Recognizing the significance of Atlanta, Georgia, as the cradle of the civil rights movement.

Recognizing the significance of Atlanta, Georgia, as the cradle of the civil rights movement.

Whereas, in July 1881, a washerwoman strike of mostly Black women was one of the first major examples of the impact of Black labor in Atlanta and the power of coordinated, nonviolent organizing;

Whereas, in 1909, Atlanta University Professor W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People;

Whereas, on January 15, 1929, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was born in Atlanta;

Whereas, in 1946, African-American community leaders in Atlanta established the All Citizen’s Registration Committee (ACRC) to register voters and increase involvement in the political process;

Whereas, in 1948, 8 African-American officers were hired to the Atlanta Police Department, desegregating the city’s police force;

Whereas, in 1949, the Atlanta Negro Voters League (ANVL) was founded to coordinate political advocacy and bolster the power of African-American voters;

Whereas, in 1956, Atlanta was the site of the “Sugar Bowl Riots”, when Pittsburgh Panthers football player Bobby Grier became the first African-American to play in a bowl game in the Deep South;

Whereas, in 1957, Dr. King and Ralph David Abernathy formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to develop and implement nonviolent protest strategies and advance the fight for equal voting rights;

Whereas, on October 12, 1958, the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple was bombed by White supremacists due to Rabbi Jacob Rothschild, the Temple’s Rabbi, and its congregation’s active and vocal support for civil rights and integration;

Whereas, in 1959, local activism led to the desegregation of Atlanta public transit services;

Whereas, in 1960, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was headquartered in Atlanta and chaired by the honorable John Lewis, to focus the energy and efforts of students participating in the civil rights movement;

Whereas, in 1960, the Atlanta University Center (AUC) established the Atlanta Student Movement to lead sit-ins to protest segregation in public facilities;

Whereas, in 1960, Dr. King, along with 52 other activists, was arrested at an Atlanta department store lunch counter sit-in while protesting segregation;

Whereas, in 1961, Morehouse College student Charles Black led demonstrations against the lack of African-American health care workers in Atlanta health facilities, eventually leading to the desegregation of Grady Memorial Hospital;

Whereas the Atlanta-based SCLC was critical in securing the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, highly consequential pieces of legislation that guarantee full rights and equal protection of the law for all Americans;

Whereas, in 1964, the landmark Supreme Court case Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States found that the Federal Government had the power to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race;

Whereas political advocacy efforts in Atlanta were instrumental in promoting the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the crown jewels of the civil rights movement;

Whereas, in 1965, partially as a result of the successes of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 11 Black people were elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, including Atlanta-based civil rights organizer Julian Bond;

Whereas, in 1968, 150,000 people joined in Dr. King’s funeral procession through the streets of Atlanta, to honor his memory and demonstrate that further action was needed to advance the cause of equality;

Whereas political advocacy efforts in Atlanta were instrumental in promoting the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, parts of which are commonly called the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of race, religion, nationality, disability, or sex;

Whereas, in 1972, Andrew Young was elected to Congress from Atlanta, becoming the first Black representative from the Deep South since Reconstruction;

Whereas, in 1973, Maynard Jackson was elected as Atlanta’s first African-American mayor, also becoming the first African-American mayor in the Deep South, providing inspiration to civil servants and voters across the United States;

Whereas, in 1976, the Sweet Auburn Historical District in Atlanta was designated as a National Historic Landmark District for its significance as a prosperous African-American neighborhood and center of commerce;

Whereas, in 1977, Atlantan Andrew Young was appointed as the first Black United States Ambassador to the United Nations;

Whereas, in 1981, the honorable John Lewis began his career as an elected official as a member of the Atlanta City Council;

Whereas, in 1986, the honorable John Lewis was elected to represent Atlanta in the House of Representatives, where he would go on to serve for 33 years;

Whereas Atlanta has ascended as a global city and a world-class leader in business, entrepreneurship, athletics, transportation, politics, social equity, faith, culture, education, health, and science;

Whereas Atlanta’s reputation for cohesive economic achievement has earned it the nickname “The City Too Busy to Hate”;

Whereas Atlanta is home to numerous stellar institutes of higher learning, including Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morris Brown College, and the Georgia Institute of Technology; and

Whereas Atlanta continues to be recognized as a center of diversity, inclusivity, excellence, and social, economic, and educational opportunity for all: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) recognizes Atlanta’s significance as the cradle of the civil rights movement for the city’s immense contributions to the cause of equal rights; and

(2) honors Atlanta’s role as a dynamic, vibrant city that continues to lead by example to show the success that is possible when Americans are given equal opportunities to pursue excellence.