On the week of May 17, 1954, many white Georgians reacted in shock, denial and anger when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in the Brown v Board of Education case, striking down segregation in the nation’s public schools. State leaders expressed defiance and immediately set out to find ways to delay compliance.
The Supreme Court ruled that racially segregated public schools were unequal, and therefore unconstitutional.
Here is how The Atlanta Journal and Constition newspapers covered the events of that week, beginning with the Journal’s afternoon edition, presented above. (The Journal published in the afternoon and the Constitution published in the morning, with the two combining into one edition on Sunday.)
Above: May 17, 1954 (Journal): The afternoon Atlanta Journal captured the news from earlier that day that the U.S. Supreme Court had struck down racial segregation in public schools. (AJC archives)
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
May 18, 1954 (Constitution): The next day’s morning Atlanta Constitution captured the immediate defiance and denial by Georgia politicians. (AJC archives)
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
May 18, 1954 (Constitution): The paper reported on “disappointment” by local educators and “mixed feelings” of local pastors. (None of the quoted clergymen are mentioned to be from Black churches.) (AJC archives)
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
May 18, 1954 (Constitution): The paper’s editorial that day stressed that people should be relieved that the court granted a “cooling off” period to implement the changes. (AJC archives)
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
May 18, 1954 (Journal): State leaders discuss ways to disrupt implementation of the Brown ruling while talk bubbles of changing state law to allow Gov. Herman Talmadge, a segregationist, to run again. Even the U.S. flag flying over the Fulton courthouse is reported to have flown upside-down that day. (AJC archives)
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
May 18, 1954 (Journal): An article on the “adverse ruling” quotes the state school superintendent as saying that “it will be half a century” before school segregation is ended — “if then.” (AJC archives)
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
May 19, 1954 (Constitution): State leaders are reported to search for a way to preserve segregation in spite of the Brown decision. (AJC archives)
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
May 19, 1954 (Constitution): The DeKalb school superintendent says the Brown decision could “remain largely an abstraction due to custom” and warns of “a fatal blow at the Georgia public school system” if “the Negro race fails to discipline its members.” (AJC archives)
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
May 19, 1954 (Journal): Black educator Dr. Rufus Clement said that change would come slowly but that, “In the long run, I am sure that segregation in all American life will disappear.” (AJC archives)
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
May 20, 1954 (Constitution): An anonymous guest writer called “A Negro father” writes an opinion piece that he doesn’t want integration and will “fight to the last gasp against having my children attend a white school.” (AJC archives)
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
May 21, 1954 (Constitution): Gov. Talmadge continues his defiance of the Brown decision as southern governors and attorneys general discuss how to present a united front against the ruling. (AJC archives)
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
May 23, 1954 (Journal & Constitution): In the combined Sunday paper, an NAACP conference was reportedly held in Atlanta the previous day, where delegates discussed “a program of action” to ensure compliance with the Brown decision. (AJC archives)
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
May 23, 1954 (Journal & Constitution): Of the 17 states affected by the Brown decision, it’s reported that eight of them accept the verdict, leaving nine die-hard states fighting the decision. (AJC archives)
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
May 23, 1954 (Journal & Constitution): The combined Sunday paper collected five pages worth of views on the decision, presented as editorials, guest columns and editorial reports from around the state and other parts of the South. Below are three more excerpts from that section. (AJC archives)
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
Credit: AJC archive
