MLK Jr.'s secretary to auction artifacts

One of a series of note cards listing the talking points Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., wrote for a speech he gave to his congregation at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

The note cards are among the items Maude Ballou, King's personal secretary from 1955 to 1960, collected during her tenure with the civil rights icon.

They will be auctioned off Oct. 17 in New York. Ballou worked as King's secretary during the early years of the civil rights movement when he led the Montgomery Improvement Association and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Maude Ballou, who served as the personal secretary for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., shows a photograph of herself as a high school student in Mobile, Ala., while recalling the events from the time King led the Montgomery Improvement Association and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Sept. 17, 2013, in Ridgeland, Miss.

Two "Distinguished NAACP Volunteer" cards given to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and his friend and personal secretary Maude Ballou, for their efforts in the civil rights organization's membership drive.

Ballou sits in the background while her son Howard, displays the handwritten message King wrote to his mother in a copy of his book "Stride Toward Freedom," Sept. 17, 2013, in Ridgeland, Miss.

Howard Ballou, whose mother Maude served as the personal secretary for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., explains the importance of his mother's collection of items relating to the civil rights icon to himself and his family, Sept. 17, 2013.

Ballou recalls the events from the time King led the Montgomery Improvement Association and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Sept. 17, 2013, in Ridgeland, Miss.

A copy of a Jan. 14, 1957 list submitted to Tom Carlisle, then chief of the Alabama Highway Patrol, of prominent black leaders and churches thought to be most vulnerable to violence.

The list is among the items Ballou collected during her tenure with Martin Luther King Jr.

A letter to friend and personal secretary, Maude Ballou, written by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., as he nears the end of his stay in India, updating her on his plans for his return to the States.

Ballou visits with her grandson Blair Ballou, left, and fellow resident Louise Allensworth in Ridgeland, Miss., Sept. 17, 2013.

Ballou listens as her son Howard Ballou reads to her King's hand written note, Sept. 17, 2013, in Ridgeland, Miss.