The Center for Civil and Human Rights in Downtown Atlanta will open to the public on June 23. Seven years in the making, the 42,000-square-foot facility is located on Pemberton Place adjacent to the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Coca, which donated the land.
The Center’s origins began with civil rights legends Evelyn Lowery and former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, and gained broad-based corporate and community support to become one of the few places in the world educating visitors on the connection between the American Civil Rights Movement and contemporary Human Rights Movements around the world.
Under the slogan “Inspiration Lives Here,” the Center will feature immersive and interactive exhibits, including the use of state-of-the-art binaural surround sound to put visitors into situations like the experience of a protester sitting at a segregated lunch counter.
Another exhibit, “Who Like Me is Threatened,” uses a mirror and sensors to recognize a visitor’s presence. A hologram approaches from the other side of the mirror and tells a brief story of their life, about how their rights are threatened because of the common trait you share with them.
The “Human Rights Around the World” wall will be a scrolling news ticker with relevant current events and interactive information tables.
Perhaps the most notable exhibit is “Voice to the Voiceless: The Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection.” Items on display will include Dr. King’s report card in public speaking from Crozier Theological Seminary (he received a C+); a comic book about MLK and the Montgomery Bus Boycott displayed as text panels; and the briefcase he was carrying the day he was assassinated in Memphis.
The opening day celebration will take place from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Pemberton Place and is free and open to the public. General admission tickets to The Center will be available for purchase following the celebration.
For more information, visit civilandhumanrights.org.
