The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., stepped outside onto the balcony of his Lorraine Motel room in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. He and his associates were about to go to dinner before he would give a speech.

Some 1,300 African-American sanitation workers in Memphis had gone on strike. When the city refused to negotiate, King and other civil rights leaders came to lend support.

Downstairs in the parking lot Southern Christian Leadership Conference staffers stood around a white Cadillac. The car's driver yelled out for King to bring a topcoat because of the chill. King glanced down from the balcony and saw Ben Branch, a saxophonist, standing next to Jesse Jackson.

"Ben make sure you play ‘Precious Lord, Take My Hand' at the meeting tonight," King said. "Sing it real pretty."

Next, shots rang out. At first it sounded like firecrackers or a car backfiring. But King's body dropped to the floor of the balcony.

The Rev. Ralph Abernathy rushed out of the hotel room, bent down and saw a huge red wound on King's right jaw. He gathered King in his arms and patted him on his left cheek.

"Martin. It's all right. Don't worry. This is Ralph. This is Ralph."

The fallen civil rights leader's lips moved but he never spoke. Abernathy said he felt like he cradled King for hours. But it was actually less than 10 minutes.

"Police were coming toward us with drawn guns. We were saying, 'The bullet didn't come from here; the bullet came from there. Go that way. Go that way,'" Jackson yelled.  The men on the balcony with King pointed.

An hour later in St. Joseph Hospital, Martin Luther King was pronounced dead. He was 39 years old.

Joseph Louw was making a documentary film about King at the time of his death. He was staying on the second floor of the motel when the fatal shots rang out. He grabbed his camera and started taking photos as the chaos unfolded around him. Louw was the only journalist on the scene and snapped the classic shot of King's companions pointing in the direction of the shooter.   

"In that one moment, the sound of the shot and the sight of Dr. King made me almost feel that wound and I was terrified that it was going to happen to me," Louw said.

As his photos circulated later in the day, Memphis was already on fire. King's death sparked riots in at least 110 American cities.

Two months later drifter James Earl Ray was arrested and confessed to killing King, although he later recanted. Ray was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He died in 1998.

During King's funeral, tributes poured in from all over the globe.

"If physical death was the price he had to pay to rid America of prejudice and injustice, nothing could be more redemptive," said former Morehouse president Benjamin Mays in King's eulogy.   

More people learned about King, his message of racial equality and nonviolence in four days of mourning than in his 12 years of preaching.   

The man was dead. The message lived on.

A copy of the photo taken of the SCLC members pointing toward the shooter moments after King was shot went on the auction block at Swann Galleries, New York, on Feb 26. It brought $6,960 in the Printed & Manuscript African Americana sale.  

Here are current values for other Martin Luther King Jr. lots sold in the auction:

Poster; Poor People's Campaign; black-and-white; pictures King surrounded by a crowd; 1968; 21¾ inches by 14¾ inches; $960.

Gelatin silver print of Martin Luther King Jr.; portrait; printed later; no. 17 of 50; 1956; Dan Weiner photo-journalist; 14 inches by 11 inches; $1,440.  

Poster; I Am A Man; printed in red on white field; printed after King's assassination in Memphis; 28 by 22 inches; $1,920.  

Rosemary McKittrick has provided information and analysis on thousands of antiques and collectibles sold at auction since her LiveAuctionTalk column started 18 years ago. She received her training in the trenches, as a professional appraiser. Visit her Web site at www.liveauctiontalk.com.

Rosemary McKittrick has provided information and analysis on thousands of antiques and collectibles sold at auction since her LiveAuctionTalk column started 18 years ago. She received her training in the trenches, as a professional appraiser. Visit her Web site at www.liveauctiontalk.com.