Fight Looms Over MLK's Bible, Nobel Peace Prize: ICYMI

While the country observes Jan. 19 as a day of service and peace in tribute to slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., three of his children are poised for yet another court battle over two of their father’s most famed possessions.

Two of his sons – Martin Luther King III and Dexter King – have been at odds in court with their sister, the Rev. Bernice King, over whether to sell the icon’s Bible and Nobel Peace Prize. A year ago the siblings were in courtseeking the legal right to the artifacts, and another round of court proceedings looms in the Atlanta area.

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One historian accused them all of acting out of greed.

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis in 1968 while appearing in support of striking sanitation workers. His widow, Coretta Scott King, died in 2006.

Siblings Wrangle Over Estate

King’s estate is run by his two sons, Martin Luther King III and Dexter King, whose lawyers last year asked a judge to order their sister to surrender the items, reports the Associated Press. The brothers had explored selling the keepsakes, which appraisers estimate could bring in $5 to $10 million for the Nobel medal and up to $1 million for King’s Bible.

Fulton County, GA, Judge Robert McBurney heard from both sides of the ownership dispute Jan. 13 and says he hopes to issue a ruling in the case before its scheduled trial in late February, reports WIBW.com.

In a March 2014 news conference from the pulpit of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church where her father and grandfather preached, Bernice King chided her brothers, according to an AP story.

“Our father must be turning in his grave,” she said in a CNN story. “While I love my brothers dearly, this latest decision by them is extremely troubling. Not only am I appalled and utterly ashamed, I am frankly disappointed that they would even entertain the thought of selling these precious items. It reveals a desperation beyond comprehension.”

Patch earlier reported that Bernice King surrendered her father’s Nobel Peace Prize and Bible to a judge, who had them placed in a safe deposit box until a court decides whether or not her brothers should be allowed to sell them.

King’s Bible was last seen in public when President Barack Obama used it while taking the oath of office two years ago at his second inauguration, reports the Associated Press.

An Atlanta Journal-Constiution story says a lawyer for the King estate, which is controlled by Dexter and Martin III, sent the AP a copy of a 1995 agreement among the siblings in which they signed over the rights to many items to the Estate of Martin Luther King Jr. Inc.

Historian Calls King Children Greedy

David J. Garrow, author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning book about Martin Luther King Jr., told the AP the King siblings are driven by greed. “It’s been about maximizing the dollar value of Dr. King’s legacy.”

King’s Bible and other artifacts should be donated to a museum, the historian said.

The King children shared equally in the proceeds from a 2006 auction of 10,000 documents from their family collection that brought in $32 million, reports WSB TV.

In August 2013 the King estate went to court to stop the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, where Bernice King is the CEO, from using his image, likeness and memorabilia. The estate’s representatives argue that the center isn’t caring for King artifacts properly. The AP says that case is also pending in the court system.

»Photo of Martin Luther King Jr. from Wikimedia Commons, “Library of Congress. New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection.”