The manuscript of the famous 'I Have a Dream' speech, delivered by Martin Luther King, was a mystery for decades until it was recently rediscovered.
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King participated in a civil rights march in Washington, United States, gathering approximately 250,000 people. At the Lincoln Memorial, he gave a speech about the historical struggle of the African American population against racial inequality and segregation.
Initially, the speech was planned to be short, and King handwrote the text in a formal tone, finishing around 4 a.m. on the day of the event. The draft contained seven pages and was later typed so that he had copies for the event and the press.
During his oratory, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson encouraged him to speak about the dream. This led King to improvise, adding a section not planned in the script, in which he expressed his wishes for the United States: racial equality, justice, and freedom.
An iconic excerpt from the speech stated: 'I have a dream that my four little children one day will live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.' This statement gained global recognition and is considered one of the most important speeches of the 20th century.
After the presentation, the typed copy that King used was given to George Raveling, a former college basketball player and future coach who served as a volunteer security guard. Raveling requested and received King's document.
However, the original manuscript, written by King that early morning, went missing. After six decades without any researcher being able to locate it, in 2024, Xernona Clayton, a civil rights activist, was organizing the office of her late husband, Edward Clayton, who died in 1966. Edward Clayton was King's communications advisor and helped draft the speech.
The document was found in a desk drawer, likely having remained there all these years, kept in an envelope labeled 'speech.' Although Xernona Clayton had already found papers in the late 1990s, she did not know it was the final version of the text. Now, after investigations and expert opinions, she has confirmed possessing the only known final handwritten version of the speech.
Xernona Clayton decided to auction the manuscript, with the proceeds being donated to charities related to King and herself. The auction is scheduled for January 22, 2027. Before that, the document will be publicly displayed in the cities of Atlanta, Chicago, and New York.
The value of the document is high because it allows observers to see the modifications made by King to the text, evidenced by various scribbles and rewritten parts. It is expected that the winning bid will exceed US$10 million.
