January 10, 1957 The Southern Christian Leadership Conference Emerges Civil rights leaders convene an emergency meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, to help spur the campaign to desegregate transportation in the South. These meetings lay the foundation for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which Martin Luther King Jr. leads until his death in 1968.

Many notables served as SCLC president, including Dr. King, Ralph David Abernathy and Joseph Lowery. The Prince Hall Masonic Temple has a history in civil rights that predates the movement. The building was built in 1937 by John Wesley Dobbs and served as the home of WERD, the nation’s first African-American radio station. In 1936 Dobbs, dubbed the “Mayor of Sweet Auburn,” organized Black voter registration drives and formed the Atlanta Negro Voters League.