Georgia During the New South Era - History PDF

Georgia During the NEW SOUTH ERA (Part 3: AKS 37 c-d) © Brain Wrinkles  RACIAL REFORM: Influential Leaders © Brain Wrinkles  Boo...

Georgia During the NEW SOUTH ERA (Part 3: AKS 37 c-d) © Brain Wrinkles  RACIAL REFORM: Influential Leaders © Brain Wrinkles  Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) Video* (3:42) © Brain Wrinkles  Washington Booker T. Washington was born a slave in Virginia in 1856. After emancipation, Washington moved to West Virginia and attended college. After graduating from Virginia Union University, he took a teaching position at Hampton University. Next, Washington was offered a job to lead Tuskegee Institution in Alabama. © Brain  Washington Washington became an influential leader in the African-American community due to a wide network of support from Black ministers, teachers, and other civil and business leaders. Both Black and White people throughout the country knew his name and respected him for his achievements. © Brain Wrinkles  Washington Instead of openly fighting segregation, Washington suggested that blacks could improve their lives through vocational education and hard work. He felt that by proving themselves in different fields, African Americans would eventually gain full civil rights. Vocational/technical education would be the key African Americans advancing. Washington believed that Black people had to accept social segregation for the time being. © Brain Wrinkles  Booker T. Washington wrote fourteen books, including Up from Slavery, his autobiography. © Brain Wrinkles  Washington Washington presented his Atlanta Compromise Speech at the International Cotton Exposition in 1895. This speech brought his ideas of hard work, education, and cooperation to the forefront of the civil rights movement. Many people criticized him for the “slow moving” approach, especially after the increase in racial violence through events like the Atlanta Race Massacre. © Brain Wrinkles © Brain Wrinkles Booker T. Washington (summary) Influential in the struggle for equal rights Believed that African Americans should focus on learning a trade. By proving themselves, African Americans would eventually be treated as equal citizens. Accepted social separation for the time (patience) Felt that African Americans could advance faster through hard work than by demanding equal rights.  W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt) DuBois (1868-1963) Video* (4:04) © Brain Wrinkles  DuBois Many African Americans disagreed with Washington’s views on segregation—his biggest intellectual challenger was W.E.B. DuBois. William Edward Burghardt DuBois was born in Massachusetts in 1868. He attended Fisk University in Tennessee, where he was exposed to the harsh realities of racial inequality. © Brain Wrinkles  DuBois After graduating from Fisk, DuBois received both his Master’s and Ph.D. from Harvard, being the first African American to achieve this. Next, he taught at Atlanta University (today Clark Atlanta Univ.) and promoted higher education within the black community. He wrote many books, including The Souls of Black Folk DuBois believed that college-educated African Americans should lead the fight for equality. He felt that there was a “Talented Tenth” of black students who should get a classical education. © Brain Wrinkles  DuBois DuBois spoke out for full and immediate social and political rights. He was determined to end discrimination and segregation once and for all. DuBois did not think African Americans should settle for training for low-paying jobs, but rather should obtain a college education. © Brain Wrinkles  DuBois W.E.B. DuBois became a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a group that fights to protect equal rights for African Americans. Even today, the NAACP remains a key political voice for the African American community. Many Civil Rights leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr., were inspired by DuBois work. © Brain Wrinkles  “The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education, then, among Negroes must first of all deal with the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the Best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the Worst, in their own and other races.” © Brain Wrinkles W.E.B. DuBois  W.E.B. DuBois (summary) African Americans should speak out against discrimination (work to end immediately) College-educated African Americans should lead the fight against discrimination Felt talented 10th of black students should get a classical education Founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)  Alonzo Herndon (1858-1927) Video* (7:53) © Brain Wrinkles  Herndon In 1858, Alonzo Herndon was born to a slave mother and a White father in Social Circle, Georgia. After emancipation, Herndon’s father sent him and his family off the farm and they were forced to work as sharecroppers to survive. He sold peanuts and molasses and saved his money. In 1878, Herndon left his home with $11 and moved to Jonesboro to set up a barbershop. © Brain Wrinkles  Herndon By 1907, he owned three barber shops in Atlanta. Herndon’s barber shop on Peachtree Street was the first choice of Atlanta’s White business and political leaders. This shop had crystal chandeliers and gold fixtures. (“The Crystal Palace”) Herndon soon began to invest his money in real estate and owned over 100 properties all throughout the Southeast. © Brain Wrinkles © Brain Wrinkles © Brain Wrinkles © Brain Wrinkles  Herndon Herndon used his wealth to start the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, one of the few companies that would insure African Americans. He vowed to sell honest policies to low-income black customers. The company is still one of the leading African American insurance businesses today. © Brain Wrinkles © Brain Wrinkles  Herndon Over time, his company spanned 7 states and was a million dollar business. Herndon gave large sums of money to many charities in order to improve black communities in Atlanta. He was the largest donor to Atlanta University (today Clark Atlanta Univ.), where he served on the Board of Trustees. When he died in 1927, Herndon was the wealthiest African American in Atlanta. © Brain Wrinkles Herndon Home Atlanta, Georgia  Alonzo Herndon (summary) born a slave and died the wealthiest African American in Atlanta owned three barber shops in Atlanta Herndon used his wealth to start the Atlanta Life Insurance Company gave large sums of money to many charities  Anti-Semitism in the LEO FRANK CASE © Brain Wrinkles  Leo Frank Video on the Case © Brain Wrinkles  Murder Another racially charged event of the New South Era was the murder of Mary Phagan and the subsequent Leo Frank Case. On April 26, 1913, thirteen-year old Mary Phagan went to the pencil factory where she worked to pick up her paycheck. Phagan received her $1.20 paycheck from her manager, Leo Frank. She never returned home, and later that evening, her dead body was found in the basement of the factory. © Brain Wrinkles  Suspects Newspaper reports suggested that Phagan had been sexually assaulted and the public called for justice. There were three main suspects in the case: 1. Newt Lee, the night watchman who found the body 2. Jim Conley, the factory’s janitor who was arrested after being seen washing red stains from his shirt 3. Leo Frank, a Jewish man from New York who was the manager of the National Pencil Company © Brain Wrinkles  Evidence Jim Conley, the African American janitor, was a strong suspect because he was caught washing blood-stains off of his white shirt. Additionally, Conley gave police four different accounts of what happened that night. Some researchers say the police did not think that Conley did it because they believed he lacked the mental capacity to develop the murder and cover it with stories on his own. The police offered Conley immunity for testifying against Leo Frank. © Brain Wrinkles  Evidence There was not much evidence against Frank; however, resentment against Northern factory owners and anti-Semitism made it tough for a fair trial. Frank appeared extremely nervous when the police questioned him. Frank said he stayed at the office for at least 20 minutes after Phagan left, but another employee claimed he was not in the office during that time. The night watchman claimed that Frank called him that night asking if everything was okay and this was the only time Frank had ever done this. © Brain Wrinkles  During the Trial © Brain Wrinkles  Verdict During the trial, Conley testified that Frank harassed young, white, female employees, which angered the already biased jury. Despite the trial’s many unanswered questions, Frank was found guilty and sentenced to death. After the verdict, many Jewish groups began funding Frank’s court appeal, which made it all the way to the Supreme Court. © Brain Wrinkles  During the Trial © Brain Wrinkles  Innocent? Frank’s appeals did not receive a pardon. However, William Smith, an attorney who originally helped convict Frank, began to believe in Frank’s innocence and conducted his own investigation. After finding sufficient evidence proving Frank’s innocence, Smith convinced governor John Slaton to reduce Frank’s sentence to life in prison. © Brain Wrinkles  Outrage Slaton was going against strong public opinion, but agreed that Frank was innocent and should eventually be set free. Georgia’s citizens were outraged and protested the new outcome, forcing Governor Slaton to declare martial law and call out the National Guard. At the end of his term, Slaton, who had once been a popular governor, left Georgia in secret and did not return for nearly a decade. © Brain Wrinkles  Murder Citizens of Marietta, Mary Phagan’s hometown, drove to Milledgeville where Frank was being held in prison. Without anyone stopping them, the group managed to go into the state prison, kidnap Frank from his prison cell, and drive him to Marietta. The self-proclaimed “Knights of Mary Phagan” hung Frank from a tree in the town square and lynched him. They left his body hanging in the tree and nearly 3,000 people came to view it the next day. Locals took photographs with the body and sold souvenirs. © Brain Wrinkles © Brain Wrinkles Leo Frank (summary) A Jewish man from New York Accused, found guilty and sentenced to death for murdering Mary Phagan, a young, white girl Citizens from Phagan’s hometown kidnapped Frank from his prison cell The self-proclaimed “Knights of Mary Phagan” hung Frank from a tree in the town square  Pardon Decades later, new evidence revealed that the murder was most likely committed by Jim Conley. Alonzo Mann, an office boy at the time, testified that he saw Conley carrying Phagan’s body to the basement and that Conley threatened to kill him if he said anything. In 1986, the Georgia State Board of Pardons finally pardoned Frank 71 years after his murder. © Brain Wrinkles  Anti-Semitism The Leo Frank case symbolized Southerners’ strong anti-Semitic feelings during the New South period. Frank’s lynching destroyed the sense of security once held by Georgia’s Jewish population. Soon after, several members of the Knights of Mary Phagan established the modern Ku Klux Klan (on Stone Mountain) and attacked Jewish people throughout the state.