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Benjamin Mays
This man was the longtime president of Morehouse College and a distinguished African American minister, educator, scholar and social activist. He was also an important teacher to Martin Luther King Jr., and was a widely acclaimed speaker of Civil Rights before the Civil Rights era. He took part in NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored people), YMCA (International Youngs Men's Christian Association), World Council of Churches, the United Negro College Fund, and many others. -
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The Life of Heman Talmadge
A Video Discussion on who Herman Talmadge wasHerman Talmadge was the son of Eugene Talmadge and served as democratic governor of Georgia at the beginning of 1947 and again from 1948 to 1954. He also served in the senate, where he was a firm opposer of the Civil Rights legislation. In the 1970's, he began to reach out to Blacks, but in 1979, he was denounced from the senate for financial misconduct. He was also part of the three governors controversy, where there was confusion of who was going to be the governor. -
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Lester Maddox
Lester and his segregated restaurant
Lester opened up a restaurant called the Pickrick cafeteria that did not serve blacks and expressed to the community through an alter ego called "Pickrick" about his promotion of segregation and government corruption. He was first unsuccessful in running for Governor, but eventually did make it to office, and hired more blacks to fill the postitions than all other governors combined. -
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Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. informational website with Videos at the bottomMartin Luther King Jr. was a key leader in the American Civil Rights movements.He was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's acts of nonviolence and sought out equality between Blacks and Whites. He was awarded the nobel peace prize in 1964 and is remembered by Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and is commonly remembered by his "I have a dream" speech. -
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Andrew Young
Andrew Young was an American politician, diplomat, activist, and pastor. He also served as a congressman and member of the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference). He was a supporter and friend of Martin Luther King Jr.. He has founded a number of agencies that focus on helping those in need. -
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Maynard Jackson
A biography about Maynard Jackson on the Atlanta Airport's websiteMaynard was the first African American to serve as mayor. Maynard was very beneficial to the Hartsfield Airport, which is why the airport is now named after him in memorial (Hartsfield - Jackson Airport). He also attempted to improve police forces to reduce police mistreatment and allow blacks to promote in rank. -
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Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter
These two were both denied from UGA due to their race. However, in 1961, they were the first two African Americans allowed into the University of Georgia in Athens. -
1946 Governor's Race and the End of White Primacy
White Primacy was a way that prevented the African American population from voting. The King vs. Chapman supreme court case declared the White Primacy was unconstitutional (illegal).
The Governor's race of 1946 was also called the Three Governor's Controversy. Herman Talmadge, Eugene Talmadge, and Melvin Thompson were all declared official governors at the same time. In the end, Herman Talmadge was elected to stay Governor. -
Brown vs Board of Education
The effect of the Brown vs Board of Education had the opposite effects as Plessy vs Ferguson case. The Brown vs the Board of Education case declared that there would be no segregation between blacks and whites at schools. It took a while for this decision to fully come into effect across the entire United States. -
1956 State Flag
The state flag of GA in 1956 was a compromise of the confederate flag and the normal flag. Many political leaders were in favor of this flag, but after Brown vs Board of Education, the state grudgingly renounced them. -
SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinated Committee)
The SNCC was a major civil rights monument of this period. It was mostly consisting of high schoolers and college age students. These students focused on organizing peaceful, non-violent change. They were most famous for Freedom Rides and Sit-ins. The SNCC started the Albany Movement and in in Atlanta, it organized successful sit-ins. -
Sibley Commission
After the Brown vs. Board of Education case, the General Assembly did not want any more segregation. Vandiver, a Georgian Governor, did not want to choose an unpopular descision, so he created a commitee that would survey Georgia's opinion. The commission he created, the Sibley Commission, found that 60% of Georgians would rather shut down public schools than allow integration. -
Albany Movement
The Albany Movemet was the first mass movement to aspire for desegregation of a whole community during modern civil rights time. One thousand protesters were jailed, leaving none to protest. The movement was a failure, but it lead to other events, and it taught the protesters what they could and could not do during a protest. -
March on Washington
In Washington D.C, over 250,000 Civil Rights activists rallied in order to hear Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech of "I Have a Dream". The supporters then marched to show their support for John F. Kennedy's new bill that proposed more job oppurtunities. This march led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Speech
Martin Luther King Jr.'s full speech The speech describes Martin Luther King Jr.'s "dream" for a better world where blacks and whites would not be so segregated. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act forbade discrimination that was based on gender or race when places were hiring, promoting, or firing a person. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act stopped states from imposing any voting qualifications to deny any U.S citizen to right to vote if it depended on race or color. This act was signed by Lincon B. Johnson and after the bill was passed, the amount of different races voting doubled.