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King's papers should be open to all

By TIMES EDITORIALS
Published August 1, 2006

Saved from a Sotheby's auction block, the fate of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 7,000 personal documents and manuscripts remains uncertain. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin rounded up corporate donors to purchase King's papers for a reported $32-million to ensure that they remain in Atlanta, King's hometown, as a part of the nation's historical record. Yet much of the fine print in the agreement between the four King children and Morehouse College - King's alma mater, where the papers will be housed - has not been disclosed, and some historians are concerned that it gives King's heirs too much control over access to the papers.

Taylor Branch, in a recent column in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, wrote that the agreement allows King heirs to restrict access to the documents even after they are passed on to Morehouse. Branch, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of a trilogy chronicling King's life, wrote that the King heirs hope to regulate access to the papers by controlling what people see and how the documents are quoted. According to Branch, Mayor Franklin has been told that the "I Have a Dream" speech will not be made available for students or visitors to copy. Branch contends that the family already has tarnished the King Center's reputation by screening researchers and arbitrarily charging fees as well as closing collections.

Family members justify their high financial expectations by claiming that King copyrighted his works to support his estate - a claim that Branch questions. Except for his preacher's salary, the civil rights leader gave nearly all of his lifetime earnings - including his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winnings - to the movement he led. He also donated a few of his papers without charge to Boston University.

The donors who have ensured that the King papers will remain in his hometown now must make sure that his work will be accessible to scholars and historians. No one should begrudge King's heirs their private fortunes, but any agreement that allows them to control access to their father's papers serves neither the public interest nor the legacy of the man whose courage and powerful voice for racial justice touched the conscience of the nation.

[Last modified August 1, 2006, 02:12:45]