Rare Martin Luther King Jr. Documents Pulled From Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Dec 14th 2008 at 10:29PM

Harry Belafonte was a friend of Martin Luther King Jr. and a follower of the civil rights movement but now Belafonte has come up against the King estate over King memorabilia that he was set to auction off at Sotheby's. The papers include a three-page handwritten draft of King's first anti-Vietnam war speech in 1967 and notes found in his suit pocket after his 1968 assassination. Belafonte said the papers were given to him by King and his late wife, Coretta Scott King, and that he was planning to donate the proceeds of the sale to charity. But the King estate blocked the sale of the papers, which were estimated to bring in up to 1.3 million dollars.

The estate believes the documents are "the property of the estate of Martin Luther King Jr" and were wrongly acquired. Belafonte withdrew the documents from auction. The Telegraph reports that the once-cordial relationship between the King family and Belafonte went wrong after the death of Mrs Scott King in 2006. Belafonte was asked to give the eulogy at her funeral but later was uninvited.

King's children have been at odds with each other over the estate's assets and have filed lawsuits against each other. In 2006, the King estate put 10,000 items from its collection up for public auction but withdrew them after a last-minute bid of 32 million dollars from the City of Atlanta to keep them at Morehouse College, King's alma mater.

Gallery: Documents At Auction

Tags: harry belafonte, HarryBelafonte, martin luther king jr, MartinLutherKingJr

Filed under: Auctions

Source

Subscribe to these comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

ajm33771 Dec 16th 2008 6:31AM

Hmm, makes one wonder how the fight between the Robin Da' Hood daughters will fare when they are of adult age clawing at each others face over his legacy? MONEY is a wicked thAng for families when it gets down to the nitty gritty.

tecequip1 Dec 16th 2008 6:38AM

WHATEVER

Laura Dec 16th 2008 7:13AM

Unfortunatly this happens when you have greedy children. It seems to happen more often then less. Sometimes it can actually ruin a family...

Benn There Dec 16th 2008 11:50AM

It only takes ONE greedy child in the family to cause a stir like this, and everything goes upside down. It happens all the time after a death in the family and 'entitlement' rears it's ugly head.

Beverly Dec 16th 2008 7:19AM

I must admit, that when there is money involved it will bring the worst out in people. Makes no difference if that person was famous or not. Rev. Dr. King was one of those people who did not want any fighting. Nada. So makes one wonder, did his family really love him or was it for his money?

Sharon H. Dec 16th 2008 7:32AM

It's a shame how the kids are acting. For years I have seen a ad on T.V. about donating to a fund for a memorial for Dr. King. I would not give anything to this fund. I guess greed and money really rule them.

J.Johnson Dec 16th 2008 7:52AM

The King kids are greedy and selfish. That's why you need to express in writing who is to get what, who to run what, and who should drop dead.

Children. You should love all of them evenly but you don't have to like all of them evenly!

jim Dec 16th 2008 7:55AM

Free at last, huh? Good God, almighty. What a sad day

ERN Dec 16th 2008 7:54AM

Dr. King spent to much time trying to teach America "how to act". He should have taught his own kids.

mntdw02 Dec 16th 2008 9:19AM

Dear moron, I'm sure he would have loved to teach his children but he was killed before he could!!!
The oldest was 12 and the youngest was 5.

Terri Dec 16th 2008 11:16AM

Ummm...he died when they were VERY young.

good parents have ? kids Dec 16th 2008 11:23AM

ERN,
Do you have kids? If you don't then save it if you do let me tell you they grow up to be adults and the choices they make often times have nothing to do with how they have been raised. Thank God for Martin!!! Here is a little something for you ....Rosa sit down so Martin could walk Martin walked so Obama could run Obama ran so I kids could fly. Judge thee not unless thee be judged

Thistle Princess Dec 16th 2008 1:40PM

MNTdw02, 12 yrs is not too young, children start learning from their parents from the moment they are born; Besides they also had their mother and other family members to learn from. Parents are not the only source to teach you right from wrong, they attended church, they went to school,they participated in society. Anyone who has common sense would know better, It's just plain greed. their father would have been so dissapointed at what kind of adults his offspring have turn out to be, divided and filled with greed.

Tony Dec 16th 2008 2:12PM

Another moron rears his dumb head.

Tim Dec 16th 2008 7:56AM

Maybe O.J. will go there and "steal them back". Oh, he's preoccupied at the moment, I forgot.

T.H. Dec 16th 2008 2:24PM

That was good

yaya Dec 16th 2008 8:02AM

Sadly, this appears to be proof positive that the Kings, as well as the Jacksons, Sharptons, et al, do nothing more than perpetuate hate and conflict, despite their "Foundations" purported goals. True Colors flying, in-fighting at the family level points to the real intent behind. Nothing keeps full the Foundation Coffers more than discord among the races. Worse, it keeps the masses from keeping an eye on what the Electeds are up to. If your too busy fighting each other, how can you? Harry, dig in and sit tight. Those papers are yours.