An Evening with Gene Kansas

The rich history of one of America's most significant Black neighborhoods comes to life through the lens of preservation and cultural development. An Evening with Gene Kansas takes place Thursday, April 3 at Books & Books in Coconut Grove, where the author will discuss his new book Civil Sights: Sweet Auburn, a Journey through Atlanta's National Treasure.

This illustrated guidebook explores the Sweet Auburn Historic District in Atlanta, Georgia—once the wealthiest Black neighborhood in the world and the birthplace of the civil rights movement. Kansas examines how this historically significant area now faces urban challenges that have placed many of its important landmarks in peril as Atlanta continues to develop around it.

Through stories of people and places that shaped the civil rights movement, the book illuminates the district where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Congressman John Lewis and many other civil rights pioneers laid the groundwork for a social movement that changed the nation. Kansas documents significant sites including the first integrated fire station and the Butler Street YMCA, which served as Atlanta's "Black City Hall," while raising questions about historical accountability and preservation.

Kansas brings significant credentials to this work as a real estate developer and historic preservationist who led the preservation of the Atlanta Daily World building in Sweet Auburn. His book includes illustrations from Atlanta architect Clay Kiningham, a foreword from New York Times bestselling author Gary M. Pomerantz and an afterword from Jacqueline Jones Royster, former dean of Georgia Tech's Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Copies of Civil Sights (University of Georgia Press, $29.95) will be available for purchase.