Episode 52: Episode 52: Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn: Preserving the Spaces & Stories of the Civil Rights Movement
From REDESIGNING CITIES: The Speedwell Foundation Talks @ Georgia Tech by School of Architecture, Ellen Dunham-Jon
May 27, 2026 · 1h 7m · Season 7 · Episode 52
About this episode
The episode discusses the impact of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s childhood neighborhood on the Civil Rights Movement and the lessons of historic preservation.
How did the community of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s childhood neighborhood shape his views and the larger Civil Rights Movement? What can historic preservation teach us today about social infrastructure, storytelling and activism? Developer and preservationist Gene Kansas speaks about his new book, Civil Sights , a walk through Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn Historic District that tells the stories of the Civil Rights Movement through its buildings’ occupants and achievements. Clay Kiningham - illustrator of the book, rhetoric scholar Jacqueline Royster, and architect William J. Stanley III, join Gene and Ellen Dunham-Jones discussing the lessons of Sweet Auburn for today.
People in this episode
Host: Ellen Dunham-Jones
Guests: Gene Kansas, Clay Kiningham, Jacqueline Royster, William J. Stanley III
Topics covered
- historic preservation
- Civil Rights Movement
- storytelling
- social infrastructure
- activism
Keywords
- Atlanta
- Sweet Auburn
- Civil Rights
- Gene Kansas
- historic preservation
- activism
- storytelling
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Civil Sights
Places: Atlanta, Sweet Auburn Historic District
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