“Every Generation Leaves Behind A Legacy. What Legacy Do You Want To Leave Behind?” ― John Lewis

ELLA BAKER

December 13, 1903 – December 13, 1986

Early Life:

• Went to Shaw University and graduated as the valedictorian in 1927

Political Achievements:

• Organized the Young Negroes Cooperative League, an organization dedicated to helping Black people gain economic autonomy, independence, and power
• Began as a field secretary in the NAACP in 1938, and then became Director of Branches in 1943
• In response to the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, Baker created In Friendship in 1956 dedicated to fundraising for the civil rights efforts in the South
• Founder of SNCC
• Helped form the Mississippi Democratic Freedom Party in April 1954
• Returned to New York after SNCC’s dissolvement in 1970 and continued her activism there until her passing

Connections to ATL:

• Moved to ATL in 1957/58 to help the SCLC’s and MLK Jr.’s efforts towards voters’ rights and registration serving as an interim Executive Director of the Atlanta office 1959-1960
• Gave SNCC their first office space, which was located at 208 Auburn Avenue (0.3 miles from THIS BUILDING)

MEDGAR EVERS

July 2, 1925- June 12, 1963

Early Life:

• Born in Decatur, Mississippi to James and Jessie Evers
• Dropped out of high school at 17 and joined the military fighting in a segregated unit in England and France during WW2
• He attempted to vote after returning home from the war, but was prevented by violent, white protesters

Political Achievements:

• After graduating college, he became the president of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership
• He also joined the NAACP, established multiple local chapters, and began boycotting gas stations that did not allow Black people to use their facilities
• Aided in the investigation of the murder of Emmett Till
• Protested the wrongful conviction of Clyde Kennard, another Black student that attempted to enroll in a Mississippi college, and aided in gathering evidence to prove his innocence
• After Brown v. Board of Education, Evers applied to the University of Mississippi Law School, but was denied due to his race
• His actions grabbed the attention of higher-ups in the NAACP where he went on to become the NAACP’s first field officer in 1954, with his wife Myrlie as his secretary

BOBBY KENNEDY

November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968

Early Life:

• Born in Brookline, Massachusetts to Rose and Joseph Kennedy
• Served in the Navy 1944-1946
• Graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor’s degree in Government in 1948
• Graduated from the University of Virginia Law with a law degree in 1951

Political Achievements:

• Manager of JFK’s senatorial campaign in 1952
• Worked briefly with McCarthy in the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations, leaving because of McCarthy’s infamous methods of combating communism
• Manager of JFK’s presidential campaign in 1960 becoming Attorney General after his brother’s successful election
• Demanded the safe passage of Freedom Riders in 1961 and later demanded the desegregation of bus terminals
• In September 1962, RFK sent troops and US Marshals to enforce the admission of and safely escort James Meredith to the University of Mississippi
• Resigned as Attorney General in 1964 to run for New York Senator, and won
• Ran for president of the United States in 1968, but was assassinated

Connections to ATL:

• Famous Law Day Speech at University of Georgia Law School on May 6, 1961, where he expresses his support of integrating schools

JAMES LAWSON

September 22, 1928 – June 9, 2024

Early Life:

• Born in Uniontown, PA to Philane May Cover and James Morris Lawson

Political Achievements:

• Organized nonviolent protests in Nashville while a student at Vanderbilt University
• He was expelled in March 1960 for his efforts towards desegregation (after facing backlash from the media and staff members, Vanderbilt rescinded their decision, but Lawson decided to complete his education at Boston University)
• Co-authored SNCC’s statement of purpose
• Participated in Freedom Rides

JOHN LEWIS

February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020

Early Life:

• Born in Troy, Alabama to Eddie and Willie Mae Lewis

Political Achievements:

• Organized sit-ins in Nashville while a student at Fisk University
• One of the founding members of SNCC
• Spoke at the March on Washington at 23 years old
• Became Chairman of SNCC at 26 years old
• Led protests in Selma with Hosea Williams

Connections to ATL:

• Elected to the Atlanta City Council in 1981
• Elected to Congress, representing Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District in 1986

DIANE NASH

May 15, 1938 –

Early Life:

• Born in Chicago, IL to Dorothy and Leon Nash
• Attended Howard University for a year, but later transferred to Fisk University, where she first experienced the South’s segregation and Jim Crow Laws

Political Achievements:

• Participated in the 1960 Nashville sit-ins
• Her dedication to the student movement not only led to the desegregation of lunch counters, but also caught the attention of civil rights leaders, such as MLK Jr.
• One of the founding members of SNCC
• Joined the SCLC in 1961 as a field organizer, focusing on voter’s rights and aiding MLK Jr. in the planning and strategizing for the March on Washington and Selma Marches
• Nash was bravely committed to the “Jail-No-Bail” idea
• Nash left SNCC after they diverted from the non-violent tactics established at its founding
• Moved back to Chicago and became a public school teacher, where she continues to advocate for gender, welfare, and housing equality

A. PHILIP RANDOLPH

April 15, 1889 – May 16, 1979

Early Life:

• Born in Crescent City, Florida to Reverend James William Randolph and Elizabeth Robinson Randolph who instilled in him the importance of defending one’s community

Political Achievements:

• Moved to New York in 1911 and became involved in the Socialist Party of Harlem
• He and Chandler Owen published the first issue of The Messenger – the “Only Radical Negro Magazine in America”
• In 1925, he was chosen to organize and lead the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP), an aspiring labor union consisting of Pullman Company employees
• From 1941-48, he led successful nonviolent protests against segregation in the military, which pushed both FDR and President Truman to pass legislation towards the cause
• In 1955 he was elected Vice President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, where he continued to fight for workers’ rights and desegregation within the labor industries

BAYARD RUSTIN

March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987

Early Life:

• Born in West Chester, PA and raised by his maternal grandparents, who were Quakers
• Graduated valedictorian from the integrated West Chester Senior High School
• Bayard was open about his homosexuality and was arrested in California in 1953 on “morality” charges after being found having sex with men

Political Achievements:

• A. Phillip Randolph selected him as the “youth organizer” of the 1941 March on Washington movement
• After studying Gandhi’s pacifist teachings in India in 1948, Bayard became a mentor on non-violence to MLK Jr.
• Established the New York branch of CORE in 1941
• He was arrested for being a conscientious objector of WW2 in 1944, and served over 2 years in prison
• Played a pivotal, but “background” role in the movement due to homophobia
• Chief Organizer of the 1963 March on Washington
• Organized the Journey of Reconciliation: Precursor to the Freedom Rides – a combined effort between FOR (Fellowship of Reconciliation) and CORE to challenge Jim Crow laws across the south
• Co-founded In Friendship with Ella Baker
• Co-founded the A. Philip Randolph Institute with A. Phillip Randolph in 1965
• Bayard Rustin was an HIV/AIDs and LGBTQIA+ activist

Connections to ATL:

• The National Center for Civil and Human Rights LGBTQ+ Institute hosts and  celebrates “Bayard Rustin Day” (March 15)

KWAME TURE

June 29, 1941 – November 15, 1998

Early Life:

• Born Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael
• Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, but immigrated to New York City in 1952.

Political Achievements:

• Joined the Freedom Rides in 1961
• Became chairman of SNCC in 1966 after winning the election against John Lewis
• Established the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, an independent political party, in 1965
• Established the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party

Connections to ATL:

• Summerhill Riot or Atlanta Rebellion of 1966
• Arrested by APD on September 9, 1966 for “creating a disturbance and inciting a riot”

ROY WILKINS

August 30, 1901 – September 8, 1981

Early Life:

• Born in St. Louis, Missouri, but grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota after the death of his mother

Political Achievements:

• At 22, became editor of the Kansas City Call (now Kansas City The Call), “a weekly newspaper serving the Black community of Kansas City, Missouri” until 1931 NAACP
• In 1931, Wilkins joined the NAACP as the Assistant Secretary
• In 1934, Wilkins became editor of the NAACP’s magazine, The Crisis (serving until 1949)
• From 1955-1977, Wilkins served as the executive director of the NAACP
• Co-founded the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (now The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights) in 1950

HOSEA WILLIAMS

January 5, 1926 – November 16, 2000

Early Life:

• Born in Attapulgus, GA
• Joined the US Army and fought in WW2 in a segregated unit
• Williams re-enrolled in high school, then attended Morris Brown College and Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University)

Political Achievements:

• Led marches, speeches, and sit-ins in Savannah after joining the NAACP
• His efforts and work became well-known, and Martin Luther King Jr asked Williams to join the SCLC executive board
• In 1962, Williams became the Director of Voter Registration
• Led the first march from Selma to Montgomery, which became known as “Bloody Sunday”
• Joined MLK Jr. during the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike
• Williams was the executive director of the SCLC from 1968 to 1979.
• Led the “March Against Fear and Intimidation” or “Brotherhood March” in Forsyth County, Georgia on January 17, 1987, to protest the county’s decades-long plague of racial violence that drove out Black residents

Connections to ATL:

• Received a Master’s Degree in Chemistry from Clark Atlanta University and became “the first federally employed Black research chemist in the South” at the Department of Agriculture in Savannah Source
• Was elected to the Atlanta City Council in 1985
• Ran for Mayor of Atlanta in 1989, but lost to Maynard Jackson
• Served as a Dekalb County Commissioner

Below is a timeline highlighting some of the major events you’ll witness throughout the show.

February 21, 1940: John Robert Lewis is born near Troy, Alabama – the third of ten children of Willie Mae & Eddie Lewis

May 17, 1954: the Supreme Court releases their decision on the landmark case: Brown V. Board of Education – ruling that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional

August 28, 1955: Emmett Till is murdered leading to Emmett’s mother requesting an open casket with no mortuary reconstruction, as “she wanted ‘all the world’ to witness the atrocity”

December 1955-56: Rosa Parks takes a stand and refuses to give up her seat on a bus sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycotts that lead to MLK Jr. delivering a speech on December 5, 1955 in response

February 1, 1960: Greensboro Sit-In

1961: John Lewis graduates from American Baptist Theological Seminary School

1963: John Lewis becomes the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

June 12, 1963: Medgar Evers is assassinated by Ku Klux Klan member Byron De La Beckwith

August 28, 1963: “March on Washington” where John Lewis represents SNCC & gives a keynote address

September 15, 1963: a bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Alabama leads to 4 young girls being killed & sparks multiple other racially-motivated bombings in Birmingham, including the home of Arthur Shores

November 22, 1963: JFK is assassinated

June 21, 1964: Freedom Summer Project and CORE members James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner are murdered by the KKK in Mississippi

February 18, 1965: Jimmie Lee Jackson is shot by a state trooper during a peaceful protest

February 21, 1965: Malcolm X is assassinated

February 26, 1965: Jimmie Lee Jackson succumbs to his injuries and passes away at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Selma, Alabama

March 7, 1965: Bloody Sunday – beginning of March from Selma to Montgomery

March 25, 1965: Marchers reach Montgomery and deliver a petition to Governor George Wallace

May 1966: John Lewis leaves SNCC. Stokely Carmichael becomes the newly-elected SNCC Chairman.

1967: John Lewis graduates from Fisk University

April 4, 1968: MLK Jr. is assassinated

June 5, 1968: RFK is shot by Sirhan Sirhan & dies the next day as a result of his injuries

1977: John Lewis is appointed to lead ACTION, a federal volunteer agency, by President Jimmy Carter

October 7, 1981: John Lewis is elected to Atlanta City Council serving until he was appointed to the US House of Representatives

November 1986: John Lewis is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Georgia’s 5th district until his death on July 17, 2020