Unit Test – Georgia after WWII and during the Civil Rights Movement
1.
How did Georgia’s population shift after WWII? Why did this happen? (3 reasons)
A. Synthetic fabrics decreased demand for cotton
B. Diversification into other products
C. Technological change in agriculture equipment lessened the need for large numbers of agricultural workers
D. 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
2. How did agriculture change in Georgia after WWII? What did this cause?
A. Diversification into other products
B. Technological change in agriculture equipment lessened the need for large numbers of agricultural workers
C. Tractors, reapers, machinery, fertilizers
D. Caused there to be less need for workers so they moved into cities – population shift from rural to urban!
3. 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)
4. Who is credited with bringing these teams to Georgia? Ivan Allen, Jr.
PEOPLE
Title
Background
Contributions
William B. Hartsfield
Mayor of Atlanta – 6 terms of 4 years
each – 1937-1941 and 1942-1961
 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
 Actively supported bringing
air transportation to GA and
helped make ATL an aviation
Ivan Allen, Jr.
Mayor of Atlanta from 1962-1970 – 2
terms of 4 years
 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
Ellis Arnall
Governor of Georgia – 1943-1947
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Unwavering in the fight for civil
rights
First day of office – removed the
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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
Made changes that modernized GA
making it the most forward thinking
southern state – for a time
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5.
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
Ended lunch counter
segregation
Tripled Atlanta’s size by
annexing land
Expanded the expressway
system
Built many parks
Atlanta Hartsfield
International Airport is
named for him
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white only signs from city hall
and desegregated the cafeteria
Integrated Atlanta’s fire
department and city
government
Worked with Martin Luther King,
Jr. and business leaders to
ensure a smooth transition into
desegregation for ATL
Helped build Interstate I-285,
MARTA, and 55 other new
building projects
Helped had many business move
in to the city during his terms
Brought major league sports to
ATL – Hawks, Braves, and
Falcons
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Restored the accreditation for the
state’s universities
Abolished the poll tax
Lowered the voting age to 18 – first
state to do so
Established teacher retirement
system
Led the acceptance of the Supreme
Court’s ruling to end the white
primary
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
6. 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
7. 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)
8. 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)
9. What decision did the General Assembly make? They chose Herman Talmadge as the governor
10. 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
11. 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
12. 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
13. 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
14. 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
15. 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
16. How did the Georgia General Assembly respond to that decision? (4 things!!)
A. They declared the decision null and void – they refused to comply with the decision
B. They threatened to stop funding and/or shut down any school that integrated
C. Atlantans founded HOPE – Help Our Public Schools – to demand that the gov’t not shut down any school
D. Changed the flag in 1956 to include the Confederate States of America battle emblem
17. 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
People
Herman Talmadge
Title
Governor – 1948-1954
US Senator – 1956-1981
Backgro
und
Contrib
utions
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Governor –
increased state
sales tax for
public education
and expanded
schools to
include grades 112 and a 9
month school
year
Restructured the
state highway
department
Created the
forestry
Benjamin Mays
Mentor and civil
right leader
 Born to
former
slaves and
share
croppers
 Formally
educated
 Met in
1936 with
Gandhi in
India (he
learned
about his
passive
resistance
against
the
British)
 President
of
Morehous
e College
– 1940
 Strengthe
ned the
school
academic
ally and
grew their
funding
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Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.
Reverend, civil rights
leader
 Born in Atlanta
 Graduated high
school @15
years
 Studied at
Morehouse
 Became a pastor
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Mentor to
Martin
Created the
Southern
Christian
Leadership
Conference
(SCLC)
Spokesman for
the Montgomery
Bus Boycott
Involved in the
Albany
Movement
Leader of the
civil rights
movement
Maynard Jackson
Mayor of Atlanta – 19731981 and 1990-1994
 Moved to ATL in
1945when his
father came to
pastor a church
 Graduated from
Morehouse in
1956@ 18
 Earned a law
degree from
North Carolina
Central University
in 1964
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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)
Lester Maddox
Governor 
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Andrew Young
Mayor of Atlanta – 1981-1989
Born in ATL
Dropped out
of high school,
worked jobs,
even at Bell
Aircraft
Opened a
restaurant
near GA Tech
which he
closed rather
than integrate
 Born in New Orleans,
moved to GA to pastor a church
in Thomasville
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
 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
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commission
Brought more
money into the
state
Improved soil
conservation
programs,
county health
departments,
and the state’s
prison system
As a
segregationist,
fought against
US Supreme
Court civil rights
decisions
US Senator  Supported
agricultural
programs
 continued to
oppose civil
rights legislation
Luther
King, Jr.
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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
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mansion
Integrated the
Georgia State
Patrol
Segregationist
Elected
Lieutenant
Governor in
1970
Describe each of the following – include what it was, important people involved, and how it was important
18. 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
19. 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)
20. 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
HOWEVER – the next spring Albany removed all segregation laws from their city
21. 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
22. 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