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Historic Walking Tour of Columbus Georgia
Item 2 of 18
Here on July 1, 1958, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made a speech to a room full of courageous African Americans as the KKK threatened to bomb this building while Dr. King was there. The building was protected by armed Prince Hall Masons on the roof. As a result, the KKK opted that night to use the dynamite they prepared to blow up the home of a Black woman who had recently moved into a white neighborhood, Essie Mae Ellison. Dr. King spoke about the Little Rock nine and the decisions of Judge Lemley.