Date: May 28, 2026
ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 28, 2026 –The African American Episcopal Historical Collection (AAEHC) has discovered an early draft of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic Letter from Birmingham Jail. The document was found in the papers of the late Bishop John M. and Esther Burgess, which were donated by their daughters to the AAEHC – a joint initiative between Virginia Theological Seminary and the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church.
Dr. King wrote the iconic letter on the margins of a copy of the New York Times, which was smuggled to him while he was imprisoned in Birmingham City Jail. He then gave the newspaper to one of his close advisors, Clarence Jones, who died last week, and asked him to arrange for it to be typed up. Because the letter was written in fragments, the sequence was not always clear, and different drafts went back and forth to Dr. King. The copy in the Burgesses’ papers is one of these early drafts.
The document was discovered by Nick Gentry, an intern from the University of Maryland, while processing the papers for the AAEHC. Archives staff subsequently researched the provenance of the copy, including consulting Civil Rights leader Ambassador Andrew Young about the early drafts of the letter, and its transfer to the Quaker-founded American Friends Service Committee.
It is unknown how the Burgesses came to possess the draft, but they were both deeply engaged in the Civil Rights Movement, with Bishop Burgess being one of the clergy who met with President Kennedy five days before the Civil Rights Act was sent to Congress.
Staff also analyzed the AAEHC’s version of the letter against copies held by other repositories, as well as the final text printed by the New York Post. They identified a number of differences in structure and quotations, providing further evidence that the AAEHC document was an earlier draft of the final letter. One example is that the final version of the letter included a quotation from John Bunyan, which does not appear in the copy held by the AAEHC.
After the staff completed their analysis, the letter was reviewed by experts at Swann Galleries in New York City, who certified that it was one of the original 11-page typesets produced by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
The letter is currently available for viewing at the archives of the Bishop Payne Library at VTS.
The Rev. Alfred Moss, Ph.D., Co-Chair of the AAEHC Steering Committee, said: “The discovery of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail is a recent blessing and fulfillment of the work and ministry of the African American Episcopal Historical Collection. God continues to look with favor on this joint endeavor of the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church and Virginia Theological Seminary.”
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D., Dean and President of VTS, said: “Just sometimes there is a find where we can literally touch history. This find is one of those moments. Preservation of the past is part of our mission at VTS. We are grateful for the responsibility, and we look forward to making this text available to the Church and the academy.”
Notes to editors:
For media inquiries, please contact Nicky Burridge, Senior Vice President for Communications and Institutional Advancement at Virginia Theological Seminary and The General Theological Seminary.
Tel: (703) 461-1782
Mobile: (703) 300-2876
Email: [email protected]
Photo caption:The Burgesses’ copy of Dr. King’s letter with the portrait Drum Major for Justice, used with permission by the artist, Gerald Byrd.
About the African American Episcopal Historical Collection:
The AAEHC preserves and assists in researching the experiences of Black Episcopalians through institutional records, oral histories, personal papers, and media.
About The Historical Society of the Episcopal Church:
The Historical Society of the Episcopal Church was founded to promote the preservation of Episcopal Church heritage, publish a scholarly historical journal, and to cooperate with others concerned with the history of The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
About Virginia Theological Seminary:
Virginia Theological Seminary was founded in 1823 and has a long tradition of shaping faithful women and men, lay and ordained, for leadership in The Episcopal Church and beyond. It is the strongest seminary in the Anglican Communion and provides more than 25 percent of the clergy of The Episcopal Church.