A set of approximately 25 Martin Luther King Jr. documents - unknown to King scholars - has emerged, and an auction is planned. The AP reports "The collection had sat in the basement of a King friend for nearly 40 years. The woman said she got the papers in a debt settlement with a radio station connected to King, according to Gallery 63 in Atlanta, which is hosting the April 15 auction."
The King Center's president, Isaac Newton Farris, told the AP "Unless the woman has documentation that the papers were given to her, they are owned by the King Estate. We're moving forward to get as much information as we can about that."
Gallery 63 officials say they've received multiple inquiries about the collection - which consists of "first drafts of speeches and letters to and from King, all dating from the early to mid-1960s" - from institutional repositories as well as major collectors.
Today marks the 39th anniversary of Dr. King's assassination.
