In 1962, two titans of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. and Jackie Robinson, convened at a dinner celebrating Robinson’s induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Dr. King addresses this dinner in a letter that he sent to Marian B. Logan, a civil rights activist and future New York City Commissioner of Human Rights. Years later and not long before his death in 1968, Dr. King said, “Jackie Robinson made my success possible. Without him, I would never have been able to do what I did.”

Marian Bruce Logan had a career in show business under the name Marian Bruce in the 1940s and 1950s. She sang in Europe and also starred in the first all-black show at a Miami Beach nightclub. Following her show business career, Logan was very active in civil rights and was a campaign aid for several political figures, including Robert F. Kennedy. At one time, Logan was the only board member from the north of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was a prominent fund-raiser for that group, both on a local and national level. In 1977, Logan was appointed head of the Commission on Human Rights for New York City, where she served for two years and was instrumental in stopping the practice of red-lining, the practice of denying services based on racial or ethnic composition of a certain area.

In this letter, Dr. King discusses voter registration drives in Albany and invites Mrs. Logan to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference annual convention in September of that year. This letter is typed on official SCLC stationary bearing the name of Martin Luther King Jr., the president of the organization, and Wyatt Tee Walker, its executive director. The letter is dated August 24, 1962. Both Dr. King and Mr. Walker signed the letter in blue pen. Making this letter even more historic is that this may be the only known Martin Luther King letter for private sale that mentions Jackie Robinson. Along with this letter is a picture of Dr. King meeting with Jackie Robinson and a program from the Jackie Robinson SCLC Hall of Fame Dinner. On the inside of this program is a letter from then New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller dated July 6, 1962. It reads: "Dear Jackie: It is a great pleasure to add my voice to those of the multitues who hold you in the highest esteem. This esteem you have richly earned, not only by being a superlatively good ball player but also by being a superlatively good American. My you have many years of health in which to enjoy the affection of your friends." Rockefeller signed this copy of the program on the "Hall of Fame Program" page in blue pen, underneath "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Southern Christian Leadership Conference". Also attached is the envelope Dr. King sent the letter in to Mrs. Logan. This lot comes with a full LOA from Steve Grad of Beckett Authentication, who have graded King's signature a MINT 9 and a LOA from JSA (Y72656). Additionally, there is a COA from University Archives signed by John Reznikoff and LOA from PSA/DNA (AB12595) for the signature of Nelson Rockefeller.

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