“Historic Mims Park”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

For nearly three centuries, Georgia’s tradition of peaceful coexistence has thrived. Today, Georgia is considered to be the birthplace and the center of the Civil Rights Movement. With a new museum dedicated to the global aspiration of Human and Civil Rights currently underway, the wisdom of peacemakers like Chief Tomochichi, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Atlanta’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., will be made accessible to the world.

It was Tomochichi who first established our tradition of peace, having chosen to befriend General James Oglethorpe rather than massacre him and the British colonists. This friendship established native Georgia and British colonial peaceful coexistence, which lasted a century until the reprehensible Trail of Tears removed the native population. In addressing and in answer to this dark chapter in our history, the National Monuments Foundation will construct a “Trail of Peace” using allegorical sculpture and art to portray the important place native Georgians and 200 years later, native Atlantans hold in the historical striving for peace and human rights.

Settled in the 19th century by large landowners, Vine City became one of Atlanta’s earliest predominantly African-American residential neighborhoods. From the time it was first settled, there were segregated subdivisions, schools, and churches for whites and blacks. Through the years, these different peoples shaped the area’s unique character and historic importance.

One such resident was Edward Wachendorff, a German immigrant who moved to Atlanta in 1867. He founded Wachendorff Brothers, one of Atlanta’s largest plant and flower nurseries, setting up greenhouses and working multiple acres of land with the main house and other buildings fronting on historic Sunset Avenue. It is from this expansive property that the name Vine City was established. Most of these buildings still stand and this nursery was one block west of Historic Mims Park.

Mims Park was an initiative of Mayor Livingston Mims. Designed in the late 19th century by the Olmsted Brothers, arguably the most notable American landscape firm in American history, Mims Park also contained a playground for Atlanta’s children. Today, we have a unique opportunity to recreate Mims Park on the former grounds of the historic Wachendorff Nursery property. The topography allows the original Olmsted plan to be replicated on the new block and allows for the addition of a farm component to complement the historic park

You enter the park through the farm center and greenhouses from Walnut Street, and will be immediately presented with the Peace Column, topped by Chief Tomochichi, on the hillside in the distance. As you proceed west through the park, there will be a series of commemorations of the city’s past among groves, lakes, and gardens. If you look to the north towards the Overlook Plaza, you will see statues of Joseph E. Boone and Dorothy Bolden.

Upon reaching Vine Street, passing a statue of Ambassador Andrew Young, a look to the left on the street axis at Thurmond Street reveals a statue of Coretta Scott King, and to the right on the Joseph E. Boone Boulevard axis is a statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who looks south towards his alma mater, Morehouse College. Walking south, passing the wading pool, you will see a civic square with a reconstructed Carnegie Library building.

Continuing along the walk, you come across the statue of Booker T. Washington, who faces across the oval his historical counterpart, W.E.B. DuBois. Continuing uphill to the Peace Column, you will reach at its base a statue of Mayor Livingston Mims, the original park founder. Climbing the staircase to the Peace Column terrace, the park’s highest point, you will discover statues of Civil Rights leaders including the Honorable Maynard Jackson, Reverend Ralph David Abernathy, the Honorable Julian Bond, and the Honorable Rodney Mims Cook, Sr.

An elevator ride takes you up 80 feet to the top of the Peace Column, where the nearby Sunset Avenue Historic District is clearly visible. The homes of Martin Luther King, Maynard Jackson, and Julian Bond are indicated by bronze plaques. Reverend Abernathy’s church is also identified. A panorama of the city makes the top of the Peace Column one of the most beautiful and historic views in the nation.

The organic farm within Mims Park would be managed by the residents of the neighborhood. By providing a variety of crops, the farm would bring a much needed economic engine to the community, allowing those who tend the farm to gain the market benefits of its produce. It is anticipated that the park activities will quickly spread across a renovated Sunset Avenue historic district. This growth will be encouraged by enhanced pedestrian access between facilities.

Today, it is inexcusable that this vibrant and important neighborhood has lost its only major park; much less one designed by Olmsted Brothers, the prestigious landscape firm most notable for designing the U.S. Capitol Grounds and New York’s Central Park. The numerous park monuments and museum dedicated to peace and civil rights are a short walk from the new Center for Civil and Human Rights. The park will complement this pursuit with a focus on the Atlanta and Georgia contributions. Many of Atlanta’s Civil Rights leaders lived and were educated within view of Historic Mims Park. The park will draw an international audience in conjunction with nearby venues such as the Georgia Dome, Centennial Olympic Park, the Center for Civil and Human Rights, the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coke. The primary goal is to be a center for wholesome neighborhood activity, an employment generator and a hub around which renovation will flourish.

This park has received the acclaim and full support of the Mayor of Atlanta and the City Council.^[1]^[2] It is with this historic park that we will stake our claim to revitalize this important district not only for the citizens of this city and state, but also for the millions who visit here who will be inspired by those who came before us and changed the world.

References

1. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/atlanta-council-approves-mims-park-proposal/nQXH7/|title=Atlanta council approves Mims park proposal|work=ajc.com|accessdate=12 May 2016}}
2. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/plans-for-westside-park-honoring-civil-rights-lege/nn54j/|title=Historic Mims Park project gets financial boost|author=Katie Leslie - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|work=myajc.com|accessdate=12 May 2016}}

References

External links