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White Primary Schools Abolished in GA
Blacks were not allowed to vote in state primary elections; GA was a one party state so the primaries were the only important elections. King v Chapman Supreme Court ruling made GA’s white primaries unconstitutional. Chapman, from the Democratic Committee, requested that the ruling be overturned. The Supreme Court did not comply, and the ruling stood. Info:http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2921&hl=y Picture:http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2921 -
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Civil RIghts Timeline
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Military Integrated
Largely as a result of inefficiency, the U.S. Armed Forces had been slowly integrating at the larger levels, assigning a black company to each battalion. Segregation remained in lower levels, such as squads and platoons. In 1948 the military fully integrated, following an investigation into the deployment of colored units during WWII. The integration was made by Executive Order 9981, issued by President Harry Truman, although many commanders ignored the order for some time. -
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Brown v Board of Education Trial
Linda Brown was a black third-grader in Topeka, Kansas. To get to her school, she walked several miles from her home, and through a railroad yard. The parents of Linda Brown, as well as 13 other parents sue the Topeka Board of Education for forcing their children to attend segregated schools that were farther away and of lower quality than the white schools. The case joined several others from different states in the Supreme Court. Representing the parents of Linda Brown was a black lawyer... -
Brown V BOE Cont.
...named Thurgood Marshall, who would later become the first black Supreme Court Justice After a prolonged legal battle, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Browns and the NAACP; state public schools were ordered to integrate. The change took several years. Info:http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112391/brown_v__board_of_education.htm
Pic:http://kansas150slk.blogspot.com/2010/07/brown-v-board-of-education.html -
Mongomery Bus Boycott Cont.
...the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the civil rights position, thanks in part to the ruling in Brown v BOE.
Info:http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/article_overview.htm
Pic:http://www.aaaheatingac.com/protests-and-martin-luther-king-jr/ -
Rosa Parks/Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks, a black woman, started a massive protest against segregated buses by refusing to give up her seat to a white man. Though the details of it made her refusal technically legal, she was imprisoned. Several civil rights leaders called for blacks in the city to not ride the buses in protest. The city buses lost thousands in passengers, who instead walked, took cabs, or rode with friends. Black churches provided a large carpool for their congregation. This went on for over a year, until... -
Georgia State Flag Revised
In 1956, GA Legislators voted to revise the state flag. The new version had a large Stars and Bars symbol across most of it,the Stars and Bars meaning the battle flag flown by Confederate troops during the Civil War. Since this was about the time when integration was being pushed on Georgia, some saw it as a symbol of resistance and stubbornness on the Georgia’s part. The legislators pushing for it claimed it was to honor Confederate dead, as the Civil War 100th Anniversary was coming up soon. -
Georgia State Flag Revised Cont
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Little Rock Nine Cont Part 2
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Crisis at Central High School/Little Rock Nine
In 1957, at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, nine black students were prevented from entering the school by State National Guard units. Governor Faubas of Arkansas wanted to prevent his schools from integrating. NAACP lawyers, including Thurgood Marshall, managed to get the Governor to remove the National Guard troopers. Still, Faubas said he did not want the students to enter the school for their own safety, knowing there would be violent resistance from the white students there. -
Little Rock Nine Continued
When the black students were allowed in, however, President Eisenhower authorized elements of the 101st Airborne Division, an elite force that served with distinction during WWII, to go to the school and escort the black students through their classes. Eventually, 8 of the nine black students successfully graduated, becoming the first colored students to do so at the school. One of the students teaches there today. Info:http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112391/little_rock_nine.htm -
Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Bombing at Atlanta
In 1958, a large bomb exploded in the Temple, one of Atlanta’s oldest synagogues. Although there was great material damage, the Temple was vacant and none were injured or killed. The bombing had dire political ramifications, however, as Atlanta government and businessmen had managed to create an atmosphere of decency and tolerance in Atlanta, giving it the nickname, “The City too Busy to Hate”. The explosion caused insecurity among Jews, as many still remembered the lynching of Leo Frank. -
Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Bombing Cont
Fortunately, the bombing was widely denounced by the Atlanta mayor and newspapers, as well as President Eisenhower. Local businesses and schools offered their facilities to the Jewish congregation for use until the Temple could be repaired. Arrests were made a few days later, although charges were dropped against all five suspects.
Info:http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1585
Pic:http://jwa.org/media/temple-bombing-atlanta-georgia -
Sibley Commission
In 1960, the Sibley Commission was formed to investigate the issue of integrating state schools, as per the federal government’s orders. John Sibley, head of the Committee, held ten hearings to discover local opinions on whether state schools should be closed completely or submit to desegregation. After discovering that there was overwhelming support for complete shutdown instead of integration, Sibley disregarded the results and made a report recommending that the decision be left to... -
Sibley Commission Continued Part 2
As a side effect, many private schools opened at this time to provide an alternate choice for white students wanting to escape integrated schools; as private entities they did not risk loss of funding for integrating or segregating.
Info:http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2617&hl=y
Pic:http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Multimedia.jsp?id=m-10074 -
Sibley Commission Continued
local school systems whether to close or integrate. He managed to get a good amount of support for his plan, and Governor Vandiver introduced legislation that repealed earlier laws that would cut off funding for schools that integrated. However, largely as a result of the Sibley Commission’s findings, the legislation was made not especially effective at enforcing integration. -
UGA Integrated
January 6th, 1961. A Federal District judge orders that two black students are to be immediately admitted into the University of Georgia, at the time an all-white segregated school. This started a large controversy over the law passed earlier in 1954 that required all state funds to be cut from any school that integrated. Since UGA was now integrated per the federal government’s ordfers, it would lose funds from the state government. Rumors popped up that UGA might very well close for lack... -
UGA Integrated Continued
...of funding. Administrators did manage to calm down the students and restore order, but on January 11th, violence broke out. A gaggle (because it’s a fun word) of whites gathered outside of Charlayne Hunter’s (one of the black students that had gained admission) dormitory and vandalized her property. It was an embarrassment for both the state and the university. Eventually, the laws that cut state funding to integrated schools were repealed. -
UGA Integrated Cont Part 2
Eventually, the laws that cut state funding to integrated schools were repealed.
Info:http://tinyurl.com/6mu7vdl
Pic:http://blog.dlg.galileo.usg.edu/?p=1564 -
Albany Movement
Although many attempts were made to desegregate parts of a community, the Albany Movement was the first to seriously target an entire community. In the grand scheme of things it was a failure, and over 1,000 activists were arrested. It started with organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizing voter registrations for blacks, hoping to sway the elections for city positions. It evolved into mass protest marches and demonstration meetings. -
Albany Movement Continued
Following the arrest of several hundred activists, Martin Luther King Jr. joined the movement and was shortly thereafter jailed and released. The next time he was jailed an unknown white lawyer paid the fines and got MLK and his colleagues released. He called on the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to help him organize more waves of protest marchers and demonstrators. The Movement continued for a short while, but the majority of the demonstrators were imprisoned, and the civil rights... -
Albany Movement Continued Part 2
...leaders simply ran out of human capital to call on. However, the voter registration attempts were successful enough that a black businessman made it to a run-off election for a City Council seat.
Info:http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1057&sug=y
Pic:http://www.nomoreheroescontest.com/civil-rights/martin-luther-king-jr-%E2%80%93-civil-rights-activist-%E2%80%93-part-two -
Freedom Rides
The Supreme Court ruled that segregating buses was unconstitutional, so a large civil rights group decided to test the government’s willingness to enforce the law. They rode across the South in the supposedly desegregated buses, encountering angry mobs and violence with just about every stop. After a while, state police forces began placing the Freedom Riders in protective custody and escorting them out of the state. However, the state turned the Freedom Riders over to local court systems... -
Freedom Riders Cont.
...where nearly all of them would be arrested and imprisoned. They did, however, pressure many political figures, including the Kennedys, into strong civil rights stances.
Info:http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/freeride.html
Pic:http://mdah.state.ms.us/freedom/index.php -
Birmingham Protests
Throughout early and mid-1963 in Birmingham, Alabama, civil rights organizations such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference staged massive protests and demonstrations, in an attempt to integrate city facilities. On April 3rd, B (Birmingham) Day took place, with sit-ins and propaganda spreading. More than 100 leaders of the movement were prevented from organizing more by the city government, and MLK was arrested. -
16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Cont.
...justice. It would be 14 years before the first trial, and the last would wait until 2002, 39 years after the bombing.
Info:http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-9475374
Pic: http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2007/september/bapbomb_092609 -
Birmingham Protests Cont. Part 2
Desperate to stop the demonstrations, firefighters were called in to use high-pressure water hoses to discourage protestors. Along with police dogs, they managed to make their message clear, but to the rest of the country, it was a message of brutality. City businessmen agreed to integrate lunch counters and made a few other concessions to put an end to the violence, to the objections of city officials. -
Birmingham Movement Cont. Part 2 Epliogue
City businessmen agreed to integrate lunch counters and made a few other concessions to put an end to the violence, to the objections of city officials.
Info:http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/birming.html
Pic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_campaign -
Birmingham Protests Cont.
. From his solitary confinement cell he wrote the famed “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Later, on D-Day (not the Normandy Invasion), the civil rights groups sent in hundreds of teenagers and children in place of the adults they had been using. They hoped that police would hesitate on them, and it was more economically affordable to have a teenage son in prison than the mother or father. However, it wasn’t long before Birmingham prisons were filled to capacity... -
16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham Bombed
This church had been outspoken on its civil rights stance, and routinely held meetings for activists and leaders in that field. On September 15th, 1963, KKK terrorists detonated a bomb in the 16th Street Baptist Church, which was primarily attended by blacks. Four young girls were killed in the blast, with several more injured. In the additional violence that ensued, National Guard forces imposed martial law over the city. MLK spoke at the funerals, like many others calling for immediate... -
March on D.C. Protest
On August 28, 1963, 250,000 activists descended on the U.S. Capitol. Members of NAACP, SCLC, and others banded together in one massive demonstration for civil rights. It was in this event Martin Luther King delivered his powerful “I Have a Dream” speech, which became world famous. The event pressured the Kennedy Administration and Congress to act on civil rights, leading to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Info: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/marchonwashington.html
Pic: http://tinyurl.com/8436jh9 -
President Kennedy Assassinated
On November 22nd, a motorcade carrying President Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and Governor John Connally moved through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Here, shots were fired at the motorcade, striking the President twice and the Governor once. In minutes the procession was at Parkland Memorial Hospital, but at that point there was little that could be done. President Kennedy died at 1:00PM. By the end of the day Lee Harvey Oswald, the... -
President Kennedy Assassinated Cont.
...suspected assassin, had been arrested. Two days later, when he was scheduled to be transferred to a different prison, he himself was shot and killed by a man named Jack Ruby. Ruby claimed that his motive was anger over Kennedy’s assassination. He has been a favorite figure of conspiracy theorists, as he was loosely involved with organized crime. Theorists theorize that he killed Oswald to keep him from revealing a larger conspiracy. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Passed in 1964, this act made almost all discriminatory acts in public areas illegal. Although President Kennedy was assassinated before the law was enacted, he had already proposed an act of this sort. Thus, many consider it to be a part of his legacy. It was almost stalled in the endless red tape of Congress, but it was signed into law the day it made it through. Segregation was made illegal in public libraries, parks, schools, and some private entities such as theaters or restaurants. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964 Cont
. Segregation was made illegal in public libraries, parks, schools, and some private entities such as theaters or restaurants.
Pic: http://www.theredmountainpost.com/jfk-assassination-cover-up-blown-sky-high-6404/
Info: http://ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=97 -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Voting Rights Act of ‘65
Signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson, the VRA was tailored to the South’s notorious reputation for disenfranchising blacks. The act banned all “discriminatory practices” in primary, general, and special elections. This included poll taxes and literacy tests. By the end of 1965, more than 250,000 additional blacks had registered to vote, which had a massive impact on their political power and the political ramifications of supporting the civil rights movement. -
Summerhill Race Riots in Atlanta
In 1966 in the Summerhill area of Atlanta, huge riots broke out in protest of a police shooting of a black man. Summerhill residents were pulled into the conflict and damaged Atlanta’s reputation as “the City Too Busy to Hate”, a nickname and culture that had been nurtured by both businessman and city government.
Info: http://www.summerhillatl.org/summerhill-history/
Pic: http://tinyurl.com/7gqv7ml -
MLK Assassinated
One dark day in 1968, a rifle’s loud report was heard near the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. That shot would kill the revered civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most well-known activists of the period. He was in Memphis then to try to pacify groups of demonstrators that were turning violent. His whole career King had advised and preached nonviolent protest, and he was greatly worried by the looting and rioting beginning to break out. After his assassination... -
MLK Assassination Cont
more riots sprang up and the movement began caving to more violent ideals, case in point, the Black Panthers became a terrorist ring that worked for “civil rights” much like the KKK worked for “white supremacy”. Black supremacists also gained popularity afterward. Still, the nonviolent movement had served a great purpose, getting the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act passed. Info: http://history1900s.about.com/cs/martinlutherking/a/mlkassass.htm
Pic: http://tinyurl.com/7v9cwmh -
Integration of GA Schools
Opposition to desegregation of Georgia’s schools remained fierce since Brown v BOE, when school segregation was banned. Throughout the 60’s and early 70’s school systems were slowly but surely giving in to integration due to Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This title called for the removal of segregated systems and full integration. Still, even when the schools that wanted to integrate began the process, they faced huge logistics problems of how to add dozens, if not hundreds of new... -
All GA Schools Integrated Cont.
students to the system. There were, of course, several incidents of violence between the new black students and the incumbent whites, i.e. the mobs outside of Charlayne Hunter’s dorm (See UGA Integration). However, by 1971, nearly all of Georgia’s public schools had integrated, willingly or not.
Info: http://onlineathens.com/stories/120401/ath_bischools.shtml
Pic: http://onlineathens.com/stories/120401/ath_bischools.shtml
