EXAM 3 - 9A - The Road to Black Re-enfranchisement in Georgia

Smith v. Allwright (1944)

Supreme Court case that outlawed the “white primary” system in the South, which had excluded Black voters from Democratic primaries.

Ellis Arnall

Liberal Democratic governor of Georgia (1943–47) who chose to respect the Smith v. Allwright ruling, unlike other southern governors.

Primus E. King

Black resident of Columbus, Georgia, who attempted to register to vote in 1944; his case (backed by the local NAACP) became a major legal challenge to voter discrimination.

Muscogee County Democratic Party

The local party organization that fought the Primus King case up to the U.S. Circuit Court; ultimately lost when the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal.

Atlanta Urban League

Civil rights organization that joined the NAACP in registering 14,000 new Black voters before the 1946 elections.

Herman Talmadge

Segregationist Georgia governor (son of Eugene Talmadge) who, after taking power in 1948, purged 12,000 Black voters from the rolls, reinstated the poll tax, and strengthened literacy tests.

Poll tax

A fee required to vote, often used to suppress Black voters in the South.

Literacy tests

Reading and interpretation exams used to disenfranchise Black voters under Jim Crow laws.

NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

Civil rights organization that challenged voter discrimination in court and organized registration drives across Georgia.

Civil Rights Act of 1957

Federal legislation that aimed to protect voting rights and led to an increase in Black voter registration during the late 1950s.

Atlanta Negro Voters League (ANVL)

Organization founded in 1949 to register Black voters, support moderate white politicians, and oppose openly racist candidates in Atlanta politics.

William B. Hartsfield

Atlanta mayor (served 1942–62, nonconsecutively) who sought African American political support and worked with ANVL to improve city services in Black neighborhoods.

Rufus Clement

Atlanta University president elected to the city’s Board of Education in 1953, one of the first Black officials endorsed by ANVL.

Ivan Allen Jr.

Successor to Hartsfield as Atlanta mayor, whose 1961 election victory over segregationist Lester Maddox was aided by ANVL’s support.

Lester Maddox

Outspoken segregationist and opponent of desegregation in Georgia who lost the 1961 mayoral race to Ivan Allen Jr.

Black voter registration drives

Efforts led by groups like the NAACP, Urban League, and ANVL to increase the number of African Americans eligible and able to vote.