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Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} An Education in Georgia Charlayne Hunter Hamilton Holmes and the Integration of the University of Ge An Education in Georgia. THE INTEGRATION OF CHARLAYNE HUNTER AND HAMILTON HOLMES, by Calvin Trillin, Viking, 180 pp., $3.95. Although less than a year old, the "Negro Revolt" has become a stock phrase in the vocabulary of current events. Spring was stark headlines about Birmingham, summer aerial shots of thousands along the reflecting pool, and fall frustration at the failure of Congress. Now winter may be the time of abstraction and formalization. Even as boycotts and demonstrations continue in North and South, the language of sociologists and slick magazines fits police dogs, marching students, and anguished ministers into the broad context of mid-century America. The subject of countless words, the Negro has become a new caricature, de-humanized into a single image of militant man on the move. In An Education in Georgia, Calvin Trillin describes a sequence of events which has a prominent place in civil rights lore, the desegregation of a state university. And the expected drama is not missing from his account of the integration of Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes into the University of Georgia in January, 1961. Students stone Charlayne's dormitory her first night on campus, they deface her car, and insults and abuse greet both Negroes throughout the university. But Trillin, a Yale graduate who writes for the New Yorker, does not dwell on these incidents. Instead he chooses to report the disillusionment and sense of loss that two Negroes experience when they leave the comfort of high-school success in an all-Negro environment to enter Georgia as symbols of The Cause. But The Cause had very little to do with their decision. Aided by a flat, straightforward style, Trillin makes clear that Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter were neither prodded by the NAACP nor initially moved by a deep personal commitment to civil rights activity. From the insular atmosphere of Turner High, Atlanta, they had simply not thought de-segregation possible. Trillin contrasts their relative innocence with the experience of James Meredith, for by some Negroes, Hamilton and Charlayne would be considered almost white. Unlike Meredith, they did not have to overcome the disadvantages of a sharecropper background; coming from a middle class community in Atlanta, they were more concerned with a normal education than with simply breaking down the system. Almost casually, both Negroes responded to the suggestion of a local leader that they become intergrationists. Hamilton's desire to go to medical school could be served best by attending Georgia. Therefore his personal battle, his wish to "make those crackers sit up and take notice," was fought in the classroom. Charlayne was not so singleminded. She wanted to observe people observing her. More gregarious than Hamilton and lacking his drive, Charlayne chose to live on campus instead of with a Negro family as he did. Ultimately both were to fail as integrationists. And this is one lesson to be inferred from Trillins' Education. As a student, Hamilton was successful, graduating with honors and a Phi Beta Kappa key. But he had drawn more and more into himself, falling back on the Negroes he had known in Atlanta. Although his example of excellence encouraged a few others to come to Georgia, his contact with whites at Georgia was nil. Charlayne's stay at the university was in a sense more frustrating since she had no honors to justify her experience. Her contact with white students became less tense, but she was never able to establish friendships. Discouraged at the inability of Negroes to raise funds for her scholarship and dismayed at the bickering over who was the better integrationist, she or Hamilton, Charlayne finally began to feel detached from both whites and Negroes. As she told Trillin. I feel like a hypecrite giving all these speeches, all that we shall evercome business. I believe in it sure. But there are some things I don't believe in talking about. I'm sick of whites and sick of Negroes. I just want to be obscure. The insoluble problem suggested in An Education in Georgia is that the low level of Negro education and the high level of Southern recalcitrance make widespread integration distant. And for the qualified Negro who can become an integrationist, the sacrifice may be too great. The epilogue of An Education in Georgia is revealing. Following her graduation, Charlayne married Walter Stovall, a white student whom she had seen secretly at Georgia. When criticized by both Negroes and liberal whites for foresaking The Cause she replied, This is a personal thing, and my personal life should not have anything to do with that which affects the mass of people. And so I can't be terribly concerned about that because I have my own life to live. But it is the Charlayne Hunters and Hamilton Holmes who by their physical presence on a Southern campus begin the erosion of southern white values and inspire their own people. Thus the ironic paradox of Education is that by embracing The Cause, by seeking to help the Negro people find self, the individual Negro's sense of self is threatened. Trillin speaks with a low and calm voice; he is not writing about an abstract Negro on a magazine cover who stands firmly, muscles taut, eyes forward. Underneath the placid prose is another figure, the intelligent Southern Negro, who, unlike his contemporaries from the North, cannot go home to Boston, New York, or Springfield after his year of working in the South is over. Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter. An Education in Georgia: Charlayne Hunter Hamilton Holmes and the Integration of the University of Georgia by Calvin Trillin. First serialized in the New Yorker in 1963, Trillins’s book details the experiences of the first African-American students on the Athens campus and the legal struggle surrounding their admission. The book also looks at the protests and riots against their admission, the students' suspension, as well as the court case that had them reinstated. Trillin’s book includes interviews from the time with students, their families, friends, and professors that reveal the struggles of integration and drastic social change on a southern campus. "Renowned journalist Calvin Trillin's account of the integration of the University of Georgia provides an on-the-ground, intimate look at the people involved, from courageous young students Charlayne Hunter, Hamilton Holmes, and Mary Frances Early to the attorneys, administrators, townspeople, and UGA custodians who secreted the blank applications off campus and to Atlanta,” said Lisa Bayer, director of the University of Georgia Press. “By reading this book together, the UGA community will better understand the deeply human relationships that changed our university and our state forever, and for good." Two virtual events will be held to discuss the legacy and impact of desegregation and the modern-day UGA campus. The first talk on February 4th will feature An Education in Georgia author Calvin Trillin and Charlayne Hunter-Gault in a discussion moderated by Valerie Boyd, the Charlayne Hunter-Gault Distinguished Writer in Residence, Associate Professor, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, UGA. On February 25th, the second event will feature a dialogue between Mary Frances Early and UGA Rhodes Scholar Phaidra Buchanan, moderated by Cynthia Dillard (Mary Frances Early Professor of Teacher Education, Mary Frances Early College of Education). Discussion questions, historical notes, and other prompts will be shared via social media throughout the month of February. To follow the Campus Read online, follow UGA Press on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The book is available in print and electronic form through a variety of sources, including independent and online bookstores. Free physical copies will also be available through the Colleges of Education and Journalism and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and an open digital copy will be available via UGA Press’s Manifold platform by February 1. More information on the virtual events—including registration information—can be found on the UGA master calendar at the following links: Admiration and appreciation for Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Hamilton Holmes. The courage and sacrifice of Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes 60 years ago might be termed “good trouble” today, however their heroic actions were complicated and divisive in 1961. Thanks to their steadfast resolve to attend class at the University of Georgia, they broke down barriers, opened the door to progress and created opportunities for generations to come by desegregating the university. January 9 is the milestone anniversary when Hunter (now Hunter-Gault) started her quest for a journalism degree and Hamilton Holmes started his studies in science on his way to a career in medicine and healthcare administration. Hunter-Gault’s impact is immense according to Charles Davis, dean of Grady College. “The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, ‘There is nothing more majestic than the determined courage of individuals willing to suffer and sacrifice for their freedom and dignity,’” Davis quoted. “Charlayne Hunter-Gault’s courage, selflessness and most importantly, love for others and for UGA continue to amaze. She always answers the call, every time. I’ve never known another person who lifts me up in quite the same way. Majestic is a good way to describe her.” Grady College alumni and friends share messages of appreciation and admiration on the 60th Anniversary of Desegregation. The complete video of appreciation messages for Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Hamilton Holmes can be viewed here. (editor: Dayne Young) Hunter-Gault is well-known for her legacy at UGA, but her legacy at the College is equally important continued Davis.

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