CALL TO ACTION:
Tell Stone Mountain Park's “Honest and Whole” Story

At the SMMA meeting in April, CEO Bill Stephens gave a presentation outlining the serious financial challenges facing the Park and the critical need to address its Confederacy issues that have contributed to the decisions of its management company and hotelier to leave. As part of this presentation, he proposed adding an exhibit in Confederate Memorial Hall to provide an “honest telling of the whole story.” This proposal was formally voted on as a resolution at the May meeting and passed by the board. And so our request of the SMMA is simple -- do exactly what you told the public you would do -- tell the “honest and whole story.”

CALL TO ACTION

Contact the SMMA Board and Park Stakeholders

  • Emails (send one email to everyone): b.stephens@stonemountainpark.org; e.zimmerman@stonemountainpark.org; d.studdard@stonemountainpark.org; d.blihovde@stonemountainpark.org; mosley5544@bellsouth.net; rsmith@smithliss.com; jeff.cown@dnr.ga.gov; rmartinez@loganville-ga.gov; rnroberts@windstream.net; CCollier@Ely-Corp.com; mark.williams@gadnr.org; csanders@eastmetrocid.com; cmeadows@nrahq.org; allen.poole@gohs.ga.gov; mjaronski@georgia.org; mlipson@mjcpa.com; diana.pope@gsfic.ga.gov; kim.site@gsfic.ga.gov; lee.mcelhannon@gsfic.ga.gov; udc@hqudc.org; officemanager@hqudc.org

  • Call: Bill Stephens (Park CEO): (770) 498-5611, Governor Kemp: (404) 656-1776

  • Shareable social media posts: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

  • Sample message/script: I am contacting you to request that you follow through with your public commitment to tell the “honest and whole story” at your new Confederate Memorial Hall exhibit and include the critical items below that define Stone Mountain Park:

    • The lack of ANY Civil War relevance

    • The history of local Indigenous communities

    • The ongoing relation with United Daughters of the Confederacy and and their role in promoting the racist Lost Cause mythology

    • The Park’s role in rebirthing the modern day Ku Klux Klan and ongoing support from white supremacy groups

    • The Park’s use of prison labor for four decades

    • The racist reasons the State of Georgia restarted the carving in defiance to the Civil Rights Movement and specifically the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision

    • The Park’s use of taxpayer funds that began with the State of Georgia purchase of the mountain and continue to this very day

    • The laws passed to protect Confederate monuments in Georgia and specifically Stone Mountain Park and require it to sell Confederate memorabilia

    • The recent white supremacy rallies and protests at the Park, including those in the summer of 2020 that caused the Georgia National Guard to be deployed

    • The SMMA’s 2021 decision to reject the Georgia Sons of Confederate Veterans’ permit for their annual Confederate Memorial event

    • Herschend Family Entertainment and and Marriott’s decision to leave the Park that led to the creation of this exhibit

    I also request that you consult with the many local and national institutions focused on Georgia history, civil rights and Confederate symbols. Given that the SMMA has misled, lied and promoted racist propaganda for DECADES, I demand accountability, transparency and REAL progress. Georgia taxpayers and our country deserve better!