40th Anniversary of UGA's Desegregation

40th Anniversary of the Desegregation of the University of Georgia
January 9, 2001

Reflections from...

ARCHIBALD KILLIAN

The Killian family of Athens provided housing for Hamilton Holmes while he was a student at the University of Georgia. At the time, Archibald Killian had recently moved back to Athens from California to open a restaurant with his younger brother, Alfred. To be close to the business, the two brothers lived with their mother, Ruth Moon Killian, at 125 Harris Street. Archibald Killian, now a pastor at St. Mark AME Church, was also the first African-American officer in the Athens police department. He provided these reflections to Juliett Dinkins (ABJ ‘83), a member of the staff of the UGA News Service:

"The courts handed down the order that Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter could go to school, but the university really didn’t make any arrangements for them to go. It was up to the two of them from that point on.

"When push came to shove, everybody who had agreed to provide Hamp a place to stay backed out. Somebody called my mother, who was active in the church. And mama called me and said, ‘Hamp has been accepted but he needs a place to stay but there’s no place for him to stay.’ Then she said that because I was the oldest man at home, the decision would be up to me. But we had to make a decision right then and right there. After I thought about the situation and how it was and how it ought to be, we agreed to keep him. Hamp stayed, ate and studied at our house but he didn’t really talk about what was happening on campus."

In addition to the desegregation of the university, Killian remembers marches and sit-ins at the Varsity and other demonstrations:

"When they had a riot one night, city officials told us they had gotten word that the Klan was coming to our house to burn a cross. And I told the city officials, ‘Since ya’ll brought a message, you take one back. You tell them that I said that if they come out here and burn a cross, nobody will have to ask who came because we’re going to shoot them and all you’ll have to do in the morning is turn them over and see who came. We formed a circle around the house that night and guarded it with our shot guns, but the Klan didn’t come.

"I hadn’t really thought about segregation as such before I fought in the Korean War. But after I fought to get freedom for people in other countries and came back to America, I couldn’t even sit down in a restaurant and get a cup of coffee. That’s when I got pretty well upset about the whole thing."

Killian also remembers a converstion with his sociology professor at Los Angeles City College, which he attended on the GI Bill:

"We got to talking about integration, and the professor got upset. And he said, ‘Mr. Killian, I don’t know whether you know what accommodate means, but when you leave my class, you go by the library and look up accommodate because that’s all we ever intend to do for you people is to accommodate you. Some places will accommodate you in the back of the bus, some places will accommodate you in the front of the bus. We might even let you drive the bus, but you will never own the damn bus.’

"And that’s the way is was for Hamp. After they couldn’t do anything else, they admitted him. But they said as far as a place to stay and all that, you’re on your own. Nobody else would keep him so I said I have been around the world trying to get folks free, why can’t I help him? He was a nice, young man. Somebody has to fight for the struggle for civil rights. It’s just that simple."

James Scoggins (BS '63)

Suzanne Scoggins, a student intern with the UGA News Service, interviewed her father, James Scoggins (BS ’63), who as a zoology major shared several classes with Hamilton Holmes. Here are his remembrances of that time:

"I remember Hamilton Holmes mainly as being very low key. I got the chance to have several short conversations with him, and from that, I was able to tell that he was a really nice and intelligent guy. I regret never talking to him more than the few times I did, and looking back, I’ve always seen it as my loss for not making a stronger effort. I really wish I had.

"Most people ignored him in class, and he was treated just like any other person you didn’t know even though everyone in the class knew exactly who he was. I’ve heard rumors now that people would get upset because he always broke the curve, but none of the classes we were in together ever disclosed the grades of other students. I didn’t really know how good of a student he was until later because he was always quiet in class.

"I think most people were opposed to desegregation. It must have been very difficult for both Holmes and Hunter to go through what they did. I don’t think anyone really understood what they went through until years later.

"Looking back now after 40 years, I think desegregation is probably the best thing that happened to UGA. It was a really difficult time for the school, but it was something that needed to be done. I’m glad the administrators didn’t listen to the protests that took place on campus. Those were just different times back then. No one had ever even been to school with an African American before, and people didn’t know how to react. The civil rights movement was just beginning, and the South was still extremely segregated.

"I would love to see UGA recruit more blacks and minorities. I know they’re trying to raise their percentages now, and I think it’s in the best interest of the state of Georgia to stop the brain drain of the top minority students to the schools in the north. I think it’s important that students go to school in a diverse environment."

Dr. Wm. L. Landrum, alumni (Math Edu '64)

I was a student at Georgia Tech at the time, and transferred to UGA 1.5 years later. At Tech, the college president called us all together for an assembly. He said that we were being integrated the next quarter, and that we were not going to have any incident like UGA's. Any student that was involved in any way on any incident, would have be expelled from school, and never allowed to return. I have always felt that UGA was a little unlucky to have been first, but by their pain that allowed other colleges in the area to think the whole thing over, and to step up and do what was right at their school.

Looking back, I was at Wesley Foundation, where we took a proactive stance of dealing with the new African-Americans on campus. I remember two emotions: 1) fear for my own safey, and 2) the extreme loneliness expressed by these students as they remained isolated from most other students, while in the midst of so many people.

I remember a much more positive desegregation event at UGA. Namely, the first time a black person gave a concert at UGA. UGA officials seemed worried that there might be another scene, and they picked the first performer carefully. It was Lewis Armstrong who was near the end of his great career. The colosseum was about half-filled, but the ones that were there had a fantastic time. He played many arrangements of "Hello Dolly" as well as other numbers. At the end he got a standing ovation. The studend newspaper later reported that it was the first standing ovation that he had received in about ten years.

Carolyn Kelley Hatcher, alumni (Spanish '61)

I served on Women's Student Govt. Assn. that year, and Ms. Hunter-Gault was given the WSGA suite in Center Myers (where I had been living), because it was "away from the other students in the dorm". I well remember the riot...very, very scary. Ms. Hunter-Gault appeared a very frightened young lady, as well she should have been. People were mean, and angry, and loud, and very emotional and out of control. She handled herself well....much better than the students and outsiders in Athens. I admire her very much, to this day!

The women students had to be put on restriction that week, no nights out past 5:00....they were extremely angry at the WSGA and Dean of Women for this. But, it was dangerous to be out in Athens. The mob of angry people, old and young, was roaming the streets and creating a very bad situation. We felt it was for the good of the students to restrict them.

Looking back, we as students were very afraid our University was to be closed, and some of us were near graduation. Of course, desegregation was the right thing....we selfishly were thinking of our own lives and future, however. I had my parents call the Governor's office to tell him not to close UGA....for my own reasons, I suppose, at that time... These were two very, very brave and courageous people....Best of luck to Ms. Hunter-Gault

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40th Anniversary of the Desegregation of the University of Georgia January 9, 2001 Reflections from...

ARCHIBALD KILLIAN The Killian family of Athens provided housing for Hamilton Holmes while he was a student at the University of Georgia. At the time, Archibald Killian had recently moved back to Athens from California to open a restaurant with his younger brother, Alfred. To be close to the business, the two brothers lived with their mother, Ruth Moon Killian, at 125 Harris Street. Archibald Killian, now a pastor at St. Mark AME Church, was also the first African-American officer in the Athens police department. He provided these reflections to Juliett Dinkins (ABJ ‘83), a member of the staff of the UGA News Service: "The courts handed down the order that Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter could go to school, but the university really didn’t make any arrangements for them to go. It was up to the two of them from that point on. "When push came to shove, everybody who had agreed to provide Hamp a place to stay backed out. Somebody called my mother, who was active in the church. And mama called me and said, ‘Hamp has been accepted but he needs a place to stay but there’s no place for him to stay.’ Then she said that because I was the oldest man at home, the decision would be up to me. But we had to make a decision right then and right there. After I thought about the situation and how it was and how it ought to be, we agreed to keep him. Hamp stayed, ate and studied at our house but he didn’t really talk about what was happening on campus." In addition to the desegregation of the university, Killian remembers marches and sit-ins at the Varsity and other demonstrations: "When they had a riot one night, city officials told us they had gotten word that the Klan was coming to our house to burn a cross. And I told the city officials, ‘Since ya’ll brought a message, you take one back. You tell them that I said that if they come out here and burn a cross, nobody will have to ask who came because we’re going to shoot them and all you’ll have to do in the morning is turn them over and see who came. We formed a circle around the house that night and guarded it with our shot guns, but the Klan didn’t come. "I hadn’t really thought about segregation as such before I fought in the Korean War. But after I fought to get freedom for people in other countries and came back to America, I couldn’t even sit down in a restaurant and get a cup of coffee. That’s when I got pretty well upset about the whole thing." Killian also remembers a converstion with his sociology professor at Los Angeles City College, which he attended on the GI Bill: "We got to talking about integration, and the professor got upset. And he said, ‘Mr. Killian, I don’t know whether you know what accommodate means, but when you leave my class, you go by the library and look up accommodate because that’s all we ever intend to do for you people is to accommodate you. Some places will accommodate you in the back of the bus, some places will accommodate you in the front of the bus. We might even let you drive the bus, but you will never own the damn bus.’ "And that’s the way is was for Hamp. After they couldn’t do anything else, they admitted him. But they said as far as a place to stay and all that, you’re on your own. Nobody else would keep him so I said I have been around the world trying to get folks free, why can’t I help him? He was a nice, young man. Somebody has to fight for the struggle for civil rights. It’s just that simple." James Scoggins (BS '63) Suzanne Scoggins, a student intern with the UGA News Service, interviewed her father, James Scoggins (BS ’63), who as a zoology major shared several classes with Hamilton Holmes. Here are his remembrances of that time: "I remember Hamilton Holmes mainly as being very low key. I got the chance to have several short conversations with him, and from that, I was able to tell that he was a really nice and intelligent guy. I regret never talking to him more than the few times I did, and looking back, I’ve always seen it as my loss for not making a stronger effort. I really wish I had. "Most people ignored him in class, and he was treated just like any other person you didn’t know even though everyone in the class knew exactly who he was. I’ve heard rumors now that people would get upset because he always broke the curve, but none of the classes we were in together ever disclosed the grades of other students. I didn’t really know how good of a student he was until later because he was always quiet in class. "I think most people were opposed to desegregation. It must have been very difficult for both Holmes and Hunter to go through what they did. I don’t think anyone really understood what they went through until years later. "Looking back now after 40 years, I think desegregation is probably the best thing that happened to UGA. It was a really difficult time for the school, but it was something that needed to be done. I’m glad the administrators didn’t listen to the protests that took place on campus. Those were just different times back then. No one had ever even been to school with an African American before, and people didn’t know how to react. The civil rights movement was just beginning, and the South was still extremely segregated. "I would love to see UGA recruit more blacks and minorities. I know they’re trying to raise their percentages now, and I think it’s in the best interest of the state of Georgia to stop the brain drain of the top minority students to the schools in the north. I think it’s important that students go to school in a diverse environment." Dr. Wm. L. Landrum, alumni (Math Edu '64) I was a student at Georgia Tech at the time, and transferred to UGA 1.5 years later. At Tech, the college president called us all together for an assembly. He said that we were being integrated the next quarter, and that we were not going to have any incident like UGA's. Any student that was involved in any way on any incident, would have be expelled from school, and never allowed to return. I have always felt that UGA was a little unlucky to have been first, but by their pain that allowed other colleges in the area to think the whole thing over, and to step up and do what was right at their school. Looking back, I was at Wesley Foundation, where we took a proactive stance of dealing with the new African-Americans on campus. I remember two emotions: 1) fear for my own safey, and 2) the extreme loneliness expressed by these students as they remained isolated from most other students, while in the midst of so many people. I remember a much more positive desegregation event at UGA. Namely, the first time a black person gave a concert at UGA. UGA officials seemed worried that there might be another scene, and they picked the first performer carefully. It was Lewis Armstrong who was near the end of his great career. The colosseum was about half-filled, but the ones that were there had a fantastic time. He played many arrangements of "Hello Dolly" as well as other numbers. At the end he got a standing ovation. The studend newspaper later reported that it was the first standing ovation that he had received in about ten years. Carolyn Kelley Hatcher, alumni (Spanish '61) I served on Women's Student Govt. Assn. that year, and Ms. Hunter-Gault was given the WSGA suite in Center Myers (where I had been living), because it was "away from the other students in the dorm". I well remember the riot...very, very scary. Ms. Hunter-Gault appeared a very frightened young lady, as well she should have been. People were mean, and angry, and loud, and very emotional and out of control. She handled herself well....much better than the students and outsiders in Athens. I admire her very much, to this day! The women students had to be put on restriction that week, no nights out past 5:00....they were extremely angry at the WSGA and Dean of Women for this. But, it was dangerous to be out in Athens. The mob of angry people, old and young, was roaming the streets and creating a very bad situation. We felt it was for the good of the students to restrict them. Looking back, we as students were very afraid our University was to be closed, and some of us were near graduation. Of course, desegregation was the right thing....we selfishly were thinking of our own lives and future, however. I had my parents call the Governor's office to tell him not to close UGA....for my own reasons, I suppose, at that time... These were two very, very brave and courageous people....Best of luck to Ms. Hunter-Gault MORE>>