MLK Jr. letter to late Portsmouth minister on ‘Antiques Roadshow’

A 1962 letter from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to a Portsmouth minister and civil rights activist received an appraisal of tens of thousands of dollars on “Antiques Roadshow.”

The late Rev. John Papandrew received King’s letter that October, shortly after the end of the Albany Movement. King praised Papandrew’s efforts in the widespread bid to desegregate all public facilities in Albany, Georgia, between 1961 and 1962, which served as a precursor to the spring 1963 Birmingham Campaign. Papandrew traveled to Albany alongside other clergymen from the north and was arrested during a prayer protest.

Rye resident Jody Papandrew, the minister’s daughter-in-law, was floored by appraiser Catherine Williamson’s estimate. Williamson, of Julien’s Auctions in Gardena, California, projected the letter could fetch between $20,000 and $30,000 at auction, with an insurance value appraisal of $50,000.

“I would say I was probably flabbergasted. I really was. I had absolutely no idea,” Jody Papandrew said in an interview.

What does King’s 1962 letter to Papandrew say?

The typed and hand-signed letter to Papandrew from King was written on Southern Christian Leadership Conference stationary. King led the conference from 1957 until his April 1968 assassination in Memphis, Tennessee.

“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,” King wrote to Papandrew in part. “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.”

“Your continued help and prayer will be greatly appreciated. You have now become sensitised to the problem in a new way,” King added. “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.”

Here’s what was said about King’s letter on ‘Antiques Roadshow’

Jody Papandrew brought in the letter for review on “Antiques Roadshow,” which was filmed nearly a year ago at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Maine. The episode recently aired Monday, March 23.

“The letter is amazing. The content is amazing,” Jody Papandrew said during the episode. “That’s incredible. I could never have imagined that … It really just totally overwhelms me when I read the words.”

“It’s such an intense, powerful letter,” Williamson said on the show.

Who was the Rev. John Papandrew?

The Portsmouth Athenaeum notes John Papandrew served as the minister at the South Church from 1961 to 1964 and was a member of both the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He also helped found the Seacoast Mental Health Center.

The minister played a part in desegregating local Seacoast businesses. He and his late wife, Betty, brought a Black couple to eat with them at the Wentworth by the Sea dining room, which was believed to be the first time the establishment was desegregated, according to Jody Papandrew.

John Papandrew attended the August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. An image of the throng of attendees in Life Magazine shows Papandrew in the crowd.

“He marched from Selma to Montgomery and proudly attended the March on Washington,” Papandrew’s obituary reads, as cited by the Athenaeum. “He had just had dinner with the Rev. Jim Reeb and others March 11, 1965, when Reeb, who was in Selma working for the voting rights campaign, was attacked and murdered by white assailants. Never one to back down, the Rev. Papandrew went to jail with Martin Luther King Jr. and others, and helped to break down the color barrier from the barbershops of Portsmouth to the dining room at the Wentworth-by-the-Sea Hotel. He was not only very active in civil rights, but also in the plight of Native Americans and abortion rights.”

King’s letter was sent to Papandrew at the South Church, home to the Unitarian Universalist congregation.

Papandrew family ‘excited and proud’ to bring King’s letter to PBS program

The message from the American civil rights icon has been a cherished relic in the Papandrew family for years. John Papandrew bestowed the letter to his son, Jody Papandrew’s late husband, decades ago.

Jody Papandrew aimed to learn the value of both the letter and a piece of her grandmother’s jewelry. She submitted images and information about both items to “Antiques Roadshow” at her friend’s suggestion upon learning the PBS program would be filming in Maine.

A representative of the show contacted Papandrew with interest specifically in King’s letter. Papandrew was put on a shortlist of approximately 100 applicants and later was invited to bring King’s letter onto the program.

“I was really interested in learning about the history of the letter and that sort of thing,” she said in an interview. “I had been interested in knowing the value but never interested enough to actually let someone have it, take it and study it. I thought this might be a great opportunity.”

Papandrew was joined at the shoot by her son, Jordan. Emotions ran high as Papandrew thought of her late husband, Jonathan Papandrew, who died in March 2013.

“I felt excited and proud,” she said of presenting the letter. “I did feel really happy about it and hope that my husband got to feel some of that, too.”

Jody Papandrew stated the nation has “a long way to go” in the fight for equality and hopes King’s letter to her father-in-law inspires local advocates to remain engaged.

“The most important thing that anyone can take from that letter is that sadly, I don’t think we’ve moved forward from that letter all that much and we really need to stay with the battle,” she told a reporter.

King is eternally connected to other faith leaders in Portsmouth. In October 1952, King, then a divinity student at Boston University, delivered a sermon from a pulpit in The Pearl, New Hampshire’s first Black-owned church. The Pearl is listed on both the state and national registers of historic places and is a New Hampshire Black Heritage Trail landmark.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald. Reporting by Ian Lenahan