256

Martin Luther King, Jr

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:5,000.00 - 7,000.00 USD
Martin Luther King, Jr

Bidding Over

The auction is over for this lot.
The auctioneer wasn't accepting online bids for this lot.

Contact the auctioneer for information on the auction results.

Search for other lots to bid on...
Auction Date:2014 Feb 12 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
TLS signed “Martin,” two pages, 7 x 10.25, personal Ebenezer Baptist Church letterhead, December 20, 1960. Letter to Sammy Davis, Jr. In full: “I have been meaning to write you for quite some time. A sojourn in jail and a trip to Nigeria among other tasks have kept be [sic] behind. When I solicited your help for our struggle almost two months ago, I did not expect so creative and fulsome a response. All of us are inspired by your wonderful support and the Committee is busily engaged in the preparations for January 27th. I hope I can convey our appreciation to you with the warmth which we feel it.

In the midst of one of my usual crowded sojourns in New York, I had the opportunity to hear the play, ‘Kicks and Co.’ by Oscar Brown at the invitation of the Nemiroffs, at whose home I have previously been a guest. I learned of your interest in it and I am deeply pleased. To my knowledge, rarely has there come upon the American scene a work which so perceptively mirrors the conflict of soul, the moral choices that confront our people, both Negro and white, in these fateful times. And yet a work which is at the same time, so light of touch, entertaining—and thereby all the more persuasive.

Art can move and alter people in subtle ways because, like love, it speaks through and to the heart. This young man's work will, in its own special way, affect the conscience of vast numbers with the moral force and vigor of our young people. And coming as it does from a source so eminently influential as yourself, it will be both an inspiration and a sustenance to us all. In that context, let me share with you again my appreciation for the motives and the wisdom that have led you to it.” Matted and framed with a portrait of King and Davis sharing a laugh to an overall size of 21 x 27. In fine condition, with a staple hole to top left corner of each page. Provenance: The Estate of Sammy Davis, Jr.

On October 25, 1960, after a judge ruled that his participation in an Atlanta sit-in demonstration was a violation of his suspended sentence from a previous traffic violation, Martin Luther King was ordered to serve four months in prison. He was released two days later in great part due to heavy pressure from the Kennedys, who publically protested his jailing (incidentally helping JFK secure the black vote and, in turn, his presidential election). Having reached out to Davis prior to his arrest for his support, King thanks the crooner for his “creative and fulsome response.” Along with the rest of the Rat Pack, Davis agreed to perform at Carnegie Hall in a January 27th benefit show honoring King, with the proceeds going to the Southern Leadership Conference ‘in its fight for desegregation.’ With an additional gushing review of the musical ‘Kicks & Co.,’ co-produced by Robert Barron Nemiroff, King shows his deep respect for the power of artistic work, which can affect “the conscience of vast numbers with the moral force and vigor of our young people.” An absolutely remarkable letter from one legend to another, uniting King’s fight for desegregation with Davis’s passionate use of his popularity to draw attention to such a worthy cause. Oversized.