Atlanta Student Civil Rights Movement

The Atlanta Student Movement was formed between February and March 1960 in Atlanta by students of the campuses Atlanta University Center (AUC). It was led by the Committee on the Appeal for Human Rights (COAHR) and was part of the Civil Rights Movement.

On February 5, 1960Lonnie King and Julian Bond discussed the idea of following in the foot steps of the Greensboro sit-ins with the idea to organize similar actions in Atlanta. King, Bond and fellow members of the All-University Student Leadership Group were soon summoned to a meeting with the presidents of all six Atlanta University Center (AUC) colleges. In an attempt to lessen the likeliehood of immediate direct action (such as organizing Sit-ins), the AUC challenged the students to instead write a document outlining their position.

The students, while considering the proposal of the creation of a document a delaying tactic, did begin work on such a document. King, Bond, Roslyn Pope, Herschelle Sullivan, Carolyn Long, Frank Smith, Joseph Pierce, among others students formed formed a committee that drafted an appeal to describe both their complaints as well as their desired goals for proposed change. This Committee on Appeal for Human Rights drafted An Appeal for Human Rights, which was originally published on March 9, 1960. The Appeal focused on putting an end to the unjust system of racial segregation that was present in every aspect of their society—something the students would simply no longer stand by and accept. The students considered it to be the right time for change, and considered the changes they desired achievable by nonviolent means.

Within six days of the publication of An Appeal for Human Rights, the students began the Atlanta Student Movement sit-ins on March 15, 1960, which were an integral part of the 1960s sit-in movement of the Civil Rights Movement. Following in the footsteps of the Greensboro sit-ins, the Atlanta sit-ins were chosen as a form of protest "not only because it was commensurate with the religious roots of Southern Negroes, but also because it was more likely to gain allies among a section of the dominant white majority".

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