How did Georgia’s population shift after WWII? Why did this happen? (3 reasons)
Synthetic fabrics decreased demand for cotton
Diversification into other products
Technological change in agriculture equipment lessened the need for large numbers of agricultural workers
Prior to WWII: Destruction of the cotton crop by the evil boll weevil, the Great Migration of African-Americans to northern cities, movement of large numbers of Georgians from farms to cities with factories during WWII and WWII, AAA payments to farmers to stop them from growing crops during the Great Depression
How did agriculture change in Georgia after WWII? What did this cause?
Diversification into other products
Technological change in agriculture equipment lessened the need for large numbers of agricultural workers
Tractors, reapers, machinery, fertilizers
Caused there to be less need for workers so they moved into cities – population shift from rural to urban!
What is the importance of major league sports teams coming to Atlanta?
They generate millions of dollars a year in revenue – including jobs and the multiplier effect those jobs create (as those employed by the stadiums and teams spend their paychecks that creates economic growth and job opportunities for others)
Who is credited with bringing these teams to Georgia? Ivan Allen, Jr.
PEOPLE
William B. Hartsfield
Ivan Allen, Jr.
Ellis Arnall
Title
Mayor of Atlanta – 6 terms of 4 years each – 1937-1941 and 1942-1961
Mayor of Atlanta from 1962-1970 – 2 terms of 4 years
Governor of Georgia – 1943-1947
Background
Born in Atlanta and attended Atlanta Public Schools, but didn’t finish high school
Worked in a law firm and eventually passed the bar exam to open his own law firm
Began political career when elected to the Atlanta city council in 1922
Son of a business man and born in ATL
Graduated from GA Tech and worked in his father’s business
Served in WWII then became president of his father’s business
Born in Newnan, Ga
Law degree from UGA in 1931
Elected to GA General Assembly in 1932
Attorney General in 1938 – the nation’s youngest at that time
Won the governor race in 1942 due to Eugene Talmadge’s interference causing GA’s university system to lose its accreditation
Contributions
Actively supported bringing air transportation to GA and helped make ATL an aviation hub
Coined the phrase for Atlanta – the city too busy to hate
Support for civil rights prevented some of the racial violence that was in other southern cities
Helped Atlanta during the Great Depression
Led a group to organize and carry out voter registration drives after the ending of the white primary
Instrumental in the calm integration of Atlanta Public schools
Refused to give up his position of governor as part of the three governor’s controversy
Lost to Lester Maddox when he was a strong opponent for the governorship in 1966
Who were the three men involved in the three governors scandal?
Ellis Arnall, Herman Talmadge, and Melvin Thompson
Describe Eugene Talmadge’s role.
He was running for election in 1946, however, he was very sick. He was elected as governor but died before taking the office
How did Herman Talmadge become involved?
Eugene Talmadge’s son – was part of a campaign of the Democratic Party to have his name written in by voters as they were concerned that Eugene Talmadge would die before taking office because he was so sick (he did)
Why did Ellis Arnall refuse to leave the governor’s office even though his term was over?
He did not want to give the governor’s office over to Herman Talmadge because their views were so different. He wanted to stay in office while the Lt. Governor (Melvin Thompson) had his case in court. They believed that the GA Supreme Court would name Thompson as the governor based on the GA constitution (they did)
What decision did the General Assembly make? They chose Herman Talmadge as the governor
What did Melvin Thompson do? What was his claim in court? He started a court case. His claim was that he should be named as the governor of GA because he had been elected to the new position of Lieutenant Governor, and the GA constitution allowed for the LT. Gov. to take over if the Governor died
How was the scandal resolved? The Court sided with Lt. Gov. Melvin Thompson making him Governor. They also created a special election in 1948 which Herman Talmadge won
How did this scandal impact Georgia? Made GA a nationwide laughing stock, appear backwards, and lowered its already tarnished reputation / Led to a series of segregationist governors who ended some of the progressive reforms made by Ellis Arnall
Describe the white primary.
Used by southern whited to keep African Americans from voting in the Democratic primary (The primary elections are held first – one for each political party – to narrow the candidates to the one the people want to represent each political party) Because at the time GA was a one party state, the Democratic party was essentially the election. So the white primary was a way of disenfranchisement – preventing African Americans from truly voting
How did the white primary end in Georgia?
Primus King, aided by the NAACP and Dr. Thomas Brewer, tried to vote in a white primary in Columbus, GA. He was of course, arrested. His case then went to the Supreme Court and in the case King v Chapman, the US Supreme Court ruled white primaries unconstitutional. Ellis Arnall is credited with convincing the Democratic party of Georgia not to challenge the decision and end the use of white primaries in GA
What was the decision in the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Case?
Segregated schools are unconstitutional – This case caused schools to be integrated
How did the Georgia General Assembly respond to that decision? (4 things!!)
They declared the decision null and void – they refused to comply with the decision
They threatened to stop funding and/or shut down any school that integrated
Atlantans founded HOPE – Help Our Public Schools – to demand that the gov’t not shut down any school
Changed the flag in 1956 to include the Confederate States of America battle emblem
Why was the Sibley Commission created? What did the Sibley Commission do?
Created to gage public opinion on if GA should continue to resist the federal government’s desegregation of schools or change its laws to desegregate schools – according to the data from the 10 hearings held across the state, 60% of Georgians claimed they would rather close the public schools than to integrate
John Sibley, the head of the commission created by Governor Vandiver believed in segregation AND that resistance to federal mandates was useless. SO, despite the findings, Sibley pushed for schools to desegregate and the General Assembly accepted the Sibley Commission’s recommendation to allow school systems to decide for themselves about integration without interference from the state government
Strengthened the school academically and grew their funding
Mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr.
Created the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Spokesman for the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Involved in the Albany Movement
Leader of the civil rights movement
March on Washington – I Have a Dream speech
Nobel Peace Prize – 1964
Created the Poor People’s Campaign to address economic issues left unsolved by previous civil rights legislation
Instrumental in ending segregation and changing Americas views on race and racial equality
First African American mayor of a southern city @age 35
Provided more contract work to African American owned businesses
Expanded Hartsfield Airport(Hartsfield JACSON International Airport, now)
Appointed more African Americans to government positions than any other governors combined
Created “little people days” allowing Georgians to speak with him at the governor’s mansion
Integrated the Georgia State Patrol
Segregationist
Elected Lieutenant Governor in 1970
Civil rights leader – voter
registration drives, worked for
the SCLC training civil rights
volunteers and taking part in
non-violent protests
An advisor to MLK, Jr.
Georgia’s first African
American Congressman since Reconstruction
Ambassador to the UN
As mayor, grew the city
economically and into an
international city
Describe each of the following – include what it was, important people involved, and how it was important
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC): College students across the nation, An organization that orchestrated peaceful, non-violent protests for civil rights, Helped draw attention and brought change
The desegregation of the University of Georgia: Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter, Federal court ruled in favor of these students and required UGA to accept them as students – they WERE qualified, The integration of college after even high school was previously denied to African Americans by the Georgia constitution (Remember Cumming vs Bd of Ed of Richmond in 1899)
The Albany Movement: SNCC, Martin Luther King, Jr., Police Chief Pritchett, An organized, peaceful, non-violent protest for civil rights, To desegregate the city of Albany, National attention – the failure to desegregate the city taught many lessons that were used in the successful Birmingham campaigns
The March on Washington: MLK, Jr., over 250,000 activists, A political rally to promote the cause of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous speech: “I Have a Dream” making him the most well-known spokesperson of the Civil Rights Movement, Influenced the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Civil Rights Acts (1964 and 1965): US Congress, Civil Rights Act – Forbade discrimination on the basis of sex and race in hiring, promoting, and firing Voting Rights Act – Prohibited states from imposing any voting qualification or denying the right of any citizen to vote on account of race or color, Made segregation illegal and stopped disenfranchisement
