Martin Luther King, Jr.'S Handwritten Notes, Writings And Correspondence Realize $130,000+ At Heritage Auctions

Consigned by King's personal secretary, Maude Ballou, who worked closely with MLK through the early years of the struggle in the late 1950s; cited by King as a good friend; a portion of the auction proceeds will be donated to Alabama State University

NEW YORK — An unprecedented trove of material relating to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the most famous and influential name in America's storied Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s realized more than $130,000 on Oct. 17 at Heritage Auctions in New York as part of the company's Historical Manuscripts event.

The material, more than 100 artifacts in all, were consigned to auction after more than half a century in the possession of 88-year-old Maude Ballou, Martin Luther King Jr.'s close friend and personal secretary.

The grouping included including King's handwritten notes on eight cards containing the outline of his famed 'Dexter Avenue Church Farewell Address,' circa 1960, which realized $31,250 as the top lot of the archive.

Other highlights include two letters that King write to Ballou from India, one from Bangalore and another from Bombay, while King was in India studying the Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence. The letters brought $18,750 and $17,500, respectively, along with two autograph draft chapters from his first book, Stride Toward Freedom, chapters III and IX, which both realized equal prices of $8,125.

Martin Luther King, Jr., and Maude Ballou's "Distinguished NAACP Volunteer" cards, with a letter from the NAACP, realized $3,250.

'This was simply an unprecedented auction of amazing, evocative material that provides a ground-level perspective of the civil rights struggle,' said Sandra Palomino, Director of Historical Manuscripts at Heritage Auctions. 'There was worldwide interest in the material and the emotional response to it was huge.'