Only Known Handwritten Draft of Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech Could Top $10 M. at Christie’s

Christie’s announced Monday that it will offer the only known handwritten manuscript of Martin Luther King Jr.‘s 1963 speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, better known as the “I Have a Dream” speech.

The manuscript has seven yellow pages of King’s handwriting, including edits and cross-outs. It will be offered in a single-lot sale on January 22, 2027. The lot will carry an estimate on request, though Christie’s said it expects the manuscript to sell for more than $10 million.

In a statement, Peter Klarnet, a manuscripts specialist at Christie’s, called the piece “a treasure of American history.”

“When I first saw these pages, and realized what they were, I was astounded,” Klarnet said. “It gives you chills to look at it. Reading along, you’re there in the moment with Dr. King, watching him compose it and making edits in real time. It captures a moment that literally changed the course of our nation and makes it very real and very human. It’s an honor and privilege that Christie’s has an opportunity to present it to the world.”

According to Christie’s, the pages were found in a desk drawer that belonged to Edward T. Clayton, head of public relations for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the civil rights organization King led until his assassination in 1968. Clayton was also a speechwriter and editor for King and helped write the speech. His wife, Xernona Clayton, a civil rights leader and philanthropist, found the manuscript in the late 1990s. She recognized the speech but didn’t know it was the only handwritten final draft, so she put it back in her late husband’s desk. In 2024, she and her adviser, Eddie Bridgeman, brought the manuscript to Christie’s.

“I’m just glad I looked in the drawer,” Xernona Clayton said in a statement. “The two of them gelled with writing and words. They would go back and forth and there was such respect. Dr. King, who was a great thinker, said Ed was so good at getting his words on paper and putting them in the right place at the right time. I enjoyed watching them. I was privileged, and now the world will have the opportunity to see those words of wisdom that continue to inspire hope, freedom, and the pursuit of equality.”

The handwritten manuscript doesn’t include the words “I have a dream,” because King famously improvised that part of the speech. It does include his famous conclusion: “Free at last, free at last; thank God almighty, we are free at last.”

Christie’s said proceeds from the sale will go to charities “furthering the legacies of Ms. Clayton and Dr. King,” including the Xernona Clayton Foundation and the King Center in Atlanta.

“We are also grateful to join with Ms. Clayton to ensure that the sale of this draft helps support the great work of The King Center and our mother, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, who would be 100 this upcoming year,” Bernice A. King, the Kings‘ daughter, said in a statement.

The manuscript will be on view at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta from November 16–22. It will then be shown at Christie’s New York from January 15–21.