Read Martin Luther King's Inspiring 1962 Letter
Beyond the appraisal — Read the 'intense and powerful' letter from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that moved our experts. This is the full, unabridged message of gratitude sent to a New Hampshire minister who risked everything in 1962 to do his part for the Civil Rights Movement.
In this moving letter from October 1962, Dr. King expresses appreciation to Rev. John Papandrew, a New Hampshire minister who had traveled to Georgia that summer to join the Civil Rights effort known as the Albany Movement.
Mar 23, 2026
At the June 2025 ANTIQUES ROADSHOW event at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, a guest brought in a letter of appreciation written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in October 1962, addressed to her father-in-law, Rev. John Papandrew, a Unitarian minister in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Earlier that summer, Rev. Papandrew had answered a call for Northern clergy to travel to Albany, Georgia, to support a civil rights campaign that came to be known as the Albany Movement. The stated goal of this ambitious effort was to desegregate the entire city of Albany, from its bus stations and lunch counters to its public libraries, parks and swimming pools.
While there, Rev. Papandrew numbered among dozens of ministers arrested during a prayer protest — an act of solidarity that Dr. King valued deeply.
"... one of the high points of the summer was the contribution rendered by our brothers from the North who came to share with us in the fight against injustice."
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The letter is a fascinating snapshot of a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement. Written on October 10, 1962, it captures Dr. King in a reflective mood just as his direct involvement in the Albany Movement was drawing to a close.
At the time, some labeled the Albany Movement a failure because it didn’t achieve immediate, sweeping desegregation. However, King maintained that the movement "leveled the barriers" and formed a sort of blueprint for his successful 1963 campaign in Birmingham, Alabama.
Books & Manuscripts appraiser Catherine Williamson called the letter "intense and powerful" and suggested an insurance value of $50,000.
You can read the letter in full below.
Letter from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Rev. John Papandrew
October 10, 1962
Rev. John Papandrew
Unitarian Universalist Church
Portsmouth, N. H.Dear Rev. Papandrew:
For several weeks I have intended writing to express my personal appreciation to you for your marvelous witness in Albany, but the accumulation of a flood of mail has stood in my way. The smoke is gradually clearing from the non-violent battle at Albany, and as we assess the results we all agree that one of the high points of the summer was the contribution rendered by our brothers from the North who came to share with us in the fight against injustice.
A non-violent campaign toward social is at least a year long effort and in the deep South, probably longer. Albany is now in it's ninth month. We have amassed a nation-wide protest, and the world knows through Albany, exactly what the Negro's situation is in the South and the nature of their grievances. During the next few months we will be working toward reconciliation, the first opportunity for which is the coming election on October 26th. We have been successful in adding another 2000 voters to the rolls, so we are prepared. We now must depend on the moderate white community to join with us in creating an opportunity to establish a community of Justice. Your witness certainly did much to raise the right moral and religious questions for them. Let us hope that they have been sensitive enough to at least express an opinion for Justice in the privacy of the voting booth.
Your continued help and prayer will be greatly appreciated. You have now become sensitised to the problem in a new way. We are counting on you to discern some methods of action which will contribute to our national problem in race relations. Our nation suffers when Churches are burned or when mobs kill and ravish in protest of a single person of color being admitted to an institution of higher learning. Certainly this is the responsibility of freedom loving, religious people everywhere. We thank you for being sensitive to these concerns and giving of yourselves that we may walk together as sons and daughters of God one day soon in these United States.
I hope our paths will be crossing again in the not too distant future. I will certainly be keeping in touch with you.
With warm personal regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
[Signed] Martin Luther King, Jr.
MLK:wm
GUEST: I brought in a letter that was written to my father-in-law from Martin Luther King, Jr. My father-in-law was a Unitarian minister, and he worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during all of the Civil Rights unrest.
APPRAISER: It's such an intense, powerful letter. This letter was written in October of '62 at the end of the Albany, Georgia campaign. To your father-in-law, who must have been present at the Albany campaign. He was a religious leader and he was there to support King and the movement. Let me just read the first paragraph. "Dear Reverend Papandrew, for several weeks I have. intended writing to express my personal appreciation to you for your marvelous witness in Albany, but the accumulation of a flood of mail has stood in my way. The smoke is gradually clearing from the non-violent battle at Albany. And as we assess the results, we all agree that one of the high points of the summer was the contribution rendered by our brothers from the north who came to share with us in the fight against injustice." It goes on for two pages, and it sort of closes with another kind of really meaningful, heartfelt paragraph, it-- he says, "Your continued help and prayer will be greatly appreciated. You have now become sensitized to the problem in a new way. We are counting on you to discern some methods of action which will contribute to our national problem in race relations. Our nation suffers when churches are burned or when mobs kill and ravish in protest of a single person of color being admitted to an institution of higher learning." So he's talking about integrating the universities. Right, so we need, we continue to need your help in this long battle. So terrific letter, signed by King, great content. And then you have some other supporting materials that come with it. So your father-in-law participated in the 1963 March on Washington, right?
GUEST: Yes, yes he did.
APPRAISER: He's-he's in that photo, right?
GUEST: And he's right there in that photo.
APPRAISER: In Life magazine. This is summer of '63. And then this is-- must be the December of 1963 holiday card...
GUEST: '63.
APPRAISER: ...from King. It has a really emotional image of the four little girls that were killed in the Birmingham church bombing of the fall of 1963. There's a message inside that is actually printed. This is not handwritten by King, this is a printed card. But, um, it does actually show that more than a year after this...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...your father-in-law is still in the movement. He's still connected to the Civil Rights battle. The value is in the letter itself. This, these other items are supporting material. It's great to have them. They tell the story, but independent of the letter, they don't really have much value. At auction, I would estimate this letter at $20,000 to $30,000. And I would expect it to do as well or better because the content is terrific.
GUEST: The, the letter is amazing. The content is amazing. That's i-incredible, I never-- I could never have imagined that.
APPRAISER: It was so wonderful to see it in person and read it for myself.
GUEST: It really just totally overwhelms me when I... when I read the words.
APPRAISER: Yeah. If you were going to insure this, I would tell your insurance company to put a number of $50,000 on it.
GUEST: Okay.
Luke Crafton is ANTIQUES ROADSHOW's director of digital content and managing editor of the series website. Luke has been a producer with ROADSHOW since 2006.
