DiscoverAtlanta.com homepage
Loading

The new MLK statue at the Georgia State Capitol was unveiled in August. (Georgia Governor's Office)

Where to See Atlanta’s Civil Rights Monuments

Atlanta is widely known as the spiritual center of the American civil rights movement. But even before leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Andrew Young became icons of the movement, African Americans in the city were paving the way for the tumult and change to come.

Several of the city’s civil rights monuments can, not surprisingly, be found at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, but there are others, including a statue of Dr. King at the Georgia State Capitol.

Here are 10 of our favorite monuments. Some are familiar; others–not so well-known–are equally important to the city’s legacy.

10 Must-See Atlanta Civil Rights Monuments

Martin Luther King Jr. Statue 

Find this MLK statue at the Georgia Capitol. (📷 Georgia Governer’s Office)

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is an icon of the American civil rights movement. An alumnus of both Atlanta’s Booker T. Washington High School and Morehouse College, Dr. King went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Location: Georgia State Capitol
Artist: Martin Dawe

Andrew Young Statue

“Visit” Andrew Young in Downtown Atlanta.(📷 Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs)

A civil rights activist and protégé of Dr. King, Andrew Young became mayor of Atlanta and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Jimmy Carter. He worked with Dr. King at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, coordinating efforts to desegregate the South.

Location: Corner of Andrew Young International Boulevard and Spring Street
Artist: John Paul Harris

John Wesley Dobbs Statue, “Through His Eyes”

Britney Nesbit, left, and Jessica Nelson, “Look Through His Eyes.” (📷 Will Howcroft)

John Wesley Dobbs was a civic and political force in Atlanta and was known as the unofficial “mayor” of Atlanta’s famed Auburn Avenue.

Location: Auburn Avenue at Fort Street
Artist: Ralph Helmick

Charles Lincoln Harper Statue

Charles Lincoln Harper was the first principal of Atlanta’s Booker T. Washington High School, the city’s first post-6th grade public school for African Americans. He was president of the Atlanta branch of the NAACP.

Location: Ashby Garden Park at Ashby Circle NW and Mayson Turner Road
Artist: Ed Dwight

“Expelled Because of Their Color”

They were expelled then reseated. (📷 Georgia Governor’s office)

This monument pays tribute to African American legislators in Georgia who were expelled from the Georgia General Assembly during Reconstruction because they were Black. Led by Henry McNeal Turner, the legislators successfully lobbied the federal government to reseat them. (New Georgia Encyclopedia). 

Location: Georgia State Capitol
Artist: John Thomas Riddle Jr.

Benjamin Mays Statue

A mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Benjamin Mays was president of Morehouse College from 1940 to 1967. As the first African American president of the Atlanta Board of Education, he presided over desegregation of Atlanta Public Schools.

Location: Morehouse College
Artist: Ed Dwight

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Mural

This 125-foot-long mural is a showstopper. (📷 Jenni Gartman, AtlantaPhotos.com)

This large mural pays tribute to civil rights icons including Rosa Parks, Bobby Kennedy, Malcolm X and Emmett Till, to name a few. Also depicted is Birmingham segregationist Bull Connor, the public official known for ordering police to turn dogs and fire hoses on civil rights demonstrators. The mural has been taken down while improvements are made in the area. It will be reinstalled at a different location. 

Location: 450 Auburn Ave.
Artist: Louis Delsarte

“Lifting the Veil of Ignorance”

This statue is a duplicate of the original.(📷 Booker T. Washington High School)

This statue, according to the Booker T. Washington Society, portrays Washington lifting the veil of ignorance from his people, symbolized by a terrified slave who holds a book representing education. The Atlanta statue is a duplicate of the original, which stands on the grounds of Tuskegee University and the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site.

Location: Booker T. Washington High School
Artist: Charles Keck

Homage To King

Homage To King
Atlantans are very familiar with this popular work of art. (📷 Benjamin A. Pete)

This steel sculpture welcomes visitors to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park.

Location: Intersection of Ponce de Leon Avenue and Freedom Parkway
Artist: Xavier Campaney Medina

“Behold”

The statue depicts an African ritual of lifting a newborn up toward the heavens and reciting, “Behold the only thing greater than yourself.”

Location: Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park
Artist: Patrick Morelli

Learn more about Atlanta’s civil rights legacy. And remember to visit Atlanta’s National Center for Civil and Human Rights, where you can sit at a mock lunch counter wearing headphones that deliver angry insults in an exhibit that evokes the lunch counter sit-ins of the 1960s. For more Atlanta civil rights history, consider Bicycle Tours of Atlanta’s Journey for Civil Rights tour.

Journalist Carol Carter writes and edits for Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Discover More

Get to know Atlanta, and discover the best things to do around the city.