National Civil Rights Museum
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | If you haven’t been, you need to visit the National Civil Rights Museum in downtown Atlanta. The setting is superb: the parking garage serves three museums, with a central green vista from the garage to the Civil Rights and Coca Cola Museums and to the Georgia Aquarium. Parking is a flat $10. From Gwinnett, take the Williams Street exit off I-75/85, turn right onto Ivan Allen Boulevard, and the museums are a block away on your left.
The Civil Rights Museum has been open for about a year—–and is attracting acclaim for the way the story is presented. It seeks to put the Civil Rights struggle in connection to today’s global Human Rights issues.
It’s a great place for parents and grandparents to take the children. We took our two granddaughters the other day, and were pleased at their reaction and understanding through the many exhibits and film, and their use of interactive media to absorb the story.
Among the highlights of the museum are items from The Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection. Visitors can view many of the personal papers and items from the collection, some presented on a rotating basis. On display through the end of August is “Man Behind the Movement,” detailing the inner workings of the movement, drawing on materials showing Dr. King to be an avid reader and music fan, and a person who still worked when even on vacation.
Another element of the current exhibit is “Rolls Down Like Water,” highlighting how the Civil Rights movement began in the 1950s and 1960s, showing sometimes difficult-to-view brutality as black Americans experienced injustices as they sought to achieve their own personal rights. You see dramatic film of the Freedom Riders working their way through the South, often targets of violence; of the March on Washington; and hear the inspiring words in the beautiful cadence of that day from Dr. King. It is a stirring experience to hear those words again.
The current final exhibit is the Spark of Conviction, emphasizing today’s more global efforts of Human Rights. In one exhibit, it features tyrants of human rights, from Hitler to Mao, to Idi Amin, Joseph Stalin and others. Another exhibit shows present-day dictators in power around the world, listing their assault on the rights of individuals. It also focuses on champions of world human rights, giving you an uplift as you exit this exhibit.
All this is presented against the backdrop of an understanding of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This contains a set of principles for governments to use to be accountable to protect the rights and freedoms of their people.
Tickets to the Civil Rights Museum cost $15 for adults, $10 for children 7-12, with those 6 and under free. Seniors, other students and educators get in for $13. There are deeply discounted tickets for active military family members, and the entry is free for active duty military.
While reading the many boards and seeing the movies can be time consuming, there are benches and seats to rest. We suggest many people would want at least three hours to adequately feel you got your money’s worth. The Civil Rights Museum is a major addition to the Atlanta historical and cultural attractions.
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