South-View Cemetery Gets Georgia Historic Site Marker Saturday April 30

The public is invited this Saturday at 10:30 a.m. to witness the dedication of a Georgia Historic Site Marker at the South-View Cemetery, the resting place for African Americans created by former slaves 130 years ago. The cemetery is located at 1990 Jonesboro Rd. SW, Atlanta 30315.

Later that evening more than 350 guests will gather at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis to honor distinguished individuals who have made an indelible mark in Atlanta and support South-View preservation.
South-View Cemetery was founded in 1886 by formerly enslaved African Americans who objected to the conditions and the treatment they received at Atlanta’s segregated burial grounds. South-View’s landscape reflects the influence of 19th century funerary art and symbolism. A variety of gravestone materials, from elaborate marble monuments to simple concrete markers, memorialize African Americans of all social strata. Notable burials include Alonzo Herndon, the founder of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company; Rev. & Mrs. Martin Luther King, Sr., religious and civil rights leaders; and Bishop Henry McNeal Turner, Reconstruction-era state legislator and African Methodist Episcopal Church organizer. Today, South-View has expanded from its original 25 acres to more than 100 acres and continues to serve the community as an active cemetery.

The mission of the Historic South-View Preservation Foundation, Inc. is to record, interpret, restore and preserve the art, history and environment of the non-perpetual care sections of Historic South-View Cemetery. Ambassador Andrew Young is honorary chair of the awards dinner whose theme is "130 Years: Spirits Live Forever". The purpose is to raise funds for the South-View Historic Preservation Foundation to maintain and record the art, history and environment of the Historic South-View Cemetery

Awards will be presented to several notable community leaders and President Barack Obama who will receive the John Wesley Dobbs Politics Award. A representative will accept the award on his behalf. All of the awards are named for notable Atlantans who are intered there. Martin Luther King, Sr. Civil Rights Award - Andrew Young' Albert H. Watts Award - Christine King Farris; Alonzo Herndon Business Award - Gene Kansas'; Charles Harper Education Award - Dr. Beverly Tatum; Jewel Simon Art Award - Radcliff Bailey and the Homer Nash Medicine/Science Award - Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice.

Gala tickets are $130 per person and $1,000 per table of ten. Tickets for Foundation members are $100. For more information and tickets contact Yvonne Wiltz, Von Creations at vonco@voncreations.com or 404.347.1054

The Planning Committee members for the gala are: Winifred Hemphill, President; Alexis Scott, Foundation Board Chair; Yvonne J. Wiltz, VonCreations, Event Planner; William Allison; Lisa Alston; Chermaine Axam-Wilkins; Juliet Dobbs Blackburn-Beamon; Richard Byrd; Cecil Catchings; Whittington Delmar; Charles Harper III ; D. L. Henderson ; Michelle Hite; Nasir Muhammad; Kandy Outlaw; Stanley Pritchett; Aungelique Proctor ; Jane Smith; Carl Walker and Lorenzo Wallace.