Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is a
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Located in the
Sweet Auburn neighborhood, the church was established as a
mission
Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to:
Organised activities Religion
*Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity
*Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
in 1912 and is a
contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...
of the
Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park
The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park covers about 35 acres (0.14 km2) and includes several sites in Atlanta, Georgia related to the life and work of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Within the park is his boyhood h ...
.
History
The church was established in November 1912 by
Ignatius Lissner of the
Society of African Missions
The Society of African Missions ( la, Societas Missionum ad Afros; ) abbreviated SMA, also known as the SMA Fathers, is a Catholic religious Society of Apostolic Life of pontifical right for men founded by Melchior de Marion Brésillac in 1856. ...
with funding from
Katharine Drexel
Katharine Drexel, SBS (born Catherine Mary Drexel; November 26, 1858 – March 3, 1955) was an American heiress, philanthropist, religious sister, educator, and foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. She was the second person born i ...
, who had founded the
Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (SBS) are a Catholic order of religious sisters in the United States. They were founded in 1891 by Katharine Drexel as the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People.
During her life, Saint ...
(SBS). The church was located in
Sweet Auburn, an
African American neighborhood
African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American ...
in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, and shared a high degree of
ecumenism
Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...
with several
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
churches in the neighborhood. The church, originally known as Our Lady of Lourdes Colored Mission, was built as a three-story combination church and school, and Lissner served as its first
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
. At the time, it was the second Catholic mission intended to serve
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
s in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
and the first in Atlanta. The church is located on the same block as the birthplace of
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, who as a child would often play on the parish grounds. During the
civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
, many church members protested for increased civil rights. The school would remain active until 2001, when it closed due to a lack of funding from the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
.
See also
*
List of Roman Catholic churches in the Archdiocese of Atlanta
List of Roman Catholicism in the United States, Roman Catholic Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta, Archdiocese of Atlanta. Using average weekly collections as a rough estimate of parish size.
See also
*List of Catholic churche ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
*
*
{{Atlanta landmarks
1912 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
Christian organizations established in 1912
Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site and Preservation District
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Roman Catholic churches in Georgia (U.S. state)
African-American Roman Catholic churches
Society of African Missions