28 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive
Atlanta, GA 30303
Built 1948
Located next to the old Butler Street YMCA, the Walden Building is the namesake of Austin Thomas Walden, a prominent Black Atlantan who had an office in the building until his death in 1965. Originally from Fort Valley, Ga., Walden graduated from Clark Atlanta University before attending the University of Michigan to obtain a law degree. After serving in World War I, Walden settled in Atlanta and began practicing law. He fought to obtain equal pay for Black teachers in the state and desegregate Atlanta’s lunch counters, buses, and public schools. He also established the Gate City Bar Association, the first African American bar association in Georgia, and the Atlanta Negro Voters League. He was the first Black Georgian to be appointed as a judge after Reconstruction.