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Mays President of Morehouse
A minister and an educator, Benjamin Mays became the president of Morehouse College in Atlanta. Heavily influenced by the non-violent teachings of Gandhi, Mays believed that all human beings must be treated with dignity. He spoke out against segregation before the Civil Rights movement even began, and Mays became a teacher and father-figure to Martin Luther King, Jr. -
HermanTalmadge Elected
Interview with Governor TalmadgeAlthough Eugene Talmadge was elected for a fourth term as governor in 1946, he died before taking office. A struggle between three men occured, each insisting that he took office: Herman Talmadge, the son of Eugene Talmadge; Ellis Arnall, the current Governor; and Melvin E. Thompson, the Lieutenant Governor.After the election was taken to court, the GA Supreme Court said that M.E. Thompson was the legal governor. But another election, held not long after, determined Talmadge to be the governor. -
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson
Jackie Robinson becomes first African-American major league baseball player with Brooklyn Dodgers. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or the NAACP, won a landmark decision in the United States Supreme Court. According to the Supreme Court, segregated schools were now unconstitutional, due to the “equal protection” clause. Many southern states, including Georgia, disagreed with this decision. -
Georgia Flag Change
Georgia changed its state flag to include the Confederate battle flag just to flaunt its disagreement with the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, -
UGA Enrollment
Despite angry protests and threats, Charlayne Hunter
and Hamilton Holmes became the first two African Americans to enroll at UGA. -
First SNCC Sit-In Protest
Several students copied King’s ways of non-violent protest and formed the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The students stayed sternly independent of King and SCLC, and made their own projects and strategies. During protests such as this one, people would lift their brokenn spirits by singing.
Lift Every Voice and Sing
Oh Freedom -
Georgia Commission
After Georgia refused to cooperate with integrating schools (they even threatened to stop funding integrating schools), the state's government formed a commission to ask Georgians how they felt about integrating, led by Atlanta banker John Sibley. With the commission, mixed feelings were found throughout the state. Sibley recommended that each school district should be able to decide its own policy on integration. He also suggested repealing any state laws that punished integrating schools. -
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Albany Movement
Vintage Albany FreedomA desegregation movement took place in Albany, Georgia, involving the NAACP and SNCC. The goal was to bring national attention to the Civil Rights movement by ending all types of segregation in Albany. The NAACP and SNCC recruited Martin Luther King, Jr. But despite King’s assistance, the Albany movement failed. The Albany Movement’s fatal flaw was that it did not concentrate on a single kind of segregation—it bit off more than it could chew, and failure easily consumed the groups as a result. -
March on Washington
"I Have a Dream" speech
More than 250,000 people gathered on Washington, D.C., to demand equal rights for blacks. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech here. -
Civil Rights Act Passed
The March on Washington led the Senate to consider passing the Civil Rights Act, prohibiting discrimination in all public places and making it illegal to discriminate in employment on the basis of race or sex. Finally, in June 1964, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 73-27. -
King Gets Arrested
On February 2, Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested in Selma, Alabama, during a voting rights demonstration. He was an American pastor, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African American Civil Rights Movement.
The letter King wrote while in jail -
Maddox Elected
Lestor Maddox, a surprise winner, was elected governor in 1967. He appointed more African Americans to state office than any of the other governors combined, integrated the State Patrol, and created the “People’s Days," which was when, once a month, any Georgian could visit and talk with the governor. -
Young Elected to House of Reps.
Andrew Young was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, the first black elected from GA since Reconstruction. -
Maynard Jackson Elected
Maynard Jackson was the first African American to be mayor of a major southern city such as Atlanta. He served eight years before returning for a third term (1990 election) after Andrew Young. Because of programs Jackson instituted in his first two terms, the number of city businesses going to minority firms increased dramatically. Before and during his third term, he worked closely with Young and others to bring the 1996 Olympic Games to Atlanta. -
Young Appointed US Ambassador
President Jimmy Carter appointed Young to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 1977. -
Young Mayor of Atlanta
In 1981, Andrew Young succeeded Maynard Jackson as mayor of Atlanta. Young was one of Georgia's greatest Civil Rights leaders, and worked closely with Martin Luther King, Jr. and the SCLC. -
Rosa Parks Takes a Stand
Rosa Parks, a respected member of Montgomery's black community, refused to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger when asked to do so.
