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Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil-rights activist for race relations. He played a big role in ending the legal segregation of African-American citizens in the South and other areas of the nation. He also created the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He held a famous speech that is often referred to the "I Have a Dream" speech. -
Benjamin Mays
He was a social acitivist and the president of the Morehouse College. He was a mentor for Martin Luther King Jr. He wrote a book called "The Negro's Church". When he was elected president of the Morehouse College in 1940, he helped regain control of the college's finances. Mays died in Atlanta in 1982. -
1946 Governors Race and The End of the White Primary
Also known as the Governors Controvery, this was when Eugene Talmadge had won the election and he died. The General Assembly elected Talmadge's son as governor, but the lieutenant governor, Melvin Thompson, took Eugene's spot. Ellis Arnall, the governor before Eugene won, refused to leave the office. The Georgia Supreme Court decided to hold a secret election, which resulted with Herman -
Herman Talmadge
When Eugene Talmadge died after winning the election for governor, the General Assembly elected Herman Talmadge as governor. This led to the three governors controversy. The Georgia Supreme court decided that the legislature made an unconstitutional decision. Herman left the office and was ready to run in the election against Melvin Thompson. He won the election in 1950 and served another four-year term. He also served in the U.S. Senate from 1956 to1980. -
1956 State Flag
John Sammons Bell wanted to substitute the the square Confederate battle flag for the red and white bars on the Georgia's state flag. The state senators Jefferson Lee Davis and Willis Harden agreed to indroduce legislation to change the state flag. -
Lester Maddox
He tried to run against mayor Hartsfield and lost and also he lost to mayor Ivan Allen Jr. He ran for the lietentant governor and also lost. Maddox still believed in segregation and was a violent racist. He owned a restaurant calle The Pickrick, he decided to segregate it said he would close it rather than integrating. When he was elected in 1966 he helped the African Americans more than people thought. He backed prison reform and he also appointed more blacks to government positions. -
SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordianting Committee)
The SNCC was a major organization in helping the American civil rights movement. It started as student-led sit-ins to protest segregated lucch counters. The Albany Movement was created by Charles Sherrod and Cordell Reasgon to coordinate mass rallies and demonstrations to protest the arrests of black residents attempting to intergrate the city's bus and train terminals. -
Sibley Commission
In 1960, Governor Ernest Vandiver Jr. was forced to decide between closing public schools or desegregate them. The Sibley Commission was in charge of gathering state resident's sentiments regarding desegregatino and reported back to the governor. U.S. District Court judge Frank Hooper ruled the segregation of school unconstitutional and ordered them to be integrated. -
Andrew Young
He joined the SCLC (Souther Christian Leadership Conference) as a pastor. He helped teach nonviolence to local people at "citizenship schools", which she helped created. He was a trusted aide to Martin Luther King Jr. He was entered in to the Georgia House of Representatives. He was the first African American to be elected to the Georgia House of Representatives since reconstruction. He was elected to the Georgia Mayor position in 1981. -
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The Albany Movement
It was the first major movement in the modern civil rights era to desegregate an entire community. It resulted in over 1,000 African Americans being jailed. The Albany Movement was a failure, but Martin Luther King Jr. used it learn what to do next time and he ended up helping the Blacks win the Birmingham Campaign. -
March on Washington
More than 200,000 Americans gathered in Washington D.C., for a political rally for jobs and Freedom. This is where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civli Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation in public place and banned the employment disciminatino on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. -
Maynard Jackson
He was the first African American Mayor of a Southern State. When he was elected in 1973, his main focus was to help minority businesses to recieve more civil contracts. During his term, he also helped build a huge terminal inside of the Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. He helped lower the charges of police mistreating African Americans.
