- Civil rights
- Segregation
- March 1960 to fall 1961
- City of Atlanta
- General area only
An Appeal for Human Rights and the Atlanta Student Movement
Students from the six Atlanta University Center colleges formed the Committee on Appeal for Human Rights. On March 9, 1960 they published 'An Appeal for Human Rights' in the city's three daily papers.
The record
After the February 1960 Greensboro sit-ins, Morehouse students Lonnie C. King Jr. and Julian Bond pressed for action. The AUC presidents endorsed the plan but asked the students to state their case in writing first. The resulting Appeal, published March 9 in the Atlanta Constitution, the Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Daily World, pledged to 'use every legal and nonviolent means at our disposal to secure full citizenship rights'. COAHR, led by King and Spelman student Herschelle Sullivan, began sit-ins on March 15 and kept up pressure for a year. The agreement announced March 7, 1961 desegregated lunch counters only after the schools desegregated that fall. The New Georgia Encyclopedia notes that Atlanta lagged behind many southern cities in desegregating local institutions.
Today: The AUC campuses (Clark Atlanta, Morehouse, Spelman, Morehouse School of Medicine and the Interdenominational Theological Center).
Where on the map: The AUC campuses west of downtown between Northside Dr and Joseph E. Lowery Blvd.