LBJ's 1968 condolence letter to MLK's widow to be auctioned

A letter written by President Lyndon Johnson to the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. the day after the civil rights leader was assassinated is slated to hit the auction block next month, according to the Washington Post.

"We will overcome this calamity," Johnson wrote to Coretta Scott King in the April 5, 1968 letter typed on White House stationery.

The Post reports that the custody of the condolence letter has long been a source of legal dispute. In 2003, King's widow gave the letter to her late husband's friend, singer Harry Belafonte. But in 2008, King's three children -- who have fought to retain custody over many of their father's belongings -- stopped Belafonte from putting the artifact up for auction after Coretta Scott King died.

According to the Post, Belafonte sued the King estate and he retained ownership of the letter after a settlement was reached last year. The singer then gave the document to his half sister, Shirley Cooks, a former civil rights activist who worked alongside King.

Now, the Post reports, the letter is slated to hit the auction block on March 5, two days before the 50th anniversary of King's iconic march from Selma to Montgomery.

The relationship between Johnson and the civil rights icon recently came under scrutiny after the release of the Oscar-nominated film "Selma."

Some have accused the film of distorting the role of Johnson and depicting him as antagonistic toward King.

Director Ava DuVernay defended the movie's portrayal of LBJ, saying he was a hero who was applauded in the film.

"What I try to do is show the full arc of their relationship. Neither man was a saint. Neither man was all sinner. There were gray areas to their relationship," DuVernay told "CBS This Morning" last month.