Exterior of Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church (Heritage Sanctuary) and Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Copyrighted image(s). Contact Intellectual Properties Management for authorized use at licensing@i-p-m.com.
Designed by Donald Bermudez
One of the most significant structures relating to the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.While Ebenezer Baptist Church has a rich local history spanning over one hundred years, it was throughout the years of 1960-1968 that the church gained its greatest significance to American History. It was during that time that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. utilized this pulpit to preach how to achieve social change grounded in Christian values to attain “the beloved community.” In 1960, Dr. King returned to Atlanta to co-pastor with his father, Daddy King at Ebenezer.
Meetings held at Ebenezer led to the development of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Dr. King used the church as a meeting place to plan strategies and tactics for nonviolent civil rights protests. Dr. King’s funeral was held in the Church on April 9th, 1968, followed by a procession of some 200,000 silent mourners walking to the Morehouse Campus for another funeral. Ebenezer Baptist Church gained national significance through these connections to Dr. King and the role this church played in the Civil Rights Movement.
