ATLANTA (AP) — A statue paying tribute to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. has been installed on the state Capitol grounds in Atlanta.
The statue’s unveiling Monday came more than three years after Georgia lawmakers endorsed the project. A replica of the nation’s Liberty Bell tolled three times before the 8-foot (2.44-meter) bronze statue was unveiled on the 54th anniversary of King’s “I have a dream speech” at the March on Washington.
King’s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, said her father gave the nation a sense of hope in a time of turmoil, and his statue can serve a similar purpose today.
She and other members of the slain civil rights leader’s family were on hand for the ceremony, along with Gov. Nathan Deal and many Georgia state’s political leaders.
