Join us for a History and Culture trip to Atlanta, GA in January 2019 to celebrate the 90th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929). The highlight of our trip will be at least two separate visits to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, which includes MLK’s boyhood home, the Ebenezer Baptist Church, the Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King tomb, and the King Center Museum/Visitor Center.
Our trip will take place during MLK weekend: Friday, January 18 - Monday, January 21, 2019. While in Atlanta there will be opportunities to visit many other noteworthy attractions such as:
- Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Atlanta History Center
- Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
- Breman Jewish Heritage & Holocaust Museum
- Buckhead (historic neighborhood)
- Chick-fil-A Backstage Home Office Tour
- CNN Studio Tour
- College Football Hall of Fame
- Delta Flight Museum
- Dixie Coca-Cola Bottling Plant
- Fernbank Museum of Natural History
- Georgia Aquarium
- Georgia Governor’s Mansion
- Georgia State Capitol
- High Museum of Art
- Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum
- Margaret Mitchell (Gone with the Wind) House
- Museum of Design Atlanta
- National Center for Civil and Human Rights
- Ponce City Market (historic food hall)
- Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking (Georgia Tech University)
- World of Coca Cola
- Etc.
Trip Logistics
For now this is strictly a “save the date” type announcement. Your hosts, Robert & Michele, plan on formalizing their travel plans in the spring of 2018 and we highly recommend participants hold off making any formal travel reservations that aren’t fully refundable until then.
Guests will be entirely responsible for their own travel plans and are welcome to choose whatever options works best for them. We expect to either drive or take the train to Atlanta and back, and stay at a moderately priced hotel. Additional details will be posted as soon as they become available.
We’ve hosted several history and culture trips in the past (New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, etc.). Previously we have setup our trips on a “buffet style” schedule, with participant able to choose whatever activities they’re most interested in – and the ability to arrive and depart whenever they like.
As an added feature we also always connect with a lot of expats and locals on our trips, to ensure we receive a strong local perspective during our visit - complete with some off-the-beaten-path recommendations, particularly in terms of places to eat.
Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site
https://www.nps.gov/malu/index.htm
The King Center
http://thekingcenter.org/plan-your-visit
Recommended Reading - The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Martin-Luther-King-Jr/dp/0446676500
Event Listing - Meetup, Facebook & Eventbrite:
https://www.meetup.com/DCHistoryAndCulture/events/245820347/?action=edit
https://www.facebook.com/events/1042744699200382/
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr., January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using the tactics of nonviolence and civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs and inspired by the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi.
King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
On October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, and the following year he and SCLC took the movement north to Chicago to work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled "Beyond Vietnam".
In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. King's death was followed by riots in many U.S. cities. Ray, who fled the country, was arrested two months later at London Heathrow Airport. Ray was sentenced to 99 years in prison for King's murder, and died in 1998 from hepatitis while serving his sentence.
King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, and as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, and a county in Washington State was also renamed for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site
The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site consists of several buildings including Martin Luther King Jr.'s boyhood home and the original Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church where King was baptized and both his father Martin Luther King Sr. and he were pastors. These places, critical to the interpretation of the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy as a leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, were included in the National Historic Site when it was established on October 10, 1980.
In total, the buildings included in the site make up 35 acres (0.14 km²). The visitor center contains a museum that chronicles the American Civil Rights Movement and the path of Martin Luther King Jr. An 1894 firehouse (Fire Station No. 6) served the Sweet Auburn community until 1991, and now contains a gift shop and an exhibit on desegregation in the Atlanta Fire Department. The "I Have a Dream" International World Peace Rose Garden, and a memorial tribute to Mohandas K. Gandhi are part of the site, as is the "International Civil Rights Walk of Fame" which commemorates some of the courageous pioneers who worked for social justice.
Annual events celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January typically draw large crowds. Speakers have included Presidents of the United States, national and local politicians, and civil rights leaders. Remembrances are also held during Black History Month (February), and on the anniversary of King's April 4, 1968, assassination in Memphis, Tennessee.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr._National_Historic_Site
We hope you can join us - thanks!
Robert Kelleman
Disclaimer: Guests of this trip are fully responsible for their own travel plans, and participate at their own risk. The event organizers are not liable for any situations that arise related to this program.
