Last updated: January 24, 2018
Place
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park
NPS
Quick Facts
Location:
Atlanta, Georgia
Designation:
National Historic Site
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site and Preservation District, located in Atlanta, Georgia, preserves, protects, and interprets for the benefit, inspiration, and education of present and future generations, the places where Martin Luther King, Jr. was born, lived, worked, worshiped, and is buried; while interpreting the life experiences and significance of one of the most influential Americans in the 20th century.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is honored throughout the United States and the world for his leadership in the struggle for equality, human rights, his philosophy of nonviolent social change, and his work to promote world peace and economic equality. Beginning with the 1955 bus boycott in Alabama, until his assassination on April 4, 1968, Dr. King emerged as leader of the modern American civil rights movement for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize. His widow, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, acted upon her vision to preserve the works and ideals of her husband. In June of 1968, she founded and was the first president of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. She later advocated for the establishment of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site which was to become a unit of the National Park Service.
The park’s mission is to preserve, protect, and interpret the places where Martin Luther King, Jr. was born, where he lived, worked, worshipped, and is buried. The sites key destinations include the King Center and Freedom Hall, Heritage Sanctuary at Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, the tombs of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, the Birth Home, Historic Fire Station No. 6, and the National Park Service Visitor Center.