New York City, NY – A New York City auction house will try to sell thousands of late civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks' personal items.
A Wayne County probate court judge in Detroit asked the auction house to find a buyer, preferably a museum, university or other institution.
Arlan Ettinger of the auction house (Guernsey's) thinks the items could fetch $10 million.
Among the items up for auction are Parks' presidential and congressional medals, a post card from Martin Luther King Jr. and the hat Parks is believed to have been wearing the day in December 1955 she refused to give up her seat to a white man on an Alabama bus. That refusal cemented her spot in civil rights history.
Parks died in 2005 at age 92. She left virtually all her estate to the Detroit-based Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, which was created to teach young people leadership and character development. Her 13 nieces and nephews filed a legal challenge to Parks' will six months after she died.
Eventually, a settlement was reached, although terms of the deal were sealed.
Ettinger said the proceeds from the sale will be divided between the institute and Parks' relatives.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)