A Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorabilia, sold on July 8 2023

[satyanarayan sharma]

There are so many auctioners—over one hundred. Sotheby's (estb. 1744), Christe's (1766), and Phillips (1796) are on top. A new entry in the galaxy is Heritage Auctions (1976). About 230+ items are related here to Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. The sold historical memorabilia is related to a telegram from the late US President John F. Kennedy to A. (Asa) Philip Randolph (1889-1979), a civil rights activist. Randolph is regarded as the spiritual father of the Afro-American (Black) movement, which he started in 1911 and worked until  his death.

The telegram is a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It has two drafts. The first is dated January 27, 1961, and has been typed on blue-colored White House telegram stationery. It contains handwritten corrections, likely in the hand of Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln. 

The second draft is typed on a plain white sheet of paper. It is undated, but appears to be corrected on the same day, i.e., January 27, 1961.

According to the seller's record, it contains handwritten corrections by President Kennedy. One of Kenneddy's revisions was to remove a comparison between Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, as well as between King and Henry David Thoreau. 

A third typescript is also included: a letter from Evelyn Lincoln to Kennediyana collector Robert L. White, dated July 16, 1990, in which Lincoln describes two drafts and how Kennedy made and dictated the revisions.

Lastly, three additional sheets are included, which offer the seller's description of the letters, complete transcriptions, and hisorical background.

The unaltered telegram reads: '' Please convey my best wishes to those meeting to pay tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King. I share the high regard you all have for Dr. King.

'' Every nation needs men of conviction and courage to stir the conscience. Acting in the tradition of India's Gandhi and our own Henry Thoreau, Martin Luther King has stirred the nation

''Inevitably this involves some tension—but it is acreative tension that goes with all change. It is part of our national process of persuation.

'' By his nonviolent and symbolic actions, Dr. King is challenging us to carry out in practice the truth we preached, that all men are created equal and are endowed with certain inalienable rights. ''.