The board chairwoman of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, Carolyn Meadows, tells InsiderAdvantage that an idea to erect a Martin Luther King “liberty bell” tribute tower atop the huge granite Confederate memorial is “dead.” She said the board, which oversees the sprawling state-owned park, never received any formal proposal to honor King with such a bell tower. Meadows also criticized certain media outlets for “exaggerating” the idea.
The board also decided, based on legal advice, that they aren’t authorized by state law to display a King memorial. The law, after all, stipulates that “the purposes of the association shall include maintaining an appropriate and suitable memorial for the Confederacy.” (O.C.G.A. § 12-3-192.1.)
The King shrine idea drew heated opposition, though for different reasons, from groups ranging from the Sons of Confederate Veterans to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King founded. They felt that mixing the King legacy with a Confederate memorial was incompatible.
The board is “entertaining,” however, an idea to have a black soldiers exhibit. It’s not clear if it would document blacks who fought for the Confederacy between 1861-65, or blacks who fought on both sides of the Civil War. Some media report that a “black soldiers’ museum” is to be discussed, but Meadows says that “an exhibit, not a museum” will be explored.
