KING JR. MARTIN LUTHER: (1929-1968) American Baptist Minister, a leading figure in the African-American Civil ...

KING JR. MARTIN LUTHER: (1929-1968) American Baptist Minister, a leading figure in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Nobel Peace Prize winner, 1964. Assassinated.
An excellent vintage signed and inscribed 10 x 6.5 photograph by King, the image depicting him standing outdoors in a profile half length pose addressing a predominantly African-American crowd who are gathered before him. Signed in blue ink to a clear area of the image `To Ray, God bless you in our struggle for freedom and human dignity. Martin Luther King Jr.´ A pencil annotation to the verso in an unidentified hand (although evidently that of the original recipient of the photograph) states that the photograph was captured in Los Angeles in October 1964 and further indicates that the signature was obtained in person at the Riverside Church in New York City on 4th April 1967. Signed photographs of Martin Luther King Jr. rarely appear at auction and the present example is particularly desirable due to the emotive inscription. Some slight creasing and a few small tears to the edges of the image (repaired with tape to the verso) not affecting the signature or inscription, otherwise about VGMartin Luther King Jr. made a whistle stop tour of Los Angeles on 27th October 1964 when he delivered a series of speeches (or 'pleas' as he described them himself) encouraging people to vote in the upcoming Presidential election and the present photograph was captured at one such speech. In his speeches, King made it clear that he would not be voting for Barry Goldwater, but did not endorse any particular candidate, instead urging his audiences to go to the polls and vote for their convictions.On 4th April 1967, when the present photograph was signed, King made what has been documented as 'the most controversial speech' of his career, and also the one he 'laboured over most', and is known as the Riverside Church speech, or 'Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence'. The anti-Vietnam war and pro-social justice speech was followed by several interviews and other public speeches in which King came out against the war in Vietnam and the policies that had created it. The speech was written by activist and historian Vincent Harding and civil rights leader Ralph Bunche described it as a mistake on King's part, whilst others, including James Bevel, King's partner and strategist in the Civil Rights Movement, labelled it as King's most important speech. Coincidentally the speech was delivered exactly a year before King would be assassinated by James Earl Ray.King became a civil rights activist early in his career, leading the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and serving as the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference two years later. King also helped to organise the 1963 March on Washington where he famously delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech, thus establishing his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history. On 14th October 1964, in the same month that the present photograph was taken, King became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded for combating racial inequality through non-violent resistance. In the final years of his life, when the present image was signed, King expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War.