South-View Cemetery

South-View Cemetery was founded in 1886 by formerly enslaved African Americans who objected to the conditions and the treatment they received at Atlanta's segregated burial grounds. South-View's landscape reflects the influence of 19th century funerary art and symbolism. A variety of gravestone materials, from elaborate marble monuments to simple concrete markers, memorialize African Americans of all social strata. Notable burials include Alonzo Herndon, the founder of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company; Rev. & Mrs. Martin Luther King, Sr., religious and civil rights leaders; and Bishop Henry McNeal Turner, Reconstruction-era state legislator and African Methodist Episcopal Church organizer. Today, South-View has expanded from its original 25 acres to more than 100 acres and continues to serve the community as an active cemetery.