Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Section A of SS8H11
Section A of SS8H11
Beginnings:
What happened in the 1940s & 50s? What do you need to know? See the standard below:
SS8H11 The student will evaluate the role of Georgia in the modern civil rights movement.
a. Describe major developments in civil rights and Georgia’s role during the 1940s and 1950s; include the roles of
Herman Talmadge, Benjamin Mays, the 1946 governor’s race and the end of the white primary, Brown v. Board of
Education, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the 1956 state flag.
Materials in this PDF will contain the text from the website 40 Years of Georgia Civil Rights. To images and
other web content, go to: http://ss8h11.wordpress.com/
II. Benjamin Mays
Benjamin Mays was a teacher, and in a way, his teaching was the beginning of a famous Civil
Rights leader. Who do you think that was? Keep reading!
Benjamin Mays graduated Bates College in 1920 and then went on to earn his Ph.D. from the
University of Chicago by 1935.
Benjamin Mays mentored Martin Luther King, Jr. while MLK went to college at Morehouse.
Mays.
Mays & King were friends until MLK was assassinated in 1968.
http://www.bates.edu/benjamin-mays.xml
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2627
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/webexhibits/IntegratingTheLifeOfTheMind/BenjaminMays.html
III. 1946 Governors Race
1946 was a beginning for African-Americans, they could vote for Governor. 1946 was also the
beginning of the Three Governor’s Crisis:
Melvin Thompson & Herman Talmadge, two of the three governors in January, 1947
Ellis Arnall, the last of the three, and the first to step down in February,1947
Photograph of E. Melvin Thompson with Herman Talmadge, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, 1947. geo036, Photography, Vanishing Georgia
Collection, Georgia Division of Archives and History, Office of Secretary of State.
Photograph of Ellis Arnall signing statement, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, 1947, geo035, Photography, Vanishing Georgia Collection, Georgia
Division of Archives and History, Office of Secretary of State.
How did Georgia end up with three governors?
Georgia had just created a new constitution in 1945. In Article 5, the office of
Lieutenant Governor was created. Issues of contested elections were covered
as well as succession if the governor became disabled or died. What it did not
elucidate was what happens if the “Governor-elect” dies before he takes the
oath of office.
Eugene Talmadge was elected governor in November, 1946, but died the
next month.
Ellis Arnall refused to accept the vote, saying the election of Talmadge
was unconstitutional.
So, there were three men who all said they were governor—-
Photograph of reporters during “three-governor” dispute, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, 1947, geo038, Photography, Vanishing Georgia Collection,
Georgia Division of Archives and History, Office of Secretary of State.
It was quite embarrassing for Georgians. Herman Talmadge manipulated the Georgia Legislature
into electing him governor.
The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that M. E. Thompson was the proper governor in March, 1947, and
called for a special election in September, 1948, to resolve the issue. So, M. E. Thompson was
governor until he lost in that September election to Talmadge.
Governor Arnall was very involved in Georgia politics during the 1940s and 50s. During his term as
governor (1943-1947), the issue of Civil Rights came to the forefront of the national scene and in
Georgia.
In the photo below, Arnall is signing a statement. The photo was taken during the period of conflict
with Herman E. Talmadge, also known as the ”Three Governors” crisis. For more information on
that topic please click here.
Citation: Photograph of Ellis Arnall signing statement, Atlanta, Fulton County Georgia, 1947,
Photograph, Vanishing Georgia Collection, Georgia Division of Archives and History, Office of the
Secretary of State
He believed that white teachers should not teach black students in public schools.
He declared that blacks had no right use public schools for vocational training.
But, he did things behind-the-scenes.
Arnall did not allow Democrats to make their party a private club.
Democrats wanted to make their party private so they could keep blacks from voting.
Without saying so directly, Arnall essentially gave the right of blacks to vote in the primary.
Benjamin Mays said that Arnall did not use race as a weapon, which is a positive sentiment.
For more information on Arnall, please read the Henderson book cited below.
Henderson, Harold Paul. The Politics of Change in Georgia: A Political Biography of Ellis
Arnall. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1991.
Ellis Arnall and Tom Murphy had no known personal contact. In an interview, Mr. Murphy said
he read about the politics of the 1946 Georgia gubernatorial race in the newspapers. The interview
can be accessed at: The Digital Library of Georgia, “Oral history interview with Speaker Tom
Murphy, 1987 June 30,”
DigLibofGa_Tom Murphy_1987
V. The end of the White Primary
The 1944 case of Smith vs. Allwright was a case before U.S. Supreme Court. They decided that the
Texas White Primary was unconstitutional.
It forced Georgia to allow African-Americans to vote in the Democratic primary. But, the Democrats
had other ideas…they wanted to make their primary’s a private club. Governor Ellis Arnall prevented
that from happening, and the white primary neared its end. But, it would still be a struggle.
Primus King (below) registered to vote and then tried to vote at the Muscogee County Court
House, in Georgia.
He was thrown out. Primus was represented by NAACP and other lawyers.
In King v. Chapman et. al. , the Supreme Court upheld , by actually refusing to hear the case.
The ruling of lower courts won and African-Americans won the vote.
King would not be the last Civil Rights hero with that last name!
Primus King showing his check from the state of Georgia Muscogee County Courthouse, Georgia
What is segregation? Click on the word, read about it, and then come back.
Welcome back.
Segregation meant that whites and blacks used separate facilities: schools, churches and restaurants,
just to name a few. The Brown decision meant that black children would be allowed to go to any
school, including white ones.
1956 was the beginning of a quasi revolt in Georgia. Upset over Brown v. Board of Education, some
Georgians were able to create a new official flag for Georgia. Keep reading!
Georgia’s flag has gone through many changes since it became a state in January, 1788. In fact,
according to the Georgia Department of State the symbols on flags prior to 1879 are basically
unknown.
1.
2.
3.
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For the correct answer go to the Georgia Department of State website, and then close out that
window to return here: Georgia Department of State Picture of Confederate Battle Flag.
Some of the information for this page came from these sources below:
1. http://www.senate.ga.gov/sro/Documents/StudyCommRpts/00StateFlag.pdf
2. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2671
3. Flag images all came from the Georgia Department of State:
http://sos.georgia.gov/archives/museum/html/georgia_flag_history.html