Help Desk Number:
(404) 978-2052
The Atlanta Student Movement Collection
1960-2000
0.5 linear feet
The Atlanta Student Movement emerged out of the fight for justice and equality for African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. The students involved in these acts of courage and faith were part of the Atlanta University Center schools – Atlanta University, Gammon Theological Seminary, Clark, Morehouse, Morris Brown and Spelman Colleges. On March 9, 1960 students leaders from the AUC schools published “An Appeal for Human Rights,” a full page ad in the Atlanta Constitution, the Atlanta Journal, and the Atlanta Daily World, and later in the New York Times. The appeal set forth the student’s grievances, rights and aspirations as well as their dissatisfaction with the status quo conditions of segregation and discrimination and the slow pace at which inherent human and civil rights were being meted out to African Americans. The students followed the issuance of the “Appeal” with kneel-ins at local churches, and peaceful sit-ins and pickets at targeted businesses and government and transportation facilities in Atlanta and Fulton County, Georgia. Additionally, they brought a civil lawsuit against the City of Atlanta that led to the opening of publicly funded recreational facilities to all citizens of Atlanta. Their actions proved successful in gaining public awareness throughout the country, and helped change laws and public opinion.
This small collection of ephemera provides a glimpse of the involvement in the Civil Rights Movement by students from the Atlanta University Center schools. The collection includes newspaper and journal articles, flyers, reports, and correspondence by and about students from the AUC schools and a few items about student activities in other areas of the United States. There are copies of the “Appeal” and photographs and slides reproduced from the Atlanta Constitution and the Atlanta Journal. The participants in the Atlanta student movement organized commemorative reunions in 1980, 1990, and 2000. The collection includes programs, minutes, correspondence, and news articles of the reunions including the second “Appeal” published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Atlanta Daily World, and Atlanta Inquirer on March 31, 2000.