Recognizing an Imperfect Past: A History and Race Initiative Facing page: Exterior of the Rivoli Theater with a crowd for a showing of “Birth of a Nation,” 1923. MS 2632-033. Rogers Studio glass plate negatives and film negatives, Georgia Historical Society. Introduction
Race is an integral part of the American story. While our diversity has been a source of great strength, all too often we have failed to achieve the promises of equality and justice proclaimed in our founding documents. Beginning with the enslavement of Africans during the colonial period and continuing with warfare and genocide against indigenous peoples, Jim Crow, lynchings, Japanese internment camps, and violent opposition to the Civil Rights movement, racial injustice has characterized much of our national experience and continues to plague our society.
Through Recognizing an Imperfect Past: A History and Race Initiative, the Georgia Historical Society seeks to educate and use the power of our shared history to foster difficult but necessary conversations that will offer all Americans new and deeper perspectives on the past and the present. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr. Questions:
• Slavery ended more than 150 years ago. Why is it important for us to talk about it now?
• Why do we need to talk about things that might make us feel badly about who we are or who our ancestors were?
• What do terms like “Jim Crow,” “white supremacy,” “red lining,” and “massive resistance” mean?
• What are the historic origins of white supremacy?
• I’ve heard the Civil War wasn’t about slavery, that it was about state’s rights. Is that true?
• If we take down monuments, aren’t we erasing history?
Facing page: Interior of the Rivoli Theater showing the audience with segregated balcony, 1924. MS 2632-038. Rogers Studio glass plate negatives and film negatives, Georgia Historical Society. “The most dangerous person in the world is a person with no hope. Let’s open the door to dialogue and healing. It’s ok if its messy. It’s ok if tears are shed. We are human. Let’s be moved to action. Let’s join together to build a world that reflects God’s love for all of us.”
-Dan T. Cathy, Chairman and CEO of Chick-fil-A, Inc. Ways to Participate:
Impacting Your Community—Internally and Externally
• The History and Race Initiative offers a variety of opportunities for companies and organizations to explore the roots and legacy of the complex issues of racial injustice and inequality, such as slavery, segregation, lynching, red-lining, and massive resistance.
• Options for involvement can include opportunities for internal educational sessions tailored to specific audiences within your company, such as executive leadership sessions or full-staff presentations, as well as opportunities to participate in community outreach projects such as teacher-training sessions, public discussion programs, and historical marker projects.
• These educational sessions will act as a foundation on which to build individual plans to move your company forward while creating a more open and inclusive workplace—one where staff members feel acknowledged and equipped with the tools they need to better understand and support the communities in which you have already invested.
Facing page: East Broad St. School first grade class, 1946. MS 1360-03-17-06. Foltz Photography Studio (Savannah, Ga.), photographs, 1899-1960, Georgia Historical Society. History Presentations for Staff and Executive Leadership
Whether through a small group interaction with the senior leadership team or a video conference with the entire staff, targeted programs highlighting the most difficult moments and questions in our national story can give valuable insight into issues that have troubled generations of Americans.
Discussions can also address the question of why we as a society have been unable to address these issues and move forward.
Community Outreach Opportunities
Options include providing opportunities for impacting local classrooms through the development of teacher- training materials that highlight strategies for discussing difficult historical topics such as slavery and racial violence. Other opportunities for community involvement include supporting new roadside historical markers recognizing people and events associated with the American Civil Rights Movement, or even community or public programs bringing together historians and local leaders in discussion of specific issues and events, stories of triumph and challenges, that created the world we live in today.
Facing page: Georgia State Patrol Chief Major Porter Weaver speaks to Civil Rights leader Richard Turner in Sandersville, Georgia, about the likelihood of violent conflict surrounding a planned march. 1970. United Press International Telephoto from the Georgia Historical Society. “Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.”
-John Lewis “It doesn’t matter how strong your opinions are. If you don’t use your power for positive change, you are, indeed, part of the problem.”
-Coretta Scott King Programmatic options vary according to company goals and level of involvement and can include:
• Opportunity for community stakeholder seminars and workshops sponsored by company
• Opportunity for public programs sponsored by company
• Community Historical Marker to be included on the Civil Rights Trail
• Supporting teacher training sessions on teaching difficult subjects/history of racial injustice in the classroom
• Development of teacher guides and classroom resources on teaching difficult subjects/history of racial injustice in the classroom
• Presentations for team members tailored to company goals
• History-based discussion sessions with company executives
• Corporate presence and logo recognition during Initiative events
• Name recognition and logo on printed materials
• Name recognition and logo on website
Facing page: Union Station, Savannah, 1950. MS 1361PH-29-05-5904. Georgia Historical Society Collection of Photographs, 1870-1960. “Freedom is a struggle and we do it together. Not only together as black citizens, but black and white together.”
-Ambassador Andrew Young Conclusion
As an educational and research institution, the Georgia Historical Society is committed to teaching the full story of America’s past in the firm belief that an unflinching examination of our nation’s failures as well as our successes is crucial to maintaining our democratic republic and encourages us to live up to our ideals and aspirations.
Success for companies is not simply measured by the bottom line. Companies that are guided by deeply held principles and values are the organizations that employees want to work for, and consumers want to support.
Participation in the Recognizing an Imperfect Past: A History and Race Initiative gives organizations the chance to have the difficult but necessary conversations needed to move our country forward. Whether it be through internal training or contributing to the public dialogue through historical markers, programs, or educational curriculum, you will be strengthening our understanding of the paths that led us to the present, and how we can use those lessons to build a better future. For more information about the History and Race Initiative, please call 404.382.5410, ext. 117. Photos
Front cover: Group of African-Americans, marching near the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., to protest the lynching of four African-Americans in Georgia, 1946. Library of Congress.
Page 2 (inside cover): The San Fransico Call: “Leo Frank lynched by mob,” 1915. MS 2361-OS2-005. Steve Oney papers, Georgia Historical Society. United Confederate Veteran lapel pin, 1909. A-0802-003. Georgia Historical Society. “I Am A Registered Voter Are You?” pin, belonging to W. W. Law, undated. A-2697-013. Georgia Historical Society. Linden B. Johnson campaign flasher, 1964. A-2697-014. Georgia Historical Society. Record of Spoliations, Volume 1, 1836-1838. MS 927-01-02-09. Cherokee Indians Relocation Papers, Georgia Historical Society. “A Slave Auction,” illustration from Cassell’s History of the United States by Edmund Ollier (New York: ca.1878).
Page 5: Confederate Monument, undated. 1361PH-22-03-4365. Georgia Historical Society Collection of Photographs, 1870-1960.
Page 12, clockwise from top left: Unveiling of the Atlanta Student Movement Georgia historical marker by Dr. W. Todd Groce, Georgia Historical Society President and CEO, and Lonnie C. King, Atlanta Student Movement Veteran. Photo by Horace Henry. Protest march against police violence in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 26, 2020. Photo by Fibonacci Blue. Christy Crisp, Georgia Historical Society Director of Programs, speaks with schoolchildren at the GHS Research Center. Photo by John McKinnon. Sapelo Island historian Cornelia Walker Bailey shares stories of Geechee history and culture with GHS Summer Institute participants. Photo by Georgia Historical Society. SAVANNAH HEADQUARTERS
104 W. Gaston Street Savannah, GA 31401 Tel 912.651.2125 Toll Free 877.424.4789
ATLANTA OFFICE
One Baltimore Place NW Suite G300 Atlanta, GA 30308 Tel 404.382.5410
RESEARCH CENTER
501 Whitaker Street Savannah, GA 31401 Tel 912.651.2125 Toll Free 877.424.4789
Printed 2020