Planning is underway to place a Liberty Bell replica atop Stone Mountain near Atlanta as a memorial to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that recalls a famous line from his “I Have a Dream” speech, officials say.
The planned tribute to the late civil rights activist would broaden the story told by the Georgia state park, long home to a giant carving of former Confederate president Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, said Bill Stephens, chief executive of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association.
“Two years ago, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s speech, a small group of Georgia’s civil rights leaders met atop the mountain to ring a bell,” Stephens said in an email to journalists. “This began thought and discussions which evolved into the present concept of a Freedom Bell.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported in Sunday’s editions that an elevated tower with a replica of the bell would recall a line from King’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech: “Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.” The bell would sound from the mountain top, though when or how often hasn’t been determined, the newspaper reported.
Because King’s 1963 speech is copyrighted, permission of King’s heirs would be required. Stephens said the planning was just beginning and many details remain to be worked out.