Atlanta United owner Arthur Blank is donating $17 million to help a civil rights museum expand and offer new programming, the club announced in a release on Thursday.
Arthur Blank's family foundation announced the gift to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, which will see most of the money fund a new, three-story west wing at the downtown Atlanta museum.
"The most effective way to make progress together as a community is to shine a light on the issues that exist and to then do something about them so that everyone can feel a sense of understanding and support," Blank said in a statement.
The National Center for Civil and Human Rights in downtown Atlanta is a cultural institution that connects the American Civil Rights Movement to the struggle for human rights around the world today. The Center features a continuously rotating exhibit from The Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection, which includes many of Dr. King’s documents and personal items.
The new wing, which will be named at a later date, will include a 2,700 square-foot gallery on the lobby level to engage families and children, a 2,500 square-foot gallery to showcase the Without Sanctuary Collection of postcards of lynching and anti-lynching artifacts, gallery space for temporary and visiting exhibitions and a 900 square-foot cafe. The top floor will feature the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers, which guests will experience as the culmination of their visit.
Blank, who also owns the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, has also previously donated through his foundation $1.5 million to help construct the museum, which opened in 2014.
