Martin Luther King Jr. handwritten 'we shall overcome' speech draws $382K

MEMPHIS — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the iconic civil rights movement phrase "we shall overcome" to end a 20-page speech purchased by Memphis philanthropist Avron B. Fogelman, according to a New Jersey auction company.

The original speech King delivered July 6, 1965, in Chicago at the General Synod of the United Church of Christ sold for $382,000, Goldin Auctions reported Wednesday.

The speech had been estimated to bring $500,000 or more and its previous owner had turned down $5 million for it, the auction company said. It drew five bids at the firm's 70th anniversary Jackie Robinson auction raising funds for the Jackie Robinson Foundation.

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While typewritten, most of the final page of the speech, on the church's role in the civil rights movement, was handwritten by King.

A news release by Goldin Auctions said the speech "marked the first time Dr. King uttered those famous words that inspired the civil rights movement." However, on Feb. 26, 1965, King used the phrase in Los Angeles a sermon at Temple Israel in Hollywood.

The Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tenn., played an important role in making the song We Shall Overcome a standard for the civil rights movement, according to USA Today and National Public Radio.

Fogelman, a retired Memphis real estate developer and former owner of the Kansas City Royals, is a resident of Memphis and Boca Raton, Fla., the auction company reported.

King was assassinated in Memphis at the Lorraine Motel, now the National Civil Rights Museum, on April 4, 1968.

Follow Kevin McKenzie on Twitter: @KMcknz