United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon viewed the Martin Luther King Jr. papers collection Thursday in honor of the Nobel laureate and his historic impact on civil and human rights around the globe.

Ban said he felt deeply privileged to see the "prized treasure" of papers owned by Morehouse College, King's alma mater, but now temporarily housed at the Atlanta University Center's Woodruff Library.

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U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (left) looks over the Martin Luther King Jr. papers Thursday in Atlanta. With him is Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin (right).

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"Over the years, my admiration for Dr. King has grown even more profound, as I have grown older, the world more complex, and the rights he so valiantly fought for more acutely important than ever around the world," said Ban.

His two-day visit includes stops today at the Governor's Mansion and Centers for Disease Control and, on Friday, the Carter Center.

The sampling of documents made available to him included King's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, a printed version of his 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech and a program from the March on Washington, and a Blue Book containing answers to exam questions for a Bible course at Morehouse in which he earned an "A".

Ban was especially interested in the correspondence between King and then United Nations Under Secretary Ralph J. Bunche, two men he said "struggled together for the ideas they shared."

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin was among local dignitaries on hand, and she hailed Ban's visit as a coup for the city and its status as a center for civil and human rights.

The career diplomat's visit corresponds with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an historic United Nation's document that recognizes the rights and dignity of all people, and the 40th anniversary of the King's assassination.

The Atlanta trip is part of a national tour Ban began last summer to learn more about the United States, communicate the United Nation's mission and improve how it works with its host country. Previous stops were Chicago, Houston and San Francisco.

This is Ban's first visit to Atlanta since becoming secretary-general in January 2007, replacing Kofi Annan.