New African American history museum holds few MLK artifacts

ATLANTA (AP) — The National Museum of African American History and Culture opens in Washington this weekend aiming to tell the story of black people in the U.S. through compelling artifacts.

But visitors will find few personal mementos from one of the most famous and influential black Americans, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

King’s estate, controlled by his three surviving children, owns and controls much of the slain civil rights leader’s memorabilia. Estate general manager and chief operating officer Phillip Jones said the estate has always been willing to loan items to various places but he said they heard the museum wasn’t interested in loans.

Museum officials told The Washington Post they want things they can keep rather than loaned items.

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