It’s almost hard to believe the Center for Civil and Human Rights is only a year old. Taking into consideration this writer has visited three times and is planning her next visit. It’s a sentiment that Deborah Richardson says many visitors have.
“Word of mouth is our strongest asset,” the executive vice president begins. “Many people who visit the Center have said, ‘I was so moved;’ ‘I am coming back;’ ‘I have told other people they must see it too.’”
To commemorate their first year, CCHR is “highlighting amazing civil and human rights icons who align with the stories they tell at the center.”
“Our tagline is ‘Inspiration Lives Here,'” Richardson says. “We named our awards event Power to Inspire because the honorees as well as everyday people have the power to inspire us to do great things … ordinary people who do extraordinary things. We’re honoring Vernon Jordan who was reared in the segregated south and is today a well known attorney, business executive and civil rights activist.”
Jordan is also the CCHR’s chairman emeritus. Other honorees include Kerry Kennedy, a human rights activist, writer and current president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights; and Ada Lee and Pete Correll, well-known Atlanta philanthropists; Pete is chairman of the Grady Hospital Corporation and Atlanta Equity and is chairman emeritus of Georgia Pacific Corporation; and Ada Lee Correll, a dedicated community volunteer, has led efforts supporting youth development, youth in the arts and access to health care.
What has been the community, the world’s response to the Center?
There was one couple who was driving to Florida and stopped for the night at a friend’s house who told them before they left Atlanta they had to stop by the CCHR. They came to the Center, then when they arrived in Florida, she mailed us a $500 check and a note that read, “I’m a schoolteacher and I want every child to be able to experience this. This is amazing.” This comes from someone who hadn’t planned to come to the Center, but came and was just so moved. We get a lot of wonderful stories. Some people have found their relatives’ mug shots among the photos of Freedom Riders, “That’s my grandfather”; “That’s my uncle”; “That’s my former boyfriend.”
There are a lot of [artifacts] in the exhibit that have resonated with the visitors. Those people who come from outside the United States compliment us in terms of the balance and empathetic manner we’ve handled the global human rights story. People have found it to be very authentic. Those kinds of ringing endorsements really add to the authenticity, who we are and what we are doing.
Every single day we hear about a lunch counter transformational experience. We knew it would be amazing; we just had no way of knowing how tremendous it would be. We have gotten a great response.
Is it time for the Martin Luther King Jr. papers to rotate?
We swap out those papers every four months. The [archives] will open again on May 8, 2015 just in time for Mother’s Day visits.
What makes visitors return?
The center has done a good job of unpacking the civil and human rights stories. People think the Civil Rights Movements, the sit-ins and the March on Washington happened and that was it. For people to see how long the movement was and the hundreds of thousands to millions of people who engaged in it, they are seeing and experiencing it for the very first time. I am from Atlanta … Collier Heights and on my street lived Daddy and Mrs. King; Donald Hollowell who argued for the desegregation of the University of Georgia. I know those stories and a lot of people don’t. And then you have the younger people like my granddaughter, for her that’s ancient history. She can relate to Claudette Coven who was just 15 years old when she sat on the bus in Birmingham. Learning something new and finding ways they can relate is another.
The human rights gallery is so important because it talks about what is happening, right here, right now and what is it you’re willing to spend 60 minutes a day doing to change the world. I think young people are seeing these issues on the news but come the Center and get a deeper understanding, move forward and think about their lives in a different way. There’s something in it for everybody.
In her role as EVP, Richardson leads CCHR’s fundraising and program development as well as oversees Women and Girls programming. She is a nationally recognized leader on social justice for women and girls and an advocate to end child sex trafficking. She has designed leading programs for girls victimized by sexual trafficking and testified before Congress.
The Center for Civil and Human Rights is celebrating their one year anniversary with Inaugural Power to Inspire Tribute Awards on May 6, from 6-9 p.m.
