Civil Sights, a new book from University of Georgia Press, documents the landmark buildings of the Sweet Auburn Historic District. Real estate developer Gene Kansas wrote the narrative, and artist Clay Kiningham supplied the illustrations that run alongside it.
Two public events are on the calendar. The Auburn Avenue Research Library is set to host the book launch at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 12, and that event is already sold out. A week later, on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m., the Atlanta History Center will host a panel discussion featuring Kansas alongside Jacqueline Jones Royster and Ed Bowen, with Mike Jordan as moderator.
The district the book documents
Sweet Auburn is known around the world as the Civil Rights Movement's cradle and as the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and it is home to The King Center, founded after his assassination. In the early 1960s the district was seriously altered so the Downtown Connector could be built through it. According to Rough Draft Atlanta, racism was a major factor in choosing to demolish and divide the neighborhood, Auburn Avenue included, the street Forbes magazine called the "richest Negro street in the world" in 1956. The highway's arrival led to a long decline and disinvestment in what the source describes as one of the country's significant Black neighborhoods.
That history sits inside a wider pattern. Atlanta has lost buildings such as Terminal Station, Carnegie Library and the Kimball House Hotel, along with whole neighborhoods, in the name of progress.
A developer who preserves
Kansas, originally from New Orleans, has spent 25 years focused on preservation, adaptive reuse, community building and telling stories through buildings. That approach started with his historic preservation work on the Atlanta Daily World Building in Sweet Auburn, a project that earned him accolades from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Constellations, a culturally based workspace close by, came next and earned a Development of Excellence Award from the Atlanta Urban Design Commission, the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Urban Land Institute.
He was also the creative force behind a design and marketing competition that helped the Clermont Hotel survive, and he was involved in preserving the Sweet Auburn Curb Market.
How the book came together
Kansas started the book eight years ago. The spark goes back further, to a 2008 tornado that tore through Downtown Atlanta and damaged a number of Sweet Auburn structures, the Atlanta Daily World building among them. That storm, combined with years of conversations with guests on his Sidewalk Radio podcast, opened his eyes to what he calls the "incredible people hidden in history" and showed him ways to tie those former residents to specific places so the district's story could go deeper.
The project had a false start before a second push came while Kansas was a master's student at Georgia Tech. During lunch on campus one day, he was scrolling Instagram and came across Kiningham's artwork. "I messaged Clay right away and he happened to be on campus, so we met up and I asked him right then and there to illustrate the book," Kansas recalled.
A roadmap for what comes next
Kansas said he hopes preservationists, students and developers who want to keep Sweet Auburn's revitalization going will use the book as a roadmap. He describes himself as a historic preservationist who is also in favor of development that is thoughtful, well designed and responsible. "Tearing down a building that can be restored is irresponsible," he said.
He pointed to the South Downtown project as proof that preservation and adaptive reuse can be done, and said developers should see themselves as "stewards of history" who understand what historic places are worth instead of reaching first for demolition.
Reported by Rough Draft Atlanta.
