The mother of a lynching victim bought her first house with money from a Southern Poverty Law Center suit against the Klan, and an Ethiopian student whose father was murdered paid for his college education with money from a judgment against the White Aryan Resistance. Through the dissemination of information and successful battles in the courts the Center has taken on the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacy organizations, and other hate groups, and the judgments against hate groups have put the hate groups out of business and have benefited the victims themselves. The Southern Poverty Law Center was founded by Morris Dees and Joseph Levin, with Julian Bond as its first president, and the members of the Center have worked with courage and conviction to oppose racism, hatred, intolerance, and discrimination through law courts and classrooms. Marvin Meyer, director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute, introduced the event by reflecting upon the Schweitzer bust on the campus of Chapman University and the humanitarian commitments of the Southern Poverty Law Center: “Our campus is a campus of busts, and our largest and most impressive bust is that of Albert Schweitzer in front of Argyros Forum.” The saying of Schweitzer underneath his likeness is this: ‘Search and see whether there is not some place where you may invest your humanity.’ The recipient of the Albert Schweitzer Award of Excellence for 2001 exemplifies what it means to “invest one’s humanity in the lives of others.” The award was presented on September 10, 2001, at the opening convocation of Chapman University. The recipient of the 2001 Albert Schweitzer Award of Excellence is the Southern Poverty Law Center. California’s Gold Exhibit and Huell HowserĢ001 Albert Schweitzer Award of Excellence.This project earned the Gold Metal from the American Institute of Architects, Philadelphia Chapter, Region Honor Award, American Institute of Architects Gulf States Chapter, Award of Recognition, American Institute of Architects, Philadelphia Chapter, and Honorable Mention, American Institute of Architects, Montgomery, AL Chapter. and an historic site of the civil rights movement). One wing of the building is suspended from cantilevered roof level steel trusses, creating a column-free area below for an unobstructed view of the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, (the one-time church of Rev. The eight floors of steel frame structure rise out of a hillside in the middle of the city.

The unusual and award-winning design is a blend of aesthetic with practical precautions for security.

The 150,000 square foot building contains two levels of parking for 100 cars below six floors of office clad in a metal panel and precast concrete façade constructed on a pile foundation system.

This internationally renowned civil rights organization created a landmark headquarters building in its longtime home, Montgomery Alabama.

Southern poverty law center memorial