Black Heritage Sites to Visit in Atlanta

A good way to observe Black History Month is with a family trip to Atlanta, Georgia, where three attractions speak poignantly to the long struggle for the equality and human rights of Black Americans.

Begin at 35-acre Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, which includes several important sites related to the life and work of the civil rights leader. Along with the house where King was born and other private homes in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood, the park encompasses Ebenezer Baptist Church where Martin Luther King Jr. was baptized and later became co-pastor with his father.

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Ebenezer Baptist Church was the location for the founding meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which organized the historical civil rights protests beginning with the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. The best way to visit Ebenezer Baptist Church is with a ranger-guided tour, where you’ll get a deeper understanding of its history and significance not only in King’s life, but also in the Civil Rights movement. You can listen to sermons by Martin Luther King or watch a video of Dr. King’s sister talking about the family.

Between these two sites is Historic Fire Station No. 6, Atlanta’s first fire station to be racially integrated. The fire station will get more attention from younger kids, with a 1927 fire truck and exhibits on firefighting. Volunteers tell stories about people who lived in the neighborhood.

Head down the road to APEX Museum for stories of Atlanta’s past and exhibits featuring African American history and culture. Interactive exhibits, children’s programs and tours are designed to create a connection between visitors and the past.

In downtown Atlanta, The Center for Civil and Human Rights is much more than a museum. Its exhibits take visitors inside the troubled past and struggle to break free of Jim Crow laws and entrenched discrimination. Atlanta was at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and ‘60s and the center puts visitors in the midst of it with period recordings, films, interviews and life-sized displays.

These include protest posters and videos, period TV news broadcasts, and personal accounts that bring visitors into the struggle. A full-scale replica of the Greyhound bus that carried Freedom Riders in 1961 is brought to life with recorded personal accounts and a film shot inside the bus. Visitors can sit at a replica of the lunch counter that was the scene of a historic sit-in; hear the insults and threats protesters endured.

The center goes beyond the American Civil Rights Movement, extending its scope to include a variety of human rights issues and movements, including women’s rights, apartheid, human trafficking, child labor and even bullying.

The center’s lessons in non-violent protest are especially timely, and resonate with today’s teens.