Although Atlanta has its share of problems, However the city’s history and culture demand that it still be recognized as an Icon. Atlanta, Georgia has long dealt with inequality and homelessness but the city has an incredible amount of historical significance and over time has become the home to many important cultural landmarks.

Atlanta is the location for the headquarters of the Coca-Cola Company, as well as the headquarters for the Centers for Disease Control. On a smaller scale Atlanta is home to the Center for Civil and Human Rights, the Center is dedicated to informing citizens of both the past struggles of the Civil and Human Rights movements and the current ways to become active within said movements. the center hosts events for the young and old to visit and even private events for schools. The city is full of famous landmarks, one in particular I went into to depth with in my exterior and interior built environment descriptions, the Georgian Terrace.  The Georgian Terrace is an old luxury hotel that is one of the many places of cultural significance in Atlanta. Opening for business in 1911, the Terrace was planned to be a reminder of Parisian hotels of the time. The Georgian Terrace has laid out the carpet for a slew of famous individuals “including F. Scott Fitzgerald, President Calvin Coolidge, and actors and actresses such as Tallulah Bankhead. Arthur Murray, then a Georgia Tech student, taught his first dance classes there in the 1920’s”(Rhetta)   Speaking of old attractions to the city, the Fox Theatre is an Historic landmark that’s been a part of Atlanta since the theatre’s original conception in 1928. The old theatre has been on the brink of shutting down time and time again and for a while actually did close its doors, but the spirit and efforts of the city managed to revive it once and for all. Doing this by purchasing it and placing the theatre under the protection of Atlanta Landmarks, the organization that had dedicated itself to protecting the Fox Theatre, ultimately succeeding by having it named as an official landmark. There are many more stories like this, of old and nationally famous buildings in Atlanta. Apart from these buildings the city is full of history, “During the Civil War (otherwise known as the ‘War Between the States’ according to some old-timers), General Sherman burned the city on his infamous ‘March to the Sea.’ Following the city’s surrender to Sherman in November of 1864, only 400 structures remained standing” (Coakley). No other american city can claim to have been burned down by Sherman in the Civil War.

Atlanta is currently the major city with the most inequality in America according to a study done by the Brookings Institution. Atlanta’s problem with wealth distribution has gone quite far, “The top 5% of households earn nearly 20 times the income in the Georgia capital than the bottom 20%” (Morath). Atlanta is listed as one of the best places to do business by Forbes and yet it still suffers from such a wealth gap.

Works Cited

Akamatsu, Rhetta. “Atlanta’s Historic Hotels: The Georgian Terrace Hotel.”Examiner. AXS Network, 12 May 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2016. <http://www.examiner.com/article/atlanta-s-historic-hotels-the-georgian-terrace-hotel>.

“Atlanta, GA.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016. <http://www.forbes.com/places/ga/atlanta/>.

“Atlanta-History.” Atlanta-History. Atlanta Broadway, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2016. <http://atlanta.broadway.com/history/>.

Berube, Alan, and Natalie Holmes. “Some Cities Are Still More Unequal than Others.” Brookings. The Brookings Institution, 17 Mar. 2015. Web. 13 Apr. 2016. <http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports2/2015/03/city-inequality-berube-holmes>.

Coakley, Katie. “10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Atlanta” Huffpost Travel. Huffington Post, 13 Jan. 2016. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. <www.huffingtonpost.com%2Fviator%2F10-things-you-probably-di_b_4145543.html>.

Morath, Eric. “Income Inequality Is Wider in Atlanta Than in San Francisco or Boston.” WSJ. Wall Street Journal, 20 Mar. 2015. Web. 13 Apr. 2016. <http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/03/20/income-inequality-is-wider-in-atlanta-than-in-san-francisco-or-boston/>.

First sight of the entrance to the Georgian Terrace gives off a very cozy impression, inserted into the block as it is, in fact as I walked towards the supposed location of the Terrace I was initially confused, I could not seem to find it. My map seemed to be leading me into a restaurant called the Livingston, which I would later realize was a part of the Georgian Terrace. The Livingston was a beautiful building with glass and stone mingling in an ornate way that seemed to encourage only the most sophisticated to enter, not so much as to frighten off the random passerby, but enough to comfort its customers.  The only thing that convinced me that I was nearing my destination was the sight of the Fox Theatre, a building I knew was close to the Terrace. As I continued walking and passed the Livingston I saw a gap between it and the next building on the block, turning to face the gap I was surprised and struck by the appearance of the Georgian Terrace’s Entrance. It seemed immediately more elegant than its surroundings, almost as if it was tucked away into its own private corner of luxury, which in a way it was. The brick of the walls somehow matching perfectly with the glass tower that I somehow only noticed at this moment. The building gives off a feel of elegance and sophistication that is almost daunting at first glance, daunting but still intriguing. An air that implied that the rich and famous would be perfectly suited to the environment.

Built from the first moment to be dedicated to showing visitors the connections between the Civil Rights Movement and the Human Rights Movement, the Center for Civil and Human Rights has been doing just that for the last nine years. The creators of the Center are Evelyn Lowery and Andrew Young, a legend in the civil rights community and a former Ambassador for the United Nations respectively. As I navigated The Center’s website I was let in on a bit of the history of the building itself and, more importantly the movements that the Center is dedicated to. While searching the different sections of the website I found that it makes special mention of the UDHR, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Written after World War Two, the UDHR is a document that, using its 30 articles, serves as a “set of principles for governments to use to remain accountable for their duty to protect the rights and freedoms of all people.” The next portion of the website to catch my eye was the “Take Action” heading. The heading leads to  a whole section purposed to sharing all of the different ways one might learn more about or get further involved in Civil and Human Rights issues. Some of the links point to encyclopedias; some to resource pages; still others to archives of information. The website also includes information regarding the Center’s events and programs as well as information for setting up school trips, like guides and packets for teachers to use as support for those trips.