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Benjamin Mays
Benjamin Elijah Mays (August 1, 1894 – March 28, 1984) was an American black minister, educator, sociologist, social activist and the president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia from 1940 to 1967. Mays was also a significant mentor to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. -
Govenor Race/End of the White Primary
The U. S. Supreme Court, in the case of King v. Chapman, declares the white primary to be unconstitutional, thus removing a significant legal barrier to black voting in the state of Georgia. -
Three Governor Crisis
Eugene Talmadge won election to a fourth term as Georgia’s governor in 1946, but died before his inauguration. To fill the vacancy, Eugene’s son, Herman, was appointed by the state Legislature. But the anti-Talmadge Melvin Thompson had been elected to the newly created office of lieutenant governor, and he claimed to be governor as well. With no clear winner, outgoing governor Ellis Arnall—also anti-Talmadge--refused to vacate the office. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation, -
State Flag
In 1956, GA’s state flag was changed to include the Confederate Battle Flag; changed in 2001 as citizens found the flag offensive. -
Sibley Commission
The committee was charged with gauging public sentiment regarding school desegregation and reporting back to the governor. -
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), formed to give younger blacks more of a voice in the civil rights movement, and it became one of the movement’s more radical branches. -
First Black Students at UGA
Federal district court Judge W. A. Bootle ordered the immediate admission of Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter to the University of Georgia, ending 160 years of segregation at the school. -
Albany Movement
Workers with the NAACP & SNCC sat in the “whites only” waiting room at the city’s bus station. They were arrested. This prompted the African American community to unite and form the Albany Movement, which was led by Dr. William Anderson. Before the year’s end, a biracial committee was formed to study concerns of the African American community in Albany. -
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
One of the largest political rallies for human rights in United States history and called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. gives a famous "I have a dream" speech in Washington -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act 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. -
Lester Maddox becomes Governor of Georgia
He was the 75th Governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1967 to 1971. A populist Democrat, Maddox came to prominence as a staunch segregationist when he refused to serve black customers in his Atlanta restaurant, in defiance of the Civil Rights Act. Yet as Governor, he oversaw notable improvements in black employment. -
Mayor Jackson Mayor of Atlanta
Atlanta’s first African American Mayor from 1974-1982 and 1990-1994
Expanded MARTA and Hartsfield airport
Established Bureau of Cultural Affairs
Helped secure the 1996 Olympics -
Andrew Young becomes Mayor of Atlanta
Aide to Martin Luther King Jr.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 5th district from 1973 – 1977
Appointed by Jimmy Carter as US Ambassador to the United Nations 1977 – 1979
55th Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia 1982–1990
Instrumental to bringing Olympics to Atlanta in 1996
