Church Service Booklet Signed by Martin Luther King Jr After Last Sunday Sermon To Auction
Hakes Auctions
Sunday, March 31, 1968 church program book from Washington Cathedral, signed by the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Framed size: 10.75in x 13.75in. Float-mounted cardstock booklet: 5.5in x 8.5in. Estimate: $35,000-$50,000
A 4-page order of service booklet from Washington Cathedral where Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his last Sunday sermon on March 31, 1968, comes to sale on November 14 at Hake’s Auctions.
Dr King was shot only a few days later on April 4, 1968, so the booklet also bears what may be the last public autograph he ever signed.
The person who obtained the autograph (“Best Wishes, Martin Luther King”) was a then-18-year-old undergraduate student at American University named Michael Feldman. Dr King was not signing autographs that day. Feldman obtained the signature purely by chance. After the church service concluded, he and a friend were walking back to their college campus when Feldman noticed a TV crew in the parking lot of St Albans School, located on the cathedral grounds. The crew was there to cover a press conference with Dr King in the school gymnasium, but as they set out for the gym, Feldman noticed that their vehicle’s trunk had popped open, revealing expensive TV equipment. He called out to the crew, “Your trunk popped open.” Needless to say, they were grateful that he had spoken up.
Summoning his courage, Michael asked the crew, “Do you think my friend and I could go inside with you?” The reluctant reply was, “OK, but you have to stand by the back door and not make a sound.” The two friends quickly agreed.
To everyone’s surprise, after the press conference ended, reporters were instructed to remain in place because, contrary to the usual protocol, Dr King was going to be whisked out through the rear exit. As Dr King made his departure through the rear door, Feldman piped up and asked him if he would sign his book from the earlier church service. King stopped, graciously shook Feldman’s hand, and said: “Nice to meet you, young man.” He signed the book, then headed directly to a waiting car.
Michael Feldman went on to graduate from The George Washington University Law School and become a successful Washington litigator, now retired. He has kept his cherished memento of that 1968 chance encounter for more than 55 years. Its auction estimate has been set at $35,000-$50,000. Hake’s Auctions president, Alex Winter, said that exhaustive research had failed to uncover any MLK signatures that might have been penned after the one that appears on Feldman’s book.
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Hakes
John Byrne original pen-and-ink cover art for ‘Action Comics’ #588, published by DC Comics May 1987. Image of Superman in space alongside Hawkman and Hawkwoman. Signed and inscribed by Byrne.
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Hakes
Extraordinarily rare 1964 music speaker produced by Actwell Plastics Corp., sculpted to simulate Glenn Strange’s portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster in 1940s horror films. Box (shown) states it can be plugged into ‘table radios, phonographs, transistor radios’ and ‘connects to auto radios for use as rear deck speaker.’
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Hakes
‘The Bat Man’ card, one of 24 cards in Wolverine’s 1936 ‘Strange True Stories’ gum card set. Each card in set is individually PSA-graded, ranging from NM 7 to PR 1. Extremely rare full set.
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Hakes
1953 ‘Our Sports’ magazine subscription-incentive baseball card with image of Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson in his Brooklyn Dodgers uniform.
Other highlights from the 1,909-lot sale include:
* more than 400 CGC and CBCS-certified comic books, from Golden Age to Modern-era issues with 75 from the Duke Caldwell signed comic book collection, each issue autographed by someone significant to the book’s production. Among them is a John Byrne original pen-and-ink cover art for Action Comics #588 (DC Comics, May 1987), signed and inscribed by Byrne (estimate: $20,000-$35,000).
* a 1936 Wolverine Strange True Stories gum card set, complete with 24 colorful cards including The Bat Man who is shown flying with bat-like wings and pre-dates the DC Comics' superhero by three years (estimate: $10,000-$20,000)
* a 1964 music speaker that recalls Glenn Strange’s portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster in 1940s horror films with its original pictorial box (estimage: $10,000-$20,000)
* a 1953 Our Sports magazine subscription-incentive Jackie Robinson baseball card that has his picture on the obverse side. The only known example, the card is accompanied by a rare issue of Our Sports #2 (estimate: $5,000-$10,000)
