The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Decatur

How Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s DeKalb Traffic Stop Changed History

The historical marker at the corner of McDonough Street and West Trinity Place in Decatur marks the former site of DeKalb County’s Civil and Criminal Court and Jail, where in October 1960 the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was sentenced, jailed and driven off in chains to serve a sentence of four months of hard labor for violating probation in a misdemeanor traffic case. The segregationist South sought to make an example of the civil rights movement’s brightest young star. What happened next had a profound impact on Decatur and the state of Georgia, shocking the conscience of many Americans and setting the Kennedy administration on a course to approve major civil rights legislation.

The marker is the the result of hard work by the Commemorating King team that included Decatur High School students Liza Watson, Genesis Reddicks, Daxton Pettus, Adelaide Taylor, Emma Callicutt, Halle Gordon and Alonzo Labiosa; teachers Katrina M. Walker and Ben Skillman; and community mentor Michael Warren, who wrote this brochure with their support. The research for this project, including citations, is archived at the DeKalb History Center.