Atlanta University Center

“Herein lies the tragedy of the age: not that men are poor, — all men know something of poverty; not that men are wicked, — who is good? not that men are ignorant, — what is Truth? Nay, but that men know so little of men.” ― W. E. B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk
Designated a National Historic District, this sprawling six-campus university boasts four institutions prominent in the civil rights movement: Morehouse College ("the black Harvard"), Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University and West Hunter Street Baptist Church.

​Martin Luther King, Jr., graduated from Morehouse College, and Morehouse students Lonnie King and Julian Bond organized sit-ins, boycotts, and marches throughout the city. Spelman student Ruby Doris Smith helped lead freedom rides, sit-ins, jail-ins, and voter registration drives. Civil rights leaders W.E.B. Du Bois and Whitney Young, Jr., taught and chaired departments at Atlanta University. Rev. Ralph Abernathy pastored West Hunter when he was head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Student Movement

​In November 2010, ​protesters from the Civil Rights era were recognized when the city of Atlanta changed the name of a portion of Fair Street to Atlanta Student Movement Boulevard in their honor.
​Student-organized demonstrations in Atlanta began in March 1960 with 80 well-dressed students and eight well-planned, simultaneous protests. Julian Bond's group staged a sit-in at City Hall's municipal cafeteria, in front of which hung a sign, "PUBLIC IS WELCOME." Lonnie King and 35 protestors trooped to Rich's Department Store. There they were joined by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who shortly was to experience his first night in an Atlanta jail.

​Later in the Atlanta movement, student protesters launched a publicity campaign to involve black adults on the periphery--black customers with buying power at Rich's. "Close out your charge account with segregation," urged the students. "Open up your account with freedom." Virtually all the black adults in Atlanta heeded the student slogan, and Rich's felt the pinch.

In March 1961, black elders worked out a compromise with city merchants. In exchange for an immediate halt to protests, store managers agreed to integrate their lunch counters, though not until court-ordered school desegregation took effect in September. Within the Atlanta University Center, Stone Hall (now known as Fairchild-Stone Hall), was the focal point of university activities. It is now a National Historic Landmark.

Must-Watch Videos

Charles Black speaks about the founding of the Atlanta Student Movement...
Lonnie King recalls the march to the Capitol and the impending danger students faced...
The Honorable Julian Bond’s speaks about the impact of the Atlanta Student Movement and the renaming of Fair Street to Atlanta Student Movement Boulevard...

Appeal for Human Rights

​In March of 1960, students of the six colleges comprising the Atlanta University Center, having decided to challenge the scourge of segregation in public and private facilities of Atlanta, presented a manifesto entitled "An Appeal for Human Rights" as a preamble to pending demonstrations designed to achieve the same rights and privileges for "Negroes" that were accorded white citizens. At the behest of the six college presidents and signed by the six student government presidents, the document was published in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution on March 9, 1960 and quickly found its way to the New York Times and the Congressional Record. It is taught throughout the world as a profound statement of the determination of young people to overthrow the vestiges of slavery and to achieve liberty and justice for all.
Picture
An Appeal for Human Rights was drafted by Roslyn Pope and other students of the Atlanta University Center after the students, led by Lonnie King and Julian Bond, were encouraged by the six presidents of the Atlanta University Center to draft a document released on March 15, 1960.
Dr. Roslyn Pope, who wrote "An Appeal for Human Rights," shares her story...

Points of Interest*

*All of these can be found on the Atlanta Freedom Trail Interactive Map
Picture
Atlanta Student Boulevard (formerly Chestnut and Fair Streets) runs east and west through the heart of the Atlanta University Center.

Learn More

Getting There

Picture
Atlanta University Center is located in SW Atlanta, just west of Northside Drive and just north of I-20.