Segregation of University of Georgia

The history of racial integration dates back to January 6, 1961. The University of Georgia ruled that the campus would be desegregated in order allow two African American students, Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes, to study at the University. The origin of this conflict began back in the summer of 1959 when Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter began their application for the University of Georgia. After their first application was submitted, they were told that the dorms were overcrowded on campus and that space was unavailable. They repeated the application process several times but received the same letter of rejection. Knowing they should have been admitted into the school, the two African American students sued the federal court for this unfair cause. U.S. District Judge William Bootle saw them as students that deserved to be there and ordered UGA to accept them (Desegregation). The students on campus were not pleased to see that the University was being forced to integrate. In protest, they started riots, “shouted racial slurs, and tossed firecrackers, bottles, and bricks at [their] dormitory window[s]," (Finding Aid). As a result, Judge Bootle decided to create a map in order to station troops on campus and block off specific areas for students. This map was titled “Faculty Night Patrol”, and it was made on the night of January 16, 1961. This map was created in hopes to ease the tensions between Holmes and Hunter and the caucasian students. Many of the students were assigned to be in specific places to prohibit them from harming the African American students that attended the UGA campus. Also on that night, there were about 4 to 6 non student males with rifles. It was later recorded that the FBI had to come and arrest about 4 men from all of the commotion from that night.

Sources

“Finding Aid for University of Georgia Integration Materials 1938-1965.” University Archives :: Hargrett Library :: University of Georgia Libraries,

www.libs.uga.edu/hargrett/archives/integration/integration1.html.

“Desegregation of UGA.” Todayingeorgiahistory.org/, 9 Jan. 1970,