Reflections: Georgia African American Historic Preservation Network, 2022 March

Historic Preservation Division

Volume XVII, No. 4

March 2022

M.L.King, Jr. Streets: Georgia's Memorials to an Unfinished Dream

Derek H. Alderman, Special Contributor Professor of Geography, University of Tennessee

The naming of streets for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) is one of the most common and controversial memorials to the famed civil rights leader. As of 2020, one could find King's roadways in at least 995 places in the U.S., distributed across 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico (in addition to the several others found internationally). Well over three-quarters of these named streets are found in the Southeast, and Georgia--King's home state--lays claim to the largest number of cities and towns with an MLK street (at least 136) in the nation. These asphalt memorials stretch from Adairsville to Zebulon and in all major geographic regions of the state.1
Because of their practical importance, street names inscribe the past into many practices and texts of daily life--from travel apps and road signs to the postal service. Street naming brings a tangibility, visibility, and everyday familiarity to commemoration not always possible with statues, museums, or even evocative memorials such as the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta. Moreover, roads have special meaning to African American communities given the historical role of movement and transportation in challenging racism, from the Underground Railroad and
1 Information on the number and location of roadways named in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. collected over several years by Derek Alderman, Janna Caspersen, Russell Weaver, Chris McPhilamy, and Matt Mitchelson using census data, postal delivery data, online mapping applications, and various phone and business directories.

M.L.King Jr. Drive in Atlanta runs east to west for seven miles. Photo Credit: HPD/Melissa Jest
Great Migration to The Negro Motorist Green Book, Freedom Rides and more recently, Black Lives Matter street demonstrations.2
Martin Luther King streets frequently serve as parade and protest routes for communities and activists seeking to associate themselves with or expand upon King's memory and message. More than just a street sign or passive memorial, MLK roads are highly charged cultural arenas for contemporary racial struggles.3 When hundreds of White and Black protestors in Macon marched in support of murdered George Floyd in June 2020,
2 Alderman, Derek H. "Naming Streets for Martin Luther King Jr.: No Easy Road." In Landscape and Race in the United States, Routledge, 2012, pp. 219-242. 3 Dwyer, Owen J., and Derek H. Alderman. Civil Rights Memorials and the Geography of Memory. University of Georgia Press, 2008.

vandals retaliated by defacing several Martin Luther King Boulevard signs near the Douglass Theatre, founded in 1911 by African American entrepreneur Charles Henry Douglass, and wrote racist graffiti outside the Harriet Tubman Museum, which lies just off the named highway.4
We often strongly associate Martin Luther King Jr. streets with prominent metropolitan areas. In Savannah, for example, King is the site of the city's heavily trafficked visitor information center, the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, as well as urban redevelopment efforts. Yet, a majority of MLK streets in Georgia are in jurisdictions with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants--small towns such as Ailey, Harrison, Irwinton, and Tennille. African Americans tend to make up at least 20% of the population in Georgia communities with a MLK road.5 Although there are noteworthy instances of Whites and other racial and ethnic groups supporting and even helping lead the renaming cause, local Black activism is the predominant driver. Proposals to attach King's name to streets often originate with local chapters of the continued on page 6
4 Slinkard, Caleb. "Macon Replaces Defaced MLK signs, Erases Racist Graffiti Outside of Tubman Museum." The Macon Telegraph June 20, 2020. https:// www.macon.com/news/local/article243568767.html 5 Alderman, Derek. "Martin Luther King Jr. Streets in Georgia." New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Apr 13, 2021. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/ articles/history-archaeology/martin-luther-king-jrstreets-in-georgia/

He Knew It Like Breathing: Discover Designer Bartholomew Duhart
Oby Brown, Special Contributor Director of Communications, Historic Macon Foundation
Bartholomew Duhart's work always attracted attention. He was just a builder and general contractor, but he never was satisfied with the conventional. Whenever he could, he thought up unusual touches that set his work apart.

If you have ever driven down Pio Nono Avenue in Macon, Georgia near the Frank Johnson Recreation Center, you've seen one of his creations. Off the side of the road, in the 1600 block, sits a cemetery beside the Jesus Mission of Love Holiness Church. You can't miss the big arches at the entrance. Duhart designed and built them as a tribute to his mother and father who are buried there. In fact, the arc of his life's work stretches across the Unionville neighborhood. That's where you'll find much of his genius-- at least what is still standing.
Some artists sketch or paint. Others work in clay. Duhart was a gifted builder driven to create in a way many have never seen. He was fascinated with curves and circular shapes. "He would always think out of the box," said Cecilia Duhart Taylor, the oldest of his three daughters. "He loved doing unusual buildings and brickwork. He wanted to catch your eye and make you wonder what it was. He didn't think of run-of-the-mill work. ... A lot of people would ask him to build for them because they knew it was going to be unusual. It was truly his gift. ... He was one of a kind."

Arched entry to Pio Nono Avenue Cemetery in Macon was designed by builder Bartholomew Duhart. Courtesy of Oby Brown
Duhart's studies at Ballard-Hudson Senior High School included masonry classes which helped stake the course of his career. Later, he took building-related classes at night -- mechanical drawing, blueprint reading -- through the Masonry Union to enhance his skills. Duhart -- friends called him "Bart" or "Sugar" -- married the love of his life, Clara, when she was 19. Mrs. Duhart lives in the Atlanta area now with one of their daughters.
In a 1978 interview with fabric artist Wini McQueen, Duhart discussed one of his most memorable projects: a multilevel, 1,200-square-foot restaurant. It had six circular windows, each of them 8 feet in diameter. He explained it to McQueen: "Circular windows seemed special to me. I'd never seen another building with six (such) windows." The restaurant stood for just 18 months before Duhart sold the property to the city of Macon to build the Frank Johnson Recreation Center.

Two other projects still stand nearby, off Columbus Road at the intersection of Mercer University Drive In Spirit Saving Bank, and The Prayer Tower. James Taylor, Duhart's son-in-law said Duhart built them in the late '80s. The bank's last use was as a Chicken Wings & More restaurant.

Behind the bank-turned-restaurant stands what must have been the talk of the neighborhood at the time: a Prayer tower. It looks like a space-age treehouse atop a huge metal pedestal. This prayer room itself is about 12 feet across and more than 8 feet off the ground. Many of its windows are shattered, though, and some of the copper shingles are long gone.

Bartholomew Duhart (1936 - 2006) Courtesy of Oby Brown.

Duhart built homes -- some for his five brothers and two sisters -- and churches too (two of the churches are on Log Cabin Road). He and his brother James ran Duhart Brothers & Builders.
Another brother, Harold, who is a professional architect, says

2

about his brother's work: "It certainly cannot be put on paper," And in fact much of what I do is too complicated to draw. ... [Duhart] often said `I am the one who should have been the architect.' "

Daughter Cecilia Taylor agreed, " He knew it like breathing. He could think up something in his mind and draw it out."

McQueen was one of the first people to take note of Duhart. She set out to incorporate different aspects of Black life "into the history of white Macon" in the late '70s. She wanted to "find and document Black people as the builders of this material world that we live in in Macon."

"We were invisible" McQueen said.

Her daily travels often took her down Montpelier Avenue. There she saw "a gigantic, arching sculpture, maybe 20 feet high" made of "slanted legs of brick" in front of a simple white house. Although that sculpture is no longer standing, McQueen said, "That was the structure that attracted me to Duhart's work." His projects, she said, "attracted me because they were so Africanlike -- round windows, ... doors that were different." Soon McQueen had reached out to Duhart and scheduled an interview with him. "He was such a self-contained, self-made person," she said, "very quiet, soft-spoken. He seemed to be very spiritual."

The Prayer Tower stands more than eight feet high. Passersby remark how it resembles a tree house. Courtesy Oby Brown
to him, we would have had more to celebrate. ... I want his memory to stay with us."

Taylor feels the same way. She is proud of her dad and it's not just because of the things he built. Her father was also a minister, answering the call to the ministry in 1980. All during his life, Duhart looked for ways to give second chances to folks who needed a break, even if they'd just gotten out of prison. "He tried to get them on the right track," Mrs. Taylor said. "He would make you feel like you had dignity. He really wanted to help our people, the downtrodden, the thrown away. He had a compassionate heart."

Duhart's design of the In Spirit Bank featured arches and circular windows. The property later became a restaurant. Photo taken 2019 Courtesy of Oby Brown.
A collage of Duhart's work was part of McQueen's 1999 exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Sciences titled "Make Do: African American Crafts in Central Georgia." She worries that his story and legacy, like that of so many other talented Black achievers, will be lost to time. "You can't find anything visual about him," she said. "In the Black community, you don't have ... the leisure to create these records. So these stories, especially of Black Americans' histories, get erased. It's destruction of our history. Duhart is a perfect example."

Duhart died in 2006. Family members had been planning a 50th-anniversary wedding celebration for him and wife Clara right before he died. Taylor remembers the stories many told about him at his funeral which lasted more than 3 hours. She said she still runs into people today who share stories about her dad. "You can't imagine that one person could build the way he did," she said. "Now, I just want to touch the brick he touched."
~ Oby Brown is the Director of Communications at Historic Macon Foundation in Macon, Georgia.
Historic Macon Foundation featured Mr. Brown's blog on its website in February 2021 -- http://www.historicmacon.org/ wwwhistoricmaconorg/blog/tag/Duhart

She added, "He was a visionary. If society had been more open

3

Dixville--Brunswick's Urban Neighborhood Honored as Historic District

Nedra Deadwyler, Special Contributor Public historian and Founder, Civil Bikes of Atlanta

Dixville is a historic Black enclave in Brunswick and one of the best examples of an integrated urban area.1 It was originally settled in 1875, by planters

According to the 1890 Census, Black men were day laborers in these same industries and Black women worked as laundresses, domestic workers, and cooks--

displaced from St. Simon Island due to extreme weather. By all typical occupations under the racial codes and laws

1880, freed Blacks and white workers have moved onto these that governed Black life. Racial segregation prevented

lands that were low-lying, under-utilized, and inexpensive.2 integrated workspaces, advances in job status, and barriers

They helped create a largely residential area covering 41

to pathways for Black economic expansion.7

acres with a few local businesses that catered to the residents Dixville National Register District, listed in 2019, is

and ultimately helped to create a

bounded by Prince Street

self-sustaining Black community

to the south, Stonewall

by the 1950s.3 Among the

and Martin Luther King,

more than one hundred

Jr. Boulevard (formerly

historic buildings are examples

Cochran Avenue and a

of vernacular residential

rail line) to the west, and

architecture that coincides with

George Street to the north

working communities such as

and Palmetto Avenue

"shotgun, central hallway, gabled

to the east. The 112

wing cottages, Georgian cottages,

contributing structures

hall-parlor, side-gabled cottages,

were built during two

bungalows, and ranch house"...

economic boom periods

"represent[ing] house types popular in the late 19th to mid20th century."4 Dixville shows

The streets in Dixville neighborhood follow a grid pattern which resulted in consistent streetscapes, with rows of residential houses sharing similar setbacks. Credit National Register photo file/HPD

-- the shipping industry boom, 1900- 1919, and post-war military expansion

constancy as a residential community and demonstrates a from 1950 to 1967.8 Brunswick survived two major natural

transition into a predominately African American historic disasters, a tidal wave in 1898 and Hurricane Dora in

neighborhood dating back to the period just after the close 1964.9 The damage from the 1898 tropical hurricane was so

of the Civil War.5

severe that every business, warehouse, and residence "was

inundated for an average depth of five feet" of water.10

The Dixville neighborhood was largely settled during the

New South period (1880-1919) of high industrialization

After 1914, Dixville became a cohesive Black neighborhood

across the South. During the post-Reconstruction era,

complete with Black-owned businesses, churches, parks,

Whites held higher positions in shipping and on the
wharves, at the sawmills, and for the railroad company.6
1 Destefano, Jamie L. Dixville Historic District. National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Nomination, January 2016. Last accessed April 21, 2020. 2 Destefano, Dixville Historic District Nomination. 3 Destefano, Dixville Historic District Nomination. 4 Destefano, Dixville Historic District Nomination. 5 EDAW Inc., "City of Brunswick, Georgia Community Agenda," Prepared for the City of Brunswick, May 2008. https://www.dca.ga.gov/sites/default/files/brunswickci.community_agenda_plan_2008.pdf 6 Destefano, Dixville Historic District Nomination.

and some home ownership.11 The oldest Black church
7 Hardy, Bradley L., Trevon D. Logan, John Parman, "The Historical Role of Race and Policy for Regional Inequality.", The Hamilton Project, September 2018, p.6. 8 Destefano, Dixville Historic District Nomination. 9 Tate, Brittany, "Church Celebrates 125th Anniversary", The Brunswick News, May 27, 2016. https://thebrunswicknews.com/life/church-celebrates-th-anniversary/ article_c4f5e2fa-d5eb-54ef-ac40-008788aedd2f.html, last accessed April 16, 2020. 10"Brunswick Storm-Swept: Georgia Sea Coast Town Inundated and Several Lives and Much Property Lost; Sea Water Floods the City; Vessels Driven Ashore, Locomotive Fires Extinguished, Wharves and Docks Devastated, and houses wrecked by a Furious Wind," New York Times, 3 October 1898. Accessed April 17, 2020. 11 Destefano, Dixville Historic District Nomination.

4

in Dixville is First Friendship Baptist Church, founded in 1808. It provides a narrative to the development of a community and offers material culture of the past.12 The church, which was built in 1903 at 1010 Lee Street where it still stands, had three to four prior locations where the congregation meet outdoors or inside of businesses like Wheeler's Meat Shop and the Grist Mill.13 The church is constructed with heart pine wood, a common building material in Historic Dixville, and has pointed arch stainedglass windows. The style is "restrained" Gothic Revival with a pyramid roof.14 15 First Friendship has undergone several changes. The original building was completely replaced in 1903 due to a tropical storm that damaged the wood-frame construction.16 A brick veneer and a social building with a connecting covered breezeway were added.17 The church maintains its deep connection to the surrounding community where three to four generations of founding families remain in attendance in the congregation.18
Another building of significance to the story of Dixville is a Folk Victorian house at 1600 London Street and one of the
12 Tate, "Church."https://thebrunswicknews.com/life/church-celebrates-th-anniversary/article_c4f5e2fa-d5eb-54ef-ac40-008788aedd2f.html, 13 Ibid. 14 Destefano, Dixville Historic District Nomination. 15 Tate, "Church."https://thebrunswicknews.com/life/church-celebrates-th-anniversary/article_c4f5e2fa-d5eb-54ef-ac40-008788aedd2f.html, 16 Ibid. 17 Destefano, Dixville Historic District Nomination. 18 Tate, "Church."https://thebrunswicknews.com/life/church-celebrates-th-anniversary/article_c4f5e2fa-d5eb-54ef-ac40-008788aedd2f.html,

14 resources that were built before 1900. Originally the home of a planter, it later became the location of Tattnall and Hardy, a Black-owned stevedore business.19 By 1890, the Harry Tatnall family occupied the house and he first worked as a stevedore on Bay Street. In 1905 he opened his own stevedore business which he ran from this house. Until this day, a member of the Tatnall family owns the house.20
A third site of significance is Dixville Park, renamed the Inez Williams Park by Brunswick City Commissioners in 2004. Williams, well known in the community, was called the "Mayor of Dixville" for her service and for organizing the American Red Cross chapter at First Friendship Baptist Church.21 The park is bounded by Prince, Gordon, and Johnston Streets, and was designated in 1955 on what had been vacant land. This type of development further supports Dixville as a solidified community.22 The park has concrete sidewalks, a playground, greenspace, and basketball courts.23 Dixville exemplifies an urban Black community of this era, 1880-1967, and demonstrates how cohesion helps to develop and maintain such a community for several decades.
19 Destefano, Dixville Historic District Nomination. 20 Destefano, Dixville Historic District Nomination. 21 Official Minutes, Commission of the City of Brunswick, Georgia, Regular Meeting, Wednesday, July 7, 2004, 6:30 pm, Old City Hall, http://www.brunswickga.org/2004/07-07-2004.PDF 22 Destefano, Dixville Historic District Nomination. 23 Destefano, Dixville Historic District Nomination.

Inez Williams Park (formerly Dixville Park) serves both as a memorial to a local leader and as a community asset for Dixville residents. The park is noted as a contributing resource within the Dixville National Register historic district listed in 2019. Credit:National Register photo file/HPD
5

M.L.King, Jr. Streets: Georgia's Memorial To An Unfinished Dream
Derrick H. Alderman, continued from page 1

NAACP and SCLC, African American clergy and elected officials, and various other minority-led community improvement associations and coalitions.6
For many Black activists behind King's memorialization, the road naming process represents a strategy for creating a more inclusive commemorative and political atmosphere within their communities, exercising their right to occupy and shape public spaces, and carving out a greater sense of belonging in a nation with a tradition of marginalizing their histories and identities. Indeed, running parallel to MLK Boulevard in Columbus is an two-mile-plus outdoor learning trail that also bears the civil rights leader's name. Created in 2016 by the non-profit community development organization "Turn Around Columbus," the trail uses informational panels to weave the memory of an international icon with local civil rights history--from path-breaking African American educational and political leaders in Columbus to the city's 1971 fire bombings sparked by the shooting of a Black youth by a White police officer.7
In some cities, such as Atlanta, Columbus, Douglas, Sandersville, and Tifton, naming streets for Martin Luther King, Jr. took place as early as the 1970s. However, most Georgia communities honoring King with a road name did so after the creation of the MLK national holiday in the mid-1980s. Local holiday celebration commissions have led several of the state's streetnaming campaigns, such as in Rome and Commerce for example.8 More than fifty years since King's assassination, communities continue to memorialize him
6 Alderman, Derek H. "A Street Fit for a King: Naming Places and Commemoration in the American South." The Professional Geographer 52, no. 4 (2000): 672684. 7 Rice, Mark. "Columbus Marks MLK Day by Finishing One Project, Starting Another with His Dream in Mind." The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer January 18, 2021. https://www. ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/article248543290. html; the author is indebted to Dr. Jordan Brasher of Columbus State University for sharing information and photographs of the MLK Outdoor Learning Trail. 8 Alderman, Derek H. "Creating a New Geography of Memory in the South: The Politics of (Re) Naming Streets in Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr." PhD Dissertation, Department of Geography, University of Georgia, Athens, 1998.

on roadways and dedicate them in January: Conyers did so in 2021.
The widespread place of King Streets across cities and towns belies the great struggles that surround these named roads. The struggle begins with the very proposal to rename a street. Location plays a central role, as municipal leaders and citizens struggle to decide which street is best to rename.9 The city of Cartersville, like many Georgia communities, settled on its choice of road only after a series of petitions, counterpetitions, and debates over alternative streets and whether those avenues do justice to the civil rights leader's legacy.10 In Sylvester, where controversy over street naming brought a boycott of city businesses, two Black city council members opposed a proposal to place King's name on a road that dead-ended into a poor, deteriorating neighborhood.11
Many local African American leaders and activists seek to rename major thoroughfares that elevate King's visibility, signal a community-wide investment in his memory, and challenge the traditional racial and economic divides that have historically constrained Black expression. The capacity of a street to touch and connect different social groups makes naming a powerful and controversial commemorative practice. Indeed, these proposals to re-identify thoroughfares often confront significant White public opposition. When elected officials finally approve remembering King on a road, it is often a street of limited size, reach and prominence or one largely segregated to the Black neighborhoods that frequently face significant development challenges. For some, this marginalization of King's name, particularly in the face of Black requests not to do so, has transformed what was supposed to be a symbol of civil rights progress into a reminder of continued inequality and disenfranchisement.12
9 Alderman, Derek H. "Creating a New Geography of Memory in the South: (Re)naming of Streets in Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr." Southeastern Geographer 36, no. 1 (1996): 51-69. 10 Vejnoska, Jill. "Cartersville: One City, Divided." Atlanta Journal Constitution October 27 1996, p. C2. 11 Towns, Hollis R. "Back Streets Get King Name." Atlanta Journal Constitution October 15 1993, p. F1. 12 Caliendo, Guillermo G. "MLK Boulevard: Material Forms of Memory and the Social Contestation of Racial Signification." Journal of Black Studies 42, no. 7 (2011): 11481170.

These decisions on where (or where not) to remember King publicly have clearly affected the social characteristics of streets identified with him. Census blocks containing Martin Luther King streets in the Southeastern US are predominantly Black. Georgia's King roads pass through areas that exhibit a higher percentage of African American population than in MLK neighborhoods for the rest of the United States and its regions along with a greater degree of racial segregation, higher poverty rates, lower levels of educational attainment, and a greater presence of vacant housing.13 White business operators and property owners are especially vocal opponents to naming their thoroughfares for King, often citing the cost and inconvenience of an address change. This reasoning rings hollow for long oppressed communities who have endured so much.
These seemingly practical concerns often mask deeper White anxieties about protecting long-standing racial boundaries and privilege. Some opponents go on the record with the unfounded assertion that King's name will stigmatize their neighborhood and lower property values.14 Even in King's hometown of Atlanta, commercial interests resisted, although unsuccessfully, the naming of a street in his honor--a startling thought given that MLK Drive is now a major landmark and site of development in the state capital.15 Business owners in Statesboro
13 Tiwari, Sweta, and Shrinidhi Ambinakudige. "Streetscapes and Stereotyping: Streets Named after Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Geographies of Racial identity." GeoJournal (2020). https://doi. org/10.1007/s10708-020-10291-4. A potentially useful resource for visualizing location of MLK streets in relation to distribution of Black population within cities can be found at http://visualizations.sasaki.com/mlk/. (Readers are cautioned that the author of this resource has mistakenly identified the year of King's assassination.) 14 Mitchelson, Matthew L., Derek H. Alderman, and E. Jeffrey Popke. "Branded: The Economic Geographies of Streets Named in Honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." Social Science Quarterly 88, no. 1 (2007): 120-145. 15 In 2020, NBA on TNT produced a documentary on the history renaming a street in Atlanta, which is available online at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=DObsmAFwEK0

6

were more effective in stopping an NAACP plan to rename Northside Drive, the city's longest and busiest commercial artery. Later, Black leaders there mobilized to have a smaller, less developed, and more African American roadway named for Dr. King.16 Overall, in Georgia, properties with addresses honoring Martin Luther King are almost six times as likely to be residential. The number of businesses with an MLK address increased less than 1% from 2010 to 2020 in a state with significant economic growth.17
The politics of street naming in Georgia and across the country are not just about African Americans establishing the legitimacy of King's achievements but also about contesting efforts by opponents intent upon appropriating and controlling his name to maintain the status quo rather than redefine it. The continuing power of racism no doubt shapes MLK streets, but roadways also signpost Black institutions, histories, and place making. For instance, churches, beauty salons, barbershops, funeral homes, local-owned eateries are some of the most common nonresidential establishments on Georgia's MLK streets.18 These institutions provided refuge and even joy during Jim Crow segregation, and served as spaces of mobilization and self-determination during the Civil Rights Movement. They continue today as hubs of Black identity, community building and mutual aid along with many social service organizations, schools and education programs, and resourceful entrepreneurs found on the state's King avenues.

a largely Black residential street or a busy commercial thoroughfare should be renamaed for King.19 While some of King's supporters frame his name for external consumption, to challenge prevailing, race-bounded views of history and society, others use his memory to serve specific needs and agendas within Black communities. The town of Eatonton saw this division among two of its African American leaders. One lobbied for the naming of a highly visible bypass for King to affect and educate White residents and visitors. The other persuaded government officials to rename a main residential drive in a Black neighborhood, citing how an MLK Drive would inspire African American young people.20
For some memory activists, King's streets rightly belong close to the Black part of town, lest it be the subject of endless debates with intransigent opponents or co-opted like so many Black innovations. MLK streets provoke a deeper appreciation of how memorialization of the civil rights leader is open to competing interpretations and constructions, even amongst his most devoted supporters.21 The deteriorating physical infrastructure and socio-economic struggles of many MLK roadways are increasingly on the minds of African American community leaders. They see a clear dissonance with King's teachings about racial and economic justice and the high crime rates, poverty, health inequities, abandoned buildings, food deserts and sputtering redevelopment efforts along the remains of Black business districts and neighborhoods.

Embracing different political and commemorative goals, African Americans sometimes disagree with each other over which street to rename. In Carrollton, members of the First Baptist Church and the local NAACP chapter collided over whether
16 Alderman, Derek H., and Joshua Inwood. "Street Naming and the Politics of Belonging: Spatial Injustices in the Toponymic Commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr." Social & Cultural Geography 14, no. 2 (2013): 211-233. 17 Based on historical analysis of residential and non-residential/business data from mid-1990s to present using Reference USA databases (now called Data Axel Reference Solutions). 18 Based on search of Data Axle Reference Solutions (formerly Reference USA) via University of Tennessee Libraries on January 15, 2022.

Activists such as Augusta's Rev.Terrence Dicks--who directs the "Claiming a Street Named King" revitalization initiative started during tenure as chair of the Georgia Clients Council--recognizes that life along MLK streets has been shaped by the destructive histories of
19 Torpy, Bill. "Carrollton Split on Which Street Should be King - Several Georgia Cities Have Similar Struggles." Atlanta Journal Constitution January 7, 1996, p. C5. 20 Alderman, Derek H. "Street Names and the Scaling of Memory: The Politics of Commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr within the African American Community." Area 35, no. 2 (2003): 163-173. 21Alderman, Derek H. "Street names as Memorial Arenas: The Reputational Politics of Commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. in a Georgia county." Historical Geography 30, no. 1 (2002): 99-120.

redlining and government disinvestment and the displacing effects of urban renewal, interstate highway construction, and gentrification. They are a litmus test of how far we have to go yet in coming to terms with economic inequality and systemic racism.22 Rev. Dicks and other activists across the country recognize the importance of identifying the socio-economic needs, challenges, resources, and opportunities of those living and working on MLK streets and of partnering with those very communities to build capacity for development and empowerment on their own terms.
Rev. Terrence Dicks of Augusta, Georgia. Courtesy of Rev. Terrence Dicks
The goal of Dicks' project is to create a model for realizing King's concept of the "beloved community"on King streets, which would not just be a feel good moment invoked every January but a year-round, day-by-day commitment to social justice, anti-poverty, and a radical love and responsibility for others.
Although receiving far less academic and public policy attention than they should, Martin Luther King streets are powerful living memorials to how the Civil Rights Movement is evolving and has unfinished business, in terms of how the movement has changed society along with how and where we remember it.
~ Derek H. Alderman is a cultural geographer and an established national authority on naming streets for Dr. King. Dr. Alderman earned a BA in History from Georgia Southern University and a MA and PhD in Geography from the University of Georgia.
22 For more information on Terrence Dicks and the "Claiming a Street Named King" initiative, see https:// claimingastreetnamedking.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/ claimingastreetnamedkingaugustastudy/

7

About Reflections
Since its first issue appeared in December 2000, Reflections has documented hundredsofGeorgia'sAfricanAmericanhistoricresources. Nowallofthese articles are available on the Historic Preservation Division webpage https://www.dca.ga.gov/georgia-historic-preservation-division/historicresources/historic-african-american-resources. Search for your topic by categories: cemeteries, churches, districts, farms, lodges, medical, people, places, schools, and theatres. You can subscribe to Reflections via email to HPD staff. Reflections is a recipient of a Leadership in History Award from the American Association for State and Local History.

Board of Directors

Dr. Alvin D. Jackson, MD Chair

Dr. Alvin D. Jackson, Chair
Jenefer Ford Angela Cain Gibson Vaughnette Goode-Walker
Richard Laub Joyce Law
Dr. Linda McMullen Dr. Darryl Nettles Tracy Rookard Doris Tomblin

About GAAHPN

HPD Staff

Melissa Jest African American Programs Coordinator Reflections Editor Voice 404/486-6395 Fax 770/806-5066 melissa.jest@dca.ga.gov

Dr. R. Candy Tate African American Programs Assistant Voice 404/327-6847 Fax 770/806-5066 candy.tate@dca.ga.gov

The Georgia African American Historic Preservation Network (GAAHPN) was established in January 1989. It is composed of representatives from neighborhood organizations and preservation groups. GAAHPN was formed in response to a growing interest in preserving the cultural and built diversity of Georgia's African American heritage. This interest has translated into a number of efforts which emphasize greater recognition of African American culture and contributions to Georgia's history. The GAAHPN Steering Committee plans and implements ways to develop programs that will foster heritage education, neighborhood revitalization, and support community and economic development. The Network is an informal group of over 3,000 people who have an interest in preservation. Members are briefed on the status of current and planned projects and are encouraged to offer ideas, comments and suggestions. The meetings provide an opportunity to share and learn from the preservation experience of others and to receive technical information through workshops. Members receive a newsletter, Reflections, produced by the Network. Visit the Historic Preservation Division website at www. dca.ga.gov. Preservation information and previous issues of Reflections are available online. Membership in the Network is free and open to all.
8

Published quarterly by the Historic Preservation Division Georgia Department of Community Affairs
Dr. David Crass, Division Director Melissa Jest, Editor
This publication has been financed in part with federal
funds from the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, through the Historic Preservation Division, Georgia Department of Community Affairs. The contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of the Interior, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial products or consultants constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Department of the Interior or the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. The Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or disability in its federally assisted programs. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility, or if you desire more information, write to: Office for Equal Opportunity, National Park Service, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20240.