EXAM 3 - Georgia History

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.

War bonds

Government-issued loans purchased by civilians to help finance World War II; Georgians contributed by buying these bonds to support the war effort.

Scrap drives

Civilian campaigns to collect metal, rubber, and other materials for military production during World War II.

St. Simons Island submarine attack (1942)

German U-boats attacked two oil tankers off the coast of Georgia; Brunswick and Glynn County residents helped rescue survivors.

Georgia military service in WWII

Around 320,000 Georgians—both Black and white, men and women—served in the armed forces, roughly one in ten state residents.

Fort Benning

Major Georgia military base and one of the largest infantry training centers in the United States during World War II.

Fort Gordon

Georgia military base used extensively for wartime training.

Camp Stewart

Georgia training site (now Fort Stewart) that prepared soldiers for combat during World War II.

Robins Air Service Command

Air base in Georgia responsible for aircraft maintenance and logistics during the war.

Glynco Naval Air Station

Coastal Georgia base used for naval air training during World War II.

Liberty ships

Cargo ships built in Brunswick and Savannah, Georgia, that carried soldiers and supplies overseas during World War II.

Bell Aircraft Plant (Marietta)

Defense factory employing about 28,000 Georgians to build B-29 Superfortress bombers.

Ordnance factories (Macon and Milledgeville)

Georgia plants that produced ammunition and weapons, employing thousands during the war.

Urbanization during WWII

Movement of rural Georgians to cities for better-paying defense industry jobs, contributing to a labor shortage in agriculture.

Women in the workforce (WWII)

Many Georgia women entered industrial jobs for the first time, gaining unionized employment and higher wages in war production industries.

Black women workers (WWII)

Faced racial discrimination and segregation, often assigned the hardest jobs and dismissed first when layoffs occurred.

Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)

National labor federation that organized industrial workers; some Black Georgians joined CIO unions like the Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America to gain skilled positions.

AFL (American Federation of Labor)

Older labor organization that often excluded Black workers, opposing integrated unions in wartime Georgia.

Ellis Arnall

Georgia governor (1943–47) known for liberal reforms: reaccrediting state colleges, reforming prisons, repealing the poll tax, lowering the voting age to 18, and paying off state debt.

Poll tax repeal

Arnall eliminated this voter suppression tool, broadening access to voting in Georgia.

Lowering the voting age to 18

Reform enacted under Ellis Arnall, making Georgia the first state to reduce its voting age.

Eugene Talmadge (1946 election)

Segregationist politician who won reelection as governor in 1946 but died before taking office, sparking a succession crisis.

Melvin E. Thompson

Lieutenant governor who claimed the governorship after Talmadge’s death, leading to the “Three Governors Controversy.”

Herman Talmadge

Son of Eugene Talmadge; also claimed the governorship after his father’s death, supported by Talmadge’s followers.

Three Governors Controversy (1946–47)

Political crisis in Georgia when three men—Ellis Arnall, Melvin Thompson, and Herman Talmadge—all claimed to be governor after Eugene Talmadge’s death.

Georgia Supreme Court ruling (1947)

Court decided that Melvin Thompson should serve as governor until a special election could be held in 1948.

1948 special election

Election in which Herman Talmadge won and officially became Georgia’s governor, ending the controversy.

Joseph Simmons

Atlanta businessman who re-founded the Ku Klux Klan in 1915 after being inspired by D.W. Griffith’s racist film The Birth of a Nation.

Birth of a Nation (1915)

Racist film by D.W. Griffith that glorified the original Ku Klux Klan and inspired its rebirth in the 20th century.

Stone Mountain cross-burning (1915)

Event held on Thanksgiving 1915 where Joseph Simmons and others reestablished the Ku Klux Klan with a cross-burning ceremony atop Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Edward Young Clarke

Publicity agent who partnered with Simmons in 1920 to expand Klan membership through nationwide recruitment campaigns.

Mary Elizabeth Tyler

Publicity agent who, along with Clarke, helped the Klan grow rapidly by organizing paid recruiters (“Kleagles”).

Kleagles

Klan recruiters who earned ten dollars for every new member they enrolled, contributing to the Klan’s explosive growth in the early 1920s.

“Imperial Palace”

The Ku Klux Klan’s lavish headquarters, a Greek Revival mansion on Peachtree Road in Atlanta purchased with membership funds.

Georgia (1920s)

Considered one of the states where the Ku Klux Klan made the deepest political and social inroads during its 1920s resurgence.

Lanier University

Former Baptist college in Atlanta taken over by the Klan in 1921, with Simmons briefly serving as “professor of southern history.”

Thomas W. Hardwick

Georgia governor and former disenfranchisement leader who opposed Klan violence; defeated in 1922 by Klan-backed candidate Clifford Walker.

Clifford Walker

Open Klan supporter who became Georgia governor in 1922 after defeating Thomas Hardwick in the Democratic primary.

Julian Harris

Editor of the Columbus Enquirer-Sun; the only journalist in Georgia who openly attacked the Klan, exposing Clifford Walker’s membership and participation in Klan events.

“Klonvokation” (1924)

National Klan convention held in Kansas City, Missouri, where Clifford Walker was revealed to have spoken while hooded.

Walter Sims

Atlanta mayor supported by the Klan, who also benefited from Klan-backed allies on the Fulton County Board of Education.

William J. Harris

U.S. Senator from Georgia (elected 1918) revealed to be a Klan member during his 1924 reelection campaign but still defeated Thomas Hardwick in a landslide.

1925 Klan scandal

Period when revelations of the Klan’s corruption and embezzlement caused public outrage and mass membership decline.

Membership decline (1925–1930)

Georgia Klan membership plummeted from about 156,000 in 1925 to only 1,400 by 1930 due to scandals and waning influence.

1926 Democratic primary

Election in which every Klan-backed candidate was defeated, including their choice for governor, marking the end of the Klan’s political power in Georgia.

Great Depression in Georgia

Economic crisis that devastated both urban and rural Georgians; by 1930, only 48% of Atlanta’s workforce was employed, and many tenant farmers lived in poverty without electricity or plumbing.

Boll weevil

Insect that destroyed cotton crops in Georgia, worsening rural poverty and accelerating farm abandonment.

Tenant farmers

Poor farmers who worked land owned by others; during the Depression, many could barely survive on homegrown food.

Great Migration

Movement of African Americans from the South to the North for better opportunities; continued during the Depression, though at a slower rate.

Eugene Talmadge

Georgia politician and staunch segregationist who served multiple terms as governor (1933–37, 1941–43); known for his opposition to the New Deal and defense of white supremacy.

County-unit system

Georgia’s voting system that gave rural counties more political power than urban areas, helping Talmadge secure repeated electoral victories.

New Deal

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s federal programs to combat the Great Depression; Talmadge opposed them, calling them “communist” and trying to limit Georgia’s participation.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

New Deal program providing jobs for young men in environmental conservation projects; active in Georgia despite Talmadge’s resistance.

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Major New Deal agency that created public works jobs in Georgia, funding roads, buildings, and arts projects.

Nepotism

Practice of favoring relatives or associates for government positions; used by Talmadge to fill state offices.

Social Security System (1935)

Federal program providing retirement and disability benefits; Talmadge tried to block Georgia’s participation, calling it socialist.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)

U.S. President (1933–45) who authored the New Deal; frequently visited Warm Springs, Georgia, for polio treatment and remained highly popular in the state.

Warm Springs, Georgia

Location of Roosevelt’s personal retreat and rehabilitation center for polio; symbolized his close ties to Georgia.

Charles D. Redwine

Talmadge’s handpicked successor for the 1936 gubernatorial race, who lost to pro–New Deal candidate Eurith D. Rivers.

Eurith D. Rivers

Georgia governor (1937–41) who embraced the New Deal by expanding public housing, rural electrification, and highway projects.

Housing Authority

State agency created under Rivers to use federal funds for building public housing projects in Georgia.

Rural Electrification

New Deal initiative bringing electricity to rural communities in Georgia, improving quality of life and agricultural productivity.

Soil and agricultural improvements

Programs introduced under Rivers to promote better farming practices and prevent erosion.

State debt and education cuts (1939)

Result of Georgia’s heavy New Deal participation; legislature refused to raise taxes, leading to school funding cuts and declining support for Rivers.

Cocking Affair (1941)

Controversy in which Governor Eugene Talmadge forced the firing of University of Georgia dean Walter D. Cocking and college president Marvin S. Pittman for allegedly supporting racial integration.

Walter D. Cocking

Dean of the University of Georgia’s College of Education, dismissed by Talmadge during the Cocking Affair for supposed “un-Southern” ideas.

Marvin S. Pittman

President of Georgia State Teachers College at Statesboro, also dismissed by Talmadge in the Cocking Affair.

Harmon W. Caldwell

President of the University of Georgia who opposed Talmadge’s actions during the Cocking Affair and threatened to resign in protest.

Board of Regents (University System of Georgia)

Governing body of Georgia’s public colleges that Talmadge manipulated to fire educators he accused of subversion and liberalism.

Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools

Accrediting organization that suspended Georgia’s state colleges and universities in response to Talmadge’s interference in academic freedom.

Adolf Hitler admiration

After leaving office, Talmadge openly expressed isolationist views and admiration for Hitler, further tarnishing his reputation.