The Atlanta Student Movement

The Atlanta Student Movement. In early February 1960, Morehouse College students Lonnie King, Julian Bond, Joseph Pierce and other students met here at the site of the former Yates and Milton Drug Store-an informal gathering place for students of the Atlanta University Center. Inspired by a student sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, the three young men laid the groundwork for what would become a seminal phase in the Civil Rights Movement. The Atlanta University Center, comprised of six historically black institutions of higher learning - Atlanta University, Clark College, Interdenominational Theological Center, Morehouse College, Morris Brown College, and Spelman College , was philosophically committed to the principles of non-violent disobedience as taught by Ghandi and M.L. King Jr. Students conducted marches, picketing and sit-ins that resulted in the desegregation of public and private facilities which had denied service or access to people of color. These included restaurants, businesses, schools, housing and hospitals. Thanks to the Atlanta Student Movement, the city began to live up to its slogan, “A city too busy to hate." , Those willing to take an oath of non-violence were recruited to conduct fourteen sit-ins at local lunch counters, including the Magnolia Room of Rich's Department Store where they were joined by Martin Luther King, Jr. The students also conducted sit-ins at the segregated cafeterias of the Georgia State Capitol, Fulton County, City of Atlanta and several local restaurants which denied service or provided separate service to people of color. The actions of the Atlanta University Center students led to the desegregation of of Atlanta's businesses, schools, housing and health care facilities and eating establishments., , Commission to Honor an Appeal for Human Rights and , The Atlanta Student Movement , Lydia Arnold . Hon. Carolyn Long Banks . Charles A. Black . Wylma Long Blanding . Alethea Boone . Hon. Brenda Hill Cole . Dr. Herschelle Sullivan Challenor . Constance Curry . Dr. Riggins R. Earl . Samuel Jolley . Lonnie King . Valerie Levy . Dr. Roslyn Pope . Hon. Lottie Watkins . Dr. Mary Ann Wilson - Booker