ATLANTA — A new effort is underway in Congress to recognize Atlanta’s historic West Hunter Street Baptist Church as a National Historic Site, honoring its pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement and the legacy of its former pastor, Rev. Ralph David Abernathy.

The church, located on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and built in 1906, once served as a key hub for civil rights organizing. Under Abernathy’s leadership, it became a meeting ground for activism and progress. Now, Georgia’s U.S. Senators have reintroduced a bill that would formally designate the site as a national landmark.

Annette Abernathy, daughter-in-law of the late civil rights leader, has been advocating for the designation since her husband’s passing in 2016.

“It’s not African American history and if we don’t do what’s necessary to remember our past we shall repeat our past,” she said, emphasizing the importance of preserving the church’s legacy.

Abernathy also expressed concern that younger generations may not fully understand her father-in-law’s impact. “Generations behind my era may not even realize who Ralph David Abernathy is, and what he did and how he contributed to the world that we live in today,” she said.

She hopes the bill will receive bipartisan support in Congress.

WSB’s Jonathan O’Brien contributed to this story