Groups

To inspire your research, check out sample Georgia topics paired with links to primary sources and contextual information. Click each image to view it in more detail.

Digital Library of Georgia
nge-icon
Civil Rights Digital Library
Georgia Historic Newspapers

Freedom Singers

The Freedom Singers
Rowland Scherman, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries, July 26, 1963.

The Freedom Singers were a group of gospel singers and civil rights advocates from Albany, Georgia, who used music to spread their message across the country. They traveled 50,000 miles across forty states in a Buick station wagon, and played alongside musicians like Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger, in order to raise awareness and funds for the civil rights movement.

Continue reading about the Freedom Singers in the New Georgia Encyclopedia.

Sample Primary Sources

Knights of Labor

Knights of Labor
Harper's Weekly, Georgia Historical Quarterly, n.d.

As the largest labor organization in late nineteenth-century America, the Knights of Labor brought together more than 9,000 workers of all races, occupations, and skills, in its Georgia chapter. By 1886, the organization had nominated political candidates in six Georgia cities, and white members tried their hand at organizing African Americans in the rural South—a dangerous task at the time.

Continue reading about the Knights of Labor in the New Georgia Encyclopedia.

Sample Primary Sources

McIntosh County Shouters

McIntosh County Shouters
Margo Rosenbaum, 1980/1985.

The southeastern ring shout is the oldest surviving African American performance tradition in North America. It is still performed on Georgia’s coast in McIntosh County. The ritual involves counterclockwise dance, call-and-response singing, and syncopated percussive beats. A touring group, the McIntosh County Shouters, has helped preserve and share this community tradition through performances across the South and beyond.

Continue reading about the McIntosh County Shouters in the New Georgia Encyclopedia.

Sample Primary Sources

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Southern Christian Leadership March in Atlanta
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1966.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), based in Atlanta, was one of the most important participants of the civil rights movement. The organization was involved in a variety of activities, including sit-ins, marches, voter registration drives, boycotts, and class-action lawsuits to end segregation. Still active today, the SCLC continues to fight for social justice and human rights.

Continue reading about the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the New Georgia Encyclopedia.

Sample Primary Sources

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

Three people kneel with the words "come let us build a new world together" typed underneath.
Danny Lyon, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Zeman (Zoya) Freedom Summer Collection, University of Southern Mississippi Libraries, 1963.

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was a key player during the civil rights movement. SNCC formed as a youth-led nonviolent, direct action campaign. Students involved in SNCC played significant roles in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Mississippi Freedom Summer, empowering Black communities to vote and speak out against oppression and segregation. In Georgia, SNCC activists worked to integrate Albany’s public transportation and to increase voter participation in Atlanta’s Black communities.

Continue reading about the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the New Georgia Encyclopedia.

Sample Primary Sources

Back to the main topics page

Start typing and press Enter to search