Jimmy Carter photo

Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site Statement on Signing H.R. 7218 Into Law.

October 11, 1980

It is an honor for me to sign into law H.R. 7218, a bill to establish the Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site and Preservation District in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. King's tragic death deprived our Nation of one of its greatest leaders. He had become a symbol for all the world of the power of the nonviolent struggle for human rights. The establishment of this unique National Historic Site will protect the places where Dr. King lived, worked, and worshiped and where he is buried, for the benefit, inspiration, and education of present and future generations. The Preservation District will also include the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Social Change, which is committed to carrying out the ideals and mission for which Dr. King lived.

Martin Luther King had a dream that all people would be free and equal under the law. His life was sacrificed for this cause, but his dream is still not a reality. It is my hope that, by preserving the physical environment in which Dr. King developed his concept of social justice, our people will come to understand more fully what we have accomplished and what remains to be done. May it be a perpetual reminder of Dr. King's great work and inspire people everywhere to strive for the realization of his dream of equal rights and equal opportunity for all.

Note: As enacted, H.R. 7218 is Public Law 96-428, approved October 10.

Jimmy Carter, Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site Statement on Signing H.R. 7218 Into Law. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/250987

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