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Benjamin Mays
Benjamin Mays was the most articulate and outspoken critics of segregation before the rise of the modern civil rights movement in the United States. In 1940 Mays became the president of Morehouse College and his most famous student was Martin Luther King JR. Both developed a close relationship that continued until King's death in 1968. After, Mays "became vital strains" in the language of King and the civil rights movement. -
End of White Primary
The 1944 case of Smith v. Allwright was the Supreme Court decision that ruled the Texas White Primary was unconstitutional. The white primary neared its end when Governor Ellis Arnall prevented a way of people keeping blacks from being in position of government. It didn’t allow blacks to vote in a white primary, so it kept black people from nominating black people to stand in a government position. The end of this event was important because it gave African Americans a greater say in government. -
1946 Governor's Race
This controversy began with the death of Eugene Talmadge in the middle of his term as governor. When the General Assembly elected Talmadge's son, Herman Talmadge, as governor, Melvin Thompson claimed the office of governor, and Ellis Arnall refused to leave office. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that Melvin Thompson would be the acting governor until a special election would be held. On January 15, 1947, the General Assembly elected Herman Talmadge as the rightful governor of Georgia. -
Herman Talmadge
TalmadgeTalmadge was a strong opponent of civil rights legislation. He became governor of Georgia as the Civil Rights Movement was beginning. He supported segregation in schools and in everyday life. He did not agree with whites and blacks in the same school, the same library, or the same restaurant. Also, he did not want blacks to be on television shows. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown V.Board of EducationAfter the Brown V. Board Education went to Court, they declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the Civil Rights Movement. However, the decision did not end racial segregation in schools. -
State Flag of 1956
A new flag was received to Georgia on July 1, 1956. People apart of the Georgia Legislature wanted to send a message. Former Georgia representative James Mackay said, “there was only one reason for putting that flag on there. Like the gun rack in the back of a pickup truck, it telegraphs a message.” The incorporation of the Confederate Battle flag into the Georgia flag was a flagrant attempt at intimidation. -
Martin Luther King JR
MLKMLK was the most prominent African American leader in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. After Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up he seat to a white male, they asked him if his church could be used as a meeting place to discuss the bus boycott he was asked to run. On December 21, 1956, King the first passengers to board an integrated bus. The bus boycott made King a national symbol of black protest. -
Sibley Commission
Once the General Assembly supported resistance to desegregation. Governor Vandiver made a committee, that John Sibley was in charge of, to investigate Georgians' opinions. The committee found that 60% of people would rather shut down public schools than do the federally mandated integration. The committee was charged with gathering state residents' sentiments regarding desegregation and reporting back to the governor. This led to the end of massive resistance to desegregation in the state. -
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee consisted mostly of highschool and college aged students.They focused on protesting peacefully and nonviolently. This began the Albany movement, which was a successful failure. The SNCC was one of the most important organizations of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's. They played a major role in the sit-ins and freedom rides, a leading role in the 1963 March on Washington, Mississippi Freedom Summer, and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. -
Andrew Young
YoungYoung left his position as pastor in 1961 to work with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the church-centered, Atlanta-based civil rights organization led by Martin Luther King Jr. He became a trusted aide to Martin Luther King Jr., eventually rising to the executive directorship of the SCLC. He was with King when the civil rights leader was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. -
Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter to UGA
Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter were one of the first two African American students admitted to the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens in 1961.Their request was refused three times before they came to UGA, but a full trial on the matter was later held in Athens in December 1960. There were angry riots and protests where people threw rocks and bricks at their home. In addition, they were treated badly by their peers but graduated and became very successful. -
The Albany Movement
The Albany Movement, which was led by William G. Anderson, was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, on November 17, 1961, by local activists, the SNCC, and the NAACP. This event was an epic failure but a valuable lesson learned. SNCC tried to organize peaceful protests to desegregate a Georgia city, but police put so many in jail there was nobody left to protest. There were important lessons learned there, however, so that the Atlanta demonstrations were more effective. -
March on Washington
March On WashingtonThe March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. It was the largest demonstration ever seen in the nation's capital, and one of the first to have extensive television coverage with an estimated quarter of a million people. The march was noted for its civility and peacefulness and was also where MLK gave his favorite speech, "an American dream". This event in history led to the passage of the Civil and Voting Rights Act of 1964 and 1965. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public. The Act was signed into a law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964, at the White House. -
Lester Maddox
Maddox, the state's most unlikely governor, was brought to office in 1966 by widespread dissatisfaction with desegregation. He appointed more African Americans to government positions than all previous Georgia governors combined, including the first black officer in the Georgia State Patrol and the first black official to the state Board of Corrections. Maddox refused to order flags at state facilities to be lowered to half-mast, and he fought against the civil rights aims of the party. -
Manyard Jackson
In 1973, Maynard Jackson was the first African American to serve as mayor of Atlanta. He provoked his first major racial crisis in May 1974 when he attempted to fire a white police chief. This increased racial tensions within the city and detracted from Atlanta's proud motto: "too busy to hate." Another conflict occurring in August 1974, Jackson appointed a college friend and African American activist to become the public safety commissioner, which many stated it as "reverse discrimination."
