Only Surviving Handwritten Draft of “I Have a Dream” Speech to Be Auctioned

The only surviving handwritten final draft of “I Have a Dream,” the speech by U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., is scheduled to be auctioned at Christie’s in New York on January 22, 2027. It is expected to fetch more than $10 million. All proceeds will go to charities, including the King Center, founded by King’s wife, Coretta Scott King.

Christie’s said the manuscript consists of seven pages written in blue ink. King completed the final draft early on August 28, 1963, at the Willard Hotel in Washington. Hours later, he delivered the speech during the March on Washington, which drew about 250,000 people. The march became a milestone in the movement for racial equality in the United States.

A museum housing artifacts related to Martin Luther King Jr.（VietVance）

For decades, the manuscript was kept in a desk drawer belonging to Edward Clayton, a speechwriter and associate of King. Clayton’s wife, Xernona Clayton, found the document in the late 1990s but did not know it was the only surviving handwritten final draft. She found it again in her late husband’s desk in 2024 and then recognized its special historical value.

The manuscript does not contain the words “I have a dream,” which later became the speech’s title. According to Christie’s, King said the phrase spontaneously while addressing the crowd. The manuscript is scheduled to go on public display for the first time in Atlanta from November 16 to 22, 2026, and in New York from January 15 to 21, 2027.

Source: VietVance