions, welfare rights meetings, and staff activities, the Morath letters provide a glimpse in to the day-to-day experience of working for social change in the urban South. In his 2007 reflections, David noted the impact of this work experience on his career choice:
As a young, somewhat naive conscientious objector from Baltimore, I had much to learn when I arrived in Atlanta. Seeing the difficulties of people with limited literacy skills shifted the focus of my teaching career. I wound up working as a literacy specialist and working in federal programs for the disadvantaged.
The David Morath papers will be permanently preserved at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History.
