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Benjamin Mays cont.
When Mays became the president of Morehouse College, one of his students was Martin Luther King Jr. "The two developed a close relationship that continued until King's death in 1968. Mays's unwavering emphasis on two ideas in particular—the dignity of all human beings and the incompatibility of American democratic ideals with American social practices—became vital strains in the language of King and the civil rights movement," as mentioned in the New Georgia Encylopedia. -
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Benjamin Mays
For More Information"A distinguished African American minister, educator, scholar, and social activist, Benjamin Mays is perhaps best known as the longtime president of Morehouse College in Atlanta," according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia. Mays was a mentor to many activists and was an outspoken critic of segregation. He was also a leader in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP),the Young Men's Christian Association(YMCA), and others. -
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Hermann Talmadge's life span
Talmadge's Reaction to Brown v. Board of EducationSon of Eugene Talmadge. Born in Telfair ccounty. He was a democrat. He recieved his law degree in 1936 from UGA. From 1941-1945 he served in the Navy and rose to the rank of lieutenant commander. -
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MLK cont.
...and his home was bombed by segregationists. The MIA demanded the segration of the buses to be deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. When it was, he was one of the first to ride an integrated bus. King met with president Eisenhower to and other black leaders to spread awarness of the situations. King joined sit-ins and protests alongside SNCC. Between 1963 and 1965, he staged the March on Washington, gave the "I Have a Dream" speech, won the Nobel Peace Prize, urged congress... -
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MLK cont.
More Information...to outlaw segregation in public facilites, and helped blacks in Selma campaign for voting rights. "The campaign led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which abolished legal impediments to voting rights for African Americans and initiated greater federal protection for blacks at the polls," stated in the New Georgia Encyclopedia. On April 4th 1968, King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee where he was striking against sanitation workers. -
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Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther KIng Jr. was a baptist and one of the most prominent civil rights leaders from the 1950's-1960's. King was born and raised in Atlanta and enrolled in Morehouse College as a young adult. Several years later, King and his wife moved to Montgomery, Alabama. After the Rosa Parks boycott, King agreed to use his church as a meeting place to discuss the matter. King had become the head of a new organization (MIA), that ran the bus boycott. Throughout the boycotts, he was arrested... -
1946 Governor’s Race/End of the White Primary
In 1946, African Americans could now vote for governor. It was a new beginning for them, as now they could vote for who ran their government. "It forced Georgia to allow African-Americans to vote in the Democratic primary. But, the Democrats had other ideas…they wanted to make their primary’s a private club. Governor Ellis Arnall prevented that from happening, and the white primary neared its end," according to 40 years of Georgia Civil Rights. -
Herman Talmadge's brief time as governor
Governor of Georgia in early 1947. After Eugene Talmadge had died, but before he was sworn in after elected governor, the General Assembly electede him as governor. Then 2 months later, the Georgia supreme court had decided the General Assembly had acted in an unconstitutional manner and was forced to step down from office. -
Special Election
Special Election
Melvin Thompson and Herman Talmadge ran against each other in a special election for governor. Herman easily won for the full four-year ternm in 1950. -
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Herman Talmadge's time as governor
The state enacted it's first sales tax, which greatly helped funding for Georgia's public education system. He attracted new buisness to the state and was an advocate for the timber industry in Georgia. However, because he was a segrergatinist, he resisted to integrate public schools. When segregation was no longer legal, he was a loud critic and wrote a book entitled You and Segregation (1955). -
Brown v. Board of Education
In 1950, 7 yr old Linda Brown, a black student, tried to enroll in an all white school in Topeka Kansas. When the Topeka Board of Education wouldn't let her in the NAACP helped her father sue them. It reached the supreme court. Then in 1954 the court deemed deprecate but equal schools unconstitutional. Schools when ordered to pe integrated but some states were slow to action. -
U.S. Supreme Court deemed segregation unconstitutional
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Flag Cont.
The flag recieved little attention and sailed through the General Assembly. In the late 1960's, some Georgians were saying it was not a proper symbol for a state flag. By the early 1980's the legislature was trying to change the flag, which was dividing the state. Soon, Atlanta city officals refused to fly the flag. At the 1993 legislative session, Governor Zell Miller pushed to change the flag with the 1996 Olympic Games aprroaching. But there was little success. -
Ratification of Georgia's New State Flag
Since most of Georgia in 1956 was racist, after the Brown v. Board of Education decisions, the enitre 1956 legislative session was devoted to Governors Marvin Griffin's platform of "massive resistance" to integrate public schools. The segregated atmosphere caused the legislation to put the confederate battle flag on Georgia's state flag. Georgia devote 2/3 of it's flag to the Confederate battle emblem. The flag was supposed to stand for what they believed in and what they would fight for. -
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Heraman's time in Senate cont.
He wanted to hlep those that were hungry, and give farmers a market to sell their goods. He also helped control the price of manty crops such as peanuts. According to the New Georgia Encyclopedisa, "Talmadge also introduced the Rural Development Act of 1972, which provided grants and federally guaranteed loans to rural areas for the improvement of infrastructure. Industrial parks were aided by this program, as were water and sewage systems." He was also a member of the Senate Finance Comittee. -
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Herman's time in Senate cont.
The Senate Finance Comittee oversaw the nation's tax system. He helped support balance budgets. In 1973 he supported a constitutional amendment that would require Congress to pass only balance budgets except during a nation crisis. He was in favor of cutting down federal spending. Also in 1973, he recieved attention on a nation level, because he was investigating the Watergate scandal. He won praise for his intelligent questions and comments during tevevised hearings. -
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Herman Talmadge's time in U.S. Senate
He quickly recieved a reputation for being against the civil rights movement. In the Senate, Talmadge secured an appointment to the powerful Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. He then helped to shape bills dealing with farming and such. He helped represent Georgia's farmers as he served on the chair of the committee from 1972 until January 1981. He wanted to protect rural America. He sponsored a bill creating the food-stamp program to assist the nation's poor. -
Sibley Commision
The Sibley Comission held hearings all over the state to hear the public's thoughts on integrating schools. This is because in 1955 the Georgia Assembly voted to cut off funds to integrated schools systems. The Commision was made by the GA General Assembly and consisted of 14 members. Georgians said they would rather close schools than integrated them. The Commision recommended that they should let local schools systems choose what they wanted to do. Public schools opened to avoid the issue. -
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee(SNCC)
SNCC was a nonviolent student-led organization that led sit-ins and protests. IN 1961, SNCC members sat in the "whites only" waiting room at the city's bus station. They were arrested quickly. Because of this, the African American community united to form the Albany Movement. -
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Albany Movement
The Albany Movement was a mass movement to desgregated an entire community, and resulted in the arrest of 1000 African Americans. The event caught the attention of Martin Luther King Jr., who also was arrested. The Albany movement did not achieve it's goals, however the failure in Albany helped King succeed in Birmingham, Alabama. -
Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes
On this day, UGA allowed its first two black students to be escorted into the school by state patrol officers. Charlayne Hunter became a nationally known newspaper and television reported while Hamilton Holmes became an orthopedic surgeon. Many politicians would have rather close the school than integrate it. After the school had been integrated, governor Vandiver asked the legislature to repeal other segregation laws. The peaceful integration of schools were praised by JFK. -
SNCC in the Albany Movement
"The movement coordinated mass rallies and demonstrations to protest the arrests of black residents attempting to integrate the city's bus and train terminals," according to the New Gerogia Encylcopedia. The protest was responsible for the arrest of Martin Luther King Jr. "The protests demonstrated not only the appeal of SNCC to urban blacks but also the importance of the church and religious beliefs as a foundation for mass struggle among blacks in general," as stated in the New Georgia Encyclo -
March on Washington
March on Washington More than 200,000 gathered in Washington D.C. to rally for freedom and jobs. "Organized by a number of civil rights and religious groups, the event was designed to shed light on the political and social challenges African Americans continued to face across the country," according to History.com. During the march, Martin Luther King presented his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, a call for justice and equality. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made segregation of all public facilites illegal(restaurants, theaters, hotels, schools, libraries, etc.). It also prohibited disrimination in buisnesses and labor unions. This act was first discussed by president Kennedy in 1963. He asked congress to pass a new civil rights law, but unfortunately was assassinated before it became a law. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president and vowed to continue fighting for Kennedy's civil rights bill. -
Lester Maddox became governor of Georgia
Lester Maddox was a segregationst and in his election, he surprisingly won over Ellis Arnall. Maddox appointed more African Americans to state boards and commisions than all prior governors combined. He also named the first black member of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, reformed state prisions, and integrated the Georgia State Patrol. He increased spending on teacher salaries and higher education, as well. In 1970, Maddox became the first governor to be elected lieutenant governor. -
Maynard Jackson as mayor of Atlanta
Maynard Jackson was the first African American serve as mayor of a major southern city(he too attended Morehouse College). He served eight years, then returned for a third term in 1990. During and before his 3rd term, he worked closely with Andrew Young to bring the Olympic Games to Atlanta in 1996. he helped make Atlanta a "city too busy to hate". -
Andrew Young elected Mayor of Atlanta
Young was the second African American mayor of Atlanta, after Maynard Jackson, who served before him. "His election signaled the institutionalization of the revolution in black political power he had helped to create in Georgia," staed in the New Georgia Encyclopedia. He served as the cochair of the Atlanta Committee for the 1996 Olympic Games. Before he was mayor, he worked with the SCLC and followed Martin Luther King Jr. He taught nonviolent organizing strategies to potential leaders. -
Andrew Young Elected Mayor of Georgia cont.
More Information"He won Georgia's Fifth District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1972 and became the first African American since Reconstruction to be elected to Congress from Georgia," according to the New Gerogia Encylopedia. "Young helped JImmy Carter transform the basis of American foreign policy, making human rights a central focus and arguing that economic development in the Third World, particularly in Africa, was in the best interest of the United States."
