In the days when legal segregation was as prevalent as blooming wisteria in April in the Deep South, Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood stood out as one of the most prominent African-American districts in the United States. And not just because a young many named Martin Luther King Jr., was growing up there.
The district centering around Auburn Avenue east of downtown boasted black physicians, dentists, attorneys and business entrepreneurs. WERD, based here, was the first black-owned and operated radio station in the United States. Atlanta Life Insurance Co., the largest black-controlled stockholder life insurance company in the nation, was founded in 1905 in a building at 148 Auburn Ave.
It was the same Aburn Avenue that in 1956 was called by Fortune magazine “The Richest Negro Street in the World.”
Which is not to imply that Sweet Auburn was without its poor. Mixed in with the two-and three-story Victorian homes are the shotgun row houses of the lower class. And you can still see this urban mosaic today. It was in many ways American in a microcosm with on exception – all the residents were black.
In order to gain an insight into King, it is important to understand Sweet Auburn. Rangers at the Martin Luther King Jr., National Historic Site tell about the thriving neighborhood as well as King’s life, emphasizing events that molded him into a determined champion for civil rights. His first contact with racism was at age six when he was told that he and a young white friend could no longer play together. His first taste of freedom was a teenage tobacco worker in Connecticut. Perhaps his foremost role model was his father, the Rev. Martin Luther King Sr., who succeeded his father-in-law as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1931, two years after Martin Jr. was born.
When you see the birthplace at 501 Auburn Ave. the initial reaction may be a surprise. Many expect a small bungalow or shotgun shack. But the Martin Luther King Jr., birthplace is a proud and handsome Queen Anne-style frame house with two full stories and a roomy front porch. It is spacious inside with a warm front parlor downstairs and comfortable, cozy bedrooms upstairs.
As we walked through this historic structure, out guide told us about a home where family cohesiveness and strict discipline were the rules. Playtime– it is said that the King children were partial to games such as Monopoly and Old Maid– did not begin until chores were completed.
Martin’s jobs included stoking the furnace in the colder months and brushing crumbs off the dinner table with the half moon-shaped crumb remover you can see in the dining room. Another after-dinner chore was washing dishes, a job the King children rotates and one which Martin protested, claiming it was women’s work.
Martin and his brother also objected when it came time to learn piano. His mother, Alberta, taught piano to neighborhood children and tried to pass the talent on to her own. However, it was common for the King brothers to pound on the piano with a vengeance in hopes that if they damaged it their lessons would cease. The sturdy piano still sits in the corner of the parlor, a testament to their failure in that regard.
Similar personal items individualize the bedrooms. The one with the frilly, feminine wallpaper, the doll propped on the coverlet and the little gloves on the bureau belonged to sister Christine, while the big bedroom with the chifforobe (a singular piece of furniture having both drawers and space for hanging clothes) and cedar chest belonged to the parents; a Bible rests on the dresser. This was also the room in which all the King children first saw the light of day.
The visitor center is the place to go for those born after 1960 or those who need a refresher course on what precipitated the civil-rights movement. Through life-size displays, such as a replicated segment of a voting-rights march, vintage video and posted commentary, the spirit of the era is explained succinctly. It is hard to believe, even for those old enough to remember, the extent of Jim Crow laws that once ruled the South as late as the 1960s. On the promenade approaching the visitor center is a statue of King’s role model, Mahatma Gandhi. Visitors reach it via the Walk of Fame, a sidewalk marked with footprints of civil-rights icons.
While the birthplace reflect Martin the child, the museum at the Martin Luther King Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change, one block west, focuses on King, the public figure. The center is a working body founded in June 1968 by King’s widow, the late Coretta Scott King, and is currently run by daughter Bernice King. Its purpose is to continue King’s efforts and promote his legacy. While the King Library and Archives is open only to researchers by appointment, the museum is open to all.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King are entombed in the center’s courtyard in a white marble crypt surrounded by a reflecting pool and courtyard. Come by any time and you will see five water fountains symbolizing the five hues of humanity, and an eternal light guarding the grave site. The water symbolized tranquility and the flame stands for King’s spirit of piece and brotherhood. The epitaph reads, “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty I’m Free at Last.”
If you go:
Hours: Martin Luther King National Historic Site: Open Daily 9am- 5pm
Admission: Free
Tickets: The park is self guided but birthplace admission is by ticket only, distributed on a first-come-first-served basis; this is a limit of 15 persons per tour. Registration is at the visitors center.
Also Note: The interior of Ebenezer Baptist Church, also part of the national historic site was recently refurbished to look as it did in the 1960s, is part of the national historic site and is open daily.
Further information: (404) 331 5190 www.nps.gov/malu
The Museum at the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change
Hours: Open daily, 9am- 5pm
Admission: Free
Further Information: (404) 526-8900 www.thekingcenter.org