More than 60 years after the state of Tennessee confiscated its land on trumped-up charges, the Highlander Research and Education Center will once again own land in Grundy County. The acquisition includes 8.5 of the then-named Highlander Folk School’s original 200 acres, including the library where Martin Luther King Jr. once spoke.
“It’s righting a historic wrong, and it’s correcting something that never should have occurred,” said Learotha Williams, a Tennessee State University professor and historian who has supported Highlander’s bid to regain their land. “I think this will introduce a new generation of young people to the type of work (Highlander does).”
Highlander purchased the land just a few months after it was sold to someone else – and after a public dispute over that sale made headlines. The announcement of Highlander’s purchase does not include plans for the site, only that Highlander will work with MASS Design Group, the architectural firm that designed the National Memorial for Peace and Justice honoring victims of lynching in Montgomery, Alabama.
(READ MORE: Fight over future of library that sparked civil rights ideas)
“This is an historic moment for Highlander, the social movements we accompany and the people of this region,” Salimah Muhammad, the co-executive director of Highlander, said in a news release.