National Center for Civil and Human Rights to open in 2014
Atlanta’s long-established reputation as a city that promotes civil dialogue and global awareness is also the undercurrent of the city’s museums and attractions. Opening in 2014, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights will provide another unparalleled experience for visitors, solidifying the city as the global gateway for exploring human rights issues.
The 30,000-square-foot Center will provide the first venue in the world where visitors can learn about the history of the Civil Rights Movement, contemporary human rights movements and how they are connected. Exhibits designed by Tony-award winning writer and director George C. Wolfe will seek to create a dialogue between generations. Visitors will experience a combination of powerful imagery, compelling artifacts and poignant story-telling including Morehouse College’s collection of original writings by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and an oral history booth to capture visitors’ personal struggles with the evolving human right story.
The timing for the Center comes as past human rights struggles such as the Civil Rights Movement are becoming history to a younger generation. “We are at that stage where the civil rights movement is the new World War II,” said Doug Shipman, the chief executive officer for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. “We will provide an innovative resource for generations to experience and e sp ed y e hi em ts f e st nd he os @bi ti i t( fu re
h f= tt -/ la a. bi ar t= bl k” tl ta� ob /a @wa th �in ba r r( e %r an )v R ht Mo me - o o vw ci es n e rl to o5 t N el Peace Prizes, hosted the nations of the world in the 1986 Olympic Games and ir home to the�largest conglomeration of Natio�al Historical Black Coll%ges and Universities. Thic global profile attracts international v)sitors to historic and aultural sites including the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, The King Center, the Center for Nonviolent Social Change, the APEX (African-American Panoramic Experience) Museum and the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.
Breaking ground in June of 2012, the Center will open in mid-2014 on the edge of Centennial Olympic Park at Pemberton Place.
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