King Family Home Cultural Landscape Report, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park
WLA Studio. 2022. King Family Home Cultural Landscape Report, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park. Cultural Landscape Report. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Atlanta, Georgia
The King Family Home is located within the Sunset Avenue Historic District in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King purchased the home at 234 Sunset Avenue in October 1964. Their chosen location in the working-class neighborhood of Vine City near downtown Atlanta reflects Dr. King’s commitment to address the universal injustices that plagued the working class and poor. The 1930s home was renovated twice under the direction of Mrs. King to meet their needs as a family with four young children and accommodate Dr. King’s commitment to his work—once prior to moving in and again after Dr. King’s death. The home included offices that supported the work of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and other organizations as well as spaces where he and Mrs. King hosted gatherings for prominent civil rights leaders. It provided a critical function during segregation because most public gathering spaces were of limits to African Americans. In January 2019, the National Park Service assumed management of the King Family Home and surrounding landscape as part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. This Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) for the King Home (1) describes the historical development of the area; (2) documents the existing site conditions; (3) provides analysis of the landscape’s potential National Register significance; (4) identifies character defining features; (5) determines appropriate treatment strategies; and (6) develops treatment recommendations that facilitate preservation of these resources, address park management concerns, and inform ongoing and proposed management decisions. The King Family Home is significant under National Register of Historic Places Criteria A and B. Areas of significance including Ethnic Heritage, Black and Social History. This report uses a provisional or proposed period of significance for evaluation of character defining features. This period is 1964 through 2004, beginning when the King family purchased the property and ending when Coretta Scott King moved out of the King Family Home. The national historical park has not determined an ultimate use for the King Family Home. Recommendations in this CLR aim to preserve the historic character of the site to allow for interpretive use of the cultural landscape. The recommended treatment of the King Family Home cultural landscape is rehabilitation, which will provide measures to protect and stabilize the property and maintain its existing form and integrity.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- WLA Studio
- Date of Issue
- 2022-01
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Keywords
- African American, Civil Rights, Civil Rights Movement, community organization, Coretta Scott King, Ethnic Heritage-Black, Georgia, King Center for Nonviolent Change, Martin Luther King Jr, MLK Jr, National Historic Landmark, residence, SCLC, segregation, Social History, Social Justice, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Sunset Avenue Historic District, Vine City
- Subjects
- CRIS-CL: 550192: Martin Luther King, Jr Birth-Home , CRIS-CL: 550107: Martin Luther King, Jr. Birth-Home Block