Sale 2471 - Printed & Manuscript African Americana, March 29, 2018

232 c   (KING, MARTIN LUTHER, JR.) Poster for a French appearance by Dr. King and Harry Belafonte. Two-color poster, 23 x 15 inches; two folds, pasted to heavy board along top and bottom edges, 1-inch closed tear along right edge, minimal wear and toning. [Paris], 28 March [1966] [2,500/3,500] In March 1966, King and Belafonte went to Europe for fundraising appearances on behalf of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, starting with the Palais des Sports in Paris on the 28th, and closing in Sweden on the 31st.This poster for the French appearance is emblazoned with the logo of a sponsor, Suze Liqueur, and also cites the French-American Committee for Racial Integration as the organizing body.The opening act for the evening was the popular French folksinger Hugues Aufray doing a set of Bob Dylan covers, followed by a set by Belafonte. Dr. King closed out the evening with a speech on civil rights, touching on the war in Vietnam and American support for South African apartheid.The tour raised more than $100,000, but drew the wrath of the American ambassador to France for airing American problems overseas. See Ross, Hollywood Left and Right, page 220.We have traced no other copies of this poster at auction or elsewhere.