Atlanta History Center presents Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow now through February 28. The historical exhibition explores the African American struggle for full citizenship and racial equality that unfolded in the 50 years after the Civil War while highlighting the ways African Americans advocated for full inclusion in American democracy from 1865 through World War I.
Created by the New-York Historical Society in collaboration with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow is enhanced by Atlanta History Center with locally relevant materials from the collections of the History Center, Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, Clark Atlanta University Art Museum, High Museum of Art, and Georgia Museum of Art.
“We all have something to learn – to understand – from this exhibition,” said Atlanta History Center Chief Mission Officer Michael Rose. “All history has meaning for all of us. Unfortunately, the timespan represented in Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow constitutes a long period in our history that is often misunderstood or ignored. Yet its continuing influence is felt in all our lives.”
Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow examines the meaning of citizenship for African Americans following the abolition of slavery, through Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era. When slavery ended in 1865, a period of Reconstruction began (1865–1877), leading to important achievements, such as the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution. By 1868, all persons born in the United States were citizens and equal before the law, yet efforts to create an interracial democracy were contested from the start. African Americans eagerly embraced educational opportunities, voting rights, elected office, and economic advancement. But a harsh backlash ensued, ushering in the legalized racial discrimination of Jim Crow.
It was a tumultuous time for African Americans in Atlanta, the capital of the South, as it was in cities and towns across America. Seeking education was an important means to racial uplift and empowerment. The schools located in Atlanta’s West End neighborhood ultimately formed the Atlanta University Center (AUC), creating the largest consortium of Historic Black Colleges and Universities in the nation.
For those reasons, Atlanta History Center added two final sections to Black Citizenship – the first telling the broader Atlanta story through archival images and text; and the second spotlighting the major social impact of AUC schools, their leaders, and, ultimately, their alumni, many of whom remained in Atlanta to work and organize.
Click here for more information.
