Oralandar Brand-Williams / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- The hat she wore Dec. 1, 1955, when she touched off the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott.

The Medal of Freedom given to her by President Bill Clinton.

Hundreds of hand-written notes documenting her life as a young girl growing up in the racially segregated South.

A postcard sent to her from civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Thousands and thousands of personal items of civil rights legend Rosa Parks are up for auction in New York City in a sale that is expected to bring $10 million.

"This is an important collection," said Arlan Ettinger, the owner of Guernsey's Auction, which is handling the sale after being selected by Wayne County Probate Court to settle a 2006 lawsuit filed by Parks' relatives over her estate.

"It's inconceivable to me that we will ever do something this important again."

Parks died in 2005 in her Detroit apartment at the age of 92. She and her husband, Raymond, who died in 1977, did not have children.

Parks left most of her estate to the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, a Detroit organization.

Parks' 13 nieces and nephews have feuded with individuals she selected to handle her affairs for many years. A settlement was reached in February 2007.

Guernsey's received 90 cartons of items, ranging from Parks' papers to personal objects such as the pink dress she wore when Clinton presented her with the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The proceeds of the sale of the archives will go to the institute and family members.

There are four serious offers for the archives, one from Michigan, said Ettinger.

He would not identify the Michigan contender.

Guernsey's has handled the auctions of items from the estates of both President John F. Kennedy and his late brother, Robert.

A spokeswoman for Greenfield Village in Dearborn would not confirm or deny that the museum is interested in purchasing the Parks archives.

In 2001, Greenfield Village bought the bus thought to be the one where Parks made her historic stand against segregation in Alabama nearly 53 years ago.

"We're certainly aware of the collection," said Wendy Metros, a spokeswoman for Greenfield Village.

The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History will not be making an offer for the Parks collection.

It is far too pricey for the museum's annual $6.5 million to $7 million budget, said Tony Spearman-Leach, museum spokesman.

"In our wildest dreams we would love to have that collection," said Spearman-Leach.

"She truly was the mother of the civil rights movement and the mother of Detroit," he said. "But at this time we are not in a position to place an investment of $10 million we do not have at this time."

Officials at the Rosa Parks Museum and Library at Troy State University in Montgomery, Ala., and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute are both seriously interested in acquiring the archives.

Ray White, the vice-chancellor for Troy State, which houses the Rosa Parks Museum, said he is forming a committee to look at ways to raise money to purchase the collection.

"We're certainly interested in anything having to do with Rosa Parks," White said.

Ettinger said he is "honored and humbled to be in the midst of this process.

"Martin Luther King was the leading voice behind the civil rights movement but Rosa Parks was its heart and soul."

You can reach Oralandar Brand-Williams at (313) 222-2027 or bwilliams@detnews.com.

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