The King Center

407 Auburn Avenue, NE., Atlanta, GA 30312, (404) 526-8985

Click Here for Hours Free admission

Across the street from his grandparent’s home, where Martin Luther King Jr. was born, is where he and his wife, Corretta Scott King’s, are laid to rest. Just blocks from the famous Ebenezer Church, where Dr. King’s maternal grandfather and father were both pastors, and where MLK served along side his father at two different times in his life as his co-pastor. The King Center serves as not only several historic sites (some of which are operated by the National Parks Service), but also as an educational center. Just across the sidewalk from the crypts of Dr and Mrs King the eternal flame is lit as a beacon of hope for all who visit.

Facebook Post from July 7, 2021:

We visited The King Center today. Many buildings are still closed due to Covid, but it was amazing all the same. I was surprised how emotional I felt standing at the crypt of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and the beautiful Coretta Scott King. We stood on the stoop of the home (his grandparents home) he was born in and entered part of the church he (and his father) gave sermons. It feels like we have come full circle from the first day of our trip at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

I am not a someone who really absorbs through reading, or being told about history in school. The experience of visiting all of these important places has really cemented civil rights history into my being.

I am SO grateful to have financial means and time to take this trip and also grateful to have this social media platform to share it with all of you in real time.

National Center for Civil and Human Rights Museum

100 Ivan Allan Jr. Blvd., Atlanta, GA 30313

Hours: Tuesday – Friday & Sunday: 12pm to 5pm and Saturdays: 10am to 5pm, Last entry at 4pm daily.

Admission: Adult: $19.99, Senior (over 65): $17.99, Child (age 7-12): $15.99, Children 6 and under: FREE

We had heard so much about this impressive museum and had very high hopes. While it offered much in the way of original Dr. King manuscripts and a plethora of information about the Civil Rights Movement, I realized that we had seen so much in person that was presented at the museum and it made me feel so overwhelming fortunate and privileged to have had the chance to travel directly to places such as Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma, Memphis and Jackson. We had visited the birthplace and assassination location of Dr. King, the home of Medgar Evers, the Edmond Pettuce Bridge, and Kelly Ingrams Park we realized that seeing the images in a museum wasn’t as impactful as it would have been without these experiences.

That said, it was a fantastic museum, full of treasures and insights. I would recommend it to future travels and I was excited for the images of the March on Washington to prepare us for a later part of our journey.