The Training Ground

The Training Ground. Auburn Avenue. The business, religious and social institutions founded by African Americans on Auburn Avenue provided a training ground for social, economic and political advancements during the post-World War II era. They also offered opportunities to gain the skills, training and courage necessary to contend for justice and equality., The institutions along Auburn Avenue exposed children to life lessons and reinforced beliefs that would prepare them to better a nation in need of social and political repair., By 1960, students from the Atlanta University Center began to challenge the social order of Atlanta. They launched a series of direct-action demonstrations that forced city officials and business leaders to end racially segregated public schools, lunch counters, movie theatres and other public facilities., Receiving assistance and guidance from their predecessors, this new generation of civil rights leaders established offices on Auburn Avenue. The offices included the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Atlanta Inquirer, a newspaper formed by members of the Committee on the Appeal for Civil and Human Rights “to seek out the truth and report it without fear or favor.”, Many of the young men and women of the modern Civil Rights Movement have gone on to become national political leaders and human rights activists.