Groups
Freedom Singers
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
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- Civil Rights Digital Library search results for the Freedom Singers
- Civil Rights Digital Library search results for Cordell Reagon
- Civil Rights Digital Library search results for Rutha Mae Harris
- Civil Rights Digital Library search results for the Bernice Johnson Reagon
- Digital Library of Georgia search results for the Freedom Singers
Knights of Labor
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
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.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
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
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- Civil Rights Digital Library search results for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
- Digital Library of Georgia search results for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference or SCLC
- Georgia Historic Newspapers Archive search results for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference or for SCLC
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
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
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- Digital Library of Georgia search results for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee or SNCC
- Civil Rights Digital Library search results for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee or SNCC
- Georgia Historic Newspapers Archive search results for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee or SNCC