Childhood Home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sold to National Park Service

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the childhood home of Martin Luther King Jr. has been sold to the National Park Service. Suggested Reading The Ever-Growing List of Lawsuits Against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Take a Look Inside Michael Jordan’s Former Chicago-Area Mansion, Which You Can Now Airbnb For This Heart-Clutching Price Celebrities Known to the Culture…

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the childhood home of Martin Luther King Jr. has been sold to the National Park Service.

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The home, which had been owned by the King family since 1909, was sold for $1.9 million to the National Park Foundation, who then transferred ownership to the National Park Service.

For the past 45 years, the home was owned by the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change Inc, where Bernice King serves as CEO.

โ€œIt is difficult to value something this significant in our nationโ€™s history,โ€ said Will Shafroth, CEO of the National Park Foundation. โ€œIt is a priceless asset. It is one of the most important places to tell the story of America.โ€

In an exclusive interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bernice King revealed that the King Center had been considering selling the home prior to the death of Coretta Scott King in 2006.

โ€œWe are working on creating more robust, nonviolence training,โ€ King said. โ€œOur society is desperately in need of Dr. Kingโ€™s nonviolent teachings right now in order to create a just, humane and peaceful world. That is what we are trying to put our energy in.โ€

The home, which was built in 1895, is located on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta. Civil rights leader John Wesley Dobbs once deemed it the โ€œrichest Negro street in the worldโ€ due to its high concentration of fine homes and black businesses.

But for those alarmed by the sale, Bernice explains her rationale behind doing so.

โ€œMy mother never saw us in the interpretive or preservation business,โ€ she said. โ€œThe National Park Service has been managing and upkeeping the birth home for years, we have just been the owner on record.โ€

The onus now falls on the park service to preserve this invaluable piece of American history.

Straight From The Root

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