1505

Martin Luther King, Jr.s Mother Record

Currency:USD Category:Antiques Start Price:550.00 USD Estimated At:1,100.00 - 1,400.00 USD
Martin Luther King, Jr.s Mother Record
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Mother Records his Birth, Marriage and Death. A remarkable item: the personal bible of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Mother, Alberta containing her manuscript notes recording her famous son's birth, marriage ... and death. Her name written on decorative ownership leaf, believed in her own hand, "Alberta W. King, Feb. 23, 1962." In a four-page center section rubricated with a colorful mediæval floral motif, she has boldly penned details of her own marriage, births of her children (including "Martin Luther Jr., Jan. 15, 1929"), family marriages (including "Martin Luther Jr. to Coretta Scott, June 1953"), and deaths (including "Son Martin Luther, Jr., Apr. 4, 1968," and, taking up a different pen just a year later, "Son Alfred Daniel Wms. King, July 21, 1969"). The Holy Bible - Red Letter Edition - Containing the Old and New Testaments...Authorized King James Version. Color illustrations, 8 -1/2 x 9 -1/2 , full black soft leather, (1,524) pp. The Bible turned to by his mother upon the untimely deaths of two of her sons and then by his aunt following the death of Alberta. Understandably worn from use, cockling from old water damage, else in good condition, and a unique historical artifact. With choice, small studio portrait of Alberta King, by Kelly, Atlanta, the resemblance to her famous son striking. In original silver-accented Art Deco paper easel-frame. No date but c. 1960. Fine. "Memorandum" notepaper entirely in Alberta King's hand, inserted as bookmark, 3 -3/4 x 5 -3/4 , completely filled one side with personal notes, pencil and pen, including a list of people "Lillie & Howard King, Mae Bell Lowe, Carlotta..." and shopping list, "5 pr. Off White, 3 Bone, 3 pr. Navy, Seamless Stretch @ 69 ...." Stains and wear, scratches from trying to elicit ink from a balky ballpoint, but satisfactory. Newspaper article on King Day c. 1978 inserted, indicating Bible continued to be used by King's aunt, Woodie Brown, after Alberta's own untimely murder, shot in 1974 in her husband's church where she had been long-time organist and choir director, as she sat before the keyboard. Dramatically, on final endpaper of this Bible, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s aunt has penned, in a shaky hand, Proverbs 15-3: "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." This passage has been marked in ink in the text as well, having special meaning to her. Alberta King was a prime force behind the dynamism of Ebenezer Baptist Church, the spiritual home of her father, then husband, and from 1948, Martin Jr. rose to national prominence overnight when, in 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus. Within days, a new organization was born, the Montgomery Improvement Association, with Martin Jr. as its President. (Rosa Parks was far from being an obscure local citizen. At the time she stepped into history, she was a leading member of the NAACP, and "popular and highly respected"--encarta.msn.com. Interestingly, Alberta King's mother's maiden name was Parks. It is perhaps not a coincidence that Martin Luther King, Jr. was on hand, far from home, at the time she was arrested.) The civil rights movement rapidly gathered steam. While King was jailed in 1961, Presidential candidate Kennedy would call King's wife to show support; the 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech became a landmark in oratory; and in 1964, the first Civil Rights Act was signed, King winning the Nobel Peace Prize that same year. Alberta's role in molding the thinking and character of Martin Jr. cannot be overestimated. After Alberta King's passing, her possessions were moved to the home of Martin Jr.'s aunt, her sister-in-law. The King family subsequently abandoned the house and all contents, which were sold at municipal public auction. An American tragedy, ironically capturing the violent ends of a family dedicated to nonviolence.