The most important reason for this item is to document sites like the home King grew up in, the church he was a pastor at and his grave site. There are maps and pictures of several areas but along with those are timelines and descriptions of his life. You will find out when he born, where he lived growing up and what his family was like. It starts out with a description of the area in Atlanta they are preserving. There are many details about the streets and where businesses and home are located. Chapter one discusses the Auburn Avenue neighborhood which was largely a self-contained black community. It was here King grew up learning the nature of segregation and the injustices of the time. People in the Auburn community were involved in social clubs, the church and businesses. Due to his father’s ministry, King was in contact with many leaders of the black community succeeding despite the constraints of segregation. However, there was a wide range of people living within Auburn and King also saw much poverty. It was growing up here that helped inspire Martin Luther King, Jr. to work for equality.
In the back of the document, you will find a copy of the actual National Register Form. You will see everything that needed to be filled and what documentation was needed to make this a historical site. You will the work that goes into getting areas designated. The form has ten sections and is 68 pages long. There is a description of each site and a summary as to why it is historically significant. It was interesting to look through and read. If you want to learn about Martin Luther King, Jr. reading this document would be a good start.