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New Deal
The New Deal programs introduced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt tryed to improve the state of the people and economy at that time. One Georgia governor, Herman Talmadge, was opposed to these programs promoting relief, reform, and recovery. Talmadge thought that the New Deal programs gave too much power to the Federal Government and denied many states' rights. -
Benjamin Mays
Benjamin Mays was a great minister and scholar, but he now he is best known for his work during the Civil Rights Movement. He was a mentor and "father-figure" to Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. He also made the closing speech during the March on Washington. The date given above was the date he was given the presidency or Morehouse College. -
The End of the White Primary
Beginning of the end for the White Primary came with two events, one in Texas, the other in Georgia. The 1944 case of Smith vs. Allwright was the Supreme Court decision that ruled the Texas White Primary was unconstitutional. 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. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
On May 17, 1954 the United States Supreme Court handed down its ruling in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The Court’s unanimous decision overturned provisions of the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision, which had allowed for “separate but equal” public facilities, including public schools in the United States. Declaring that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” the Brown v. Board decision helped break the back of state-sponsored segregation, -
The Sibley Commision
The Sibley Commision was formed by a group of people who wanted to voice to the public their opinions about desegregation in schools and colleges. It consisted of many members who founded it in Atlanta, Georgia. Even though the desegregation bill had been passed 6 years before, it was greatly opposed and had not been implemented in the public school system of Georgia. The Sibley Commision caused the integration of Georgia schools by the late 1960's. -
SNCC
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), also called (after 1969) Student National Coordinating Committee, American political organization that played a central role in the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Begun as an interracial group advocating nonviolence, it adopted greater militancy late in the decade, reflecting nationwide trends in black activism. This did not go along with the non-violent protests of Dr. King and his followers. -
Albany Movement
According to traditional accounts the Albany Movement began in fall 1961 and ended in summer 1962. It was the first mass movement in the modern civil rights era to have as its goal the desegregation of an entire community, and it resulted in the jailing of more than 1,000 African Americans in Albany and surrounding rural counties. Martin Luther King Jr. was drawn into the movement in December 1961 when hundreds of black protesters, including himself, were arrested in one week, but eight months l -
March on Washington
On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 Americans gathered in Washington, D.C., for a political rally known as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. 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. The march, which became a key moment in the growing struggle for civil rights in the United States, culminated in Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Drea -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin, is considered one of the crowning legislative achievements of the civil rights movement. First proposed by President John F. Kennedy, it survived strong opposition from southern members of Congress and was then signed into law by Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. In subsequent years, Congress expanded the act and also pas -
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was a Baptist minister and social activist who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. Inspired by advocates of nonviolence such as Mahatma Gandhi, King sought equality for African Americans, the economically disadvantaged and victims of injustice through peaceful protest. He was the driving force behind watershed events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March on Washington, which help
