Sweet Auburn

Sweet Auburn An Illustrated Guide to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Park Site and Auburn Avenue Historic District Edited by Carol Ash There are many famous streets in Atlanta-most bear the word peachtree somewhere in their name-but few have a history and significance as rich as that of Auburn Avenue. From a blossoming of African-American commerce, education, and arts in the early twentieth century, to witnessing an ever-changing struggle with the onset of Jim Crow and the race riots of 1906, to the destruction of the Great Fire of 1917, to celebrating the hope and success of Martin Luther King Jr., Auburn Avenue has seen it all and continues to be a center of culture and commerce in Atlanta, and indeed, the South. In the 1920s, Auburn Avenue, with over one hundred black-owned businesses, was celebrated internationally as an African American cultural and business center on a par with Harlem and Beale Street in Memphis. This easy-to-use history and walking guide highlights such landmarks Ebenezer Baptist Church The King Center for Non-Violent Social Change The birthplace of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and other powerful symbols of African American achievement.