U.S. Civil Rights Movement Sites Symposium

April 15-16, 2021 –  Atlanta, Georgia

Mark your calendars!

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with stewards of the nation’s leading civil rights movement sites.

All stakeholders, property owners, and interpreters of historic sites associated with the Modern Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s are invited to attend the two-day Symposium set for the Georgia State University campus in downtown Atlanta.

In this era of national unrest caused by longstanding grievances over racial injustice and inequality, the historic properties of the Civil Rights Movement are all the more important as venues of racial reconciliation. Just as today, egregious examples of white supremacist violence and police brutality sparked many of the demonstrations of the postwar African American Freedom Struggle that resulted in an end to legal racial segregation and the gaining of black political empowerment. Places connected to the earlier struggle can teach the world about nonviolent social change.

To assist in that effort, the 2021 U.S. Civil Rights Movement Sites Symposium is organized around the themes of advocacy, interpretation, and management. We are delighted to announce that our keynote speakers lined up for this past spring’s cancelled conference have agreed to participate in next year’s Symposium:

• Brent Leggs, the Executive Director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund
• Ruth Abram, Co-Founder of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience
• Destry Jarvis, Vice President of the U.S. National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites

Consequently, attendees of the Symposium will participate in sessions designed to help movement sites with their interpretations of the past fight for equal rights in order to engage the ongoing struggle for justice through such strategies as dialogue and reconciliation. Panels on the importance of management plans and buffer zones will assist attendees in preparing protections for their properties so that they might exist in perpetuity. A plenary session on advocacy will encourage solidarity among representatives of civil rights sites who can join together in common cause on behalf of this globally significant history.

Similar to the 2017 Symposium , Georgia State University will host the 2021 Symposium in its law school conference center off Peachtree Street in the center of downtown Atlanta with nearby hotel accommodations and restaurants easily accessible.  It is free and open to the public.

To register for the Symposium, please click here.

Please include your full name, organization, and days attending.