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Series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips of demonstrations and unsuccessful integration attempts at First Baptist Church and First Methodist Church in Americus, Georgia, 1965 August 1

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@ Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)

Description

In this series of silent WSB newsfilm clips from August 1, 1965, African Americans demonstrate against segregation and unsuccessfully attempt to integrate First Baptist Church and First Methodist Church in Americus, Georgia. The clip begins with a mixed race crowd that appears to be on the verge of fighting surrounding police officers in front of a grocery store. Two men in suits appear to watch events in front of the Farr Appliance Company store. Next, a group of African Americans march in downtown Americus; they follow a car while flanked by law enforcement officers. A man in a white shirt speaks to an officer; afterward, two officers lead a white man away from a crowd. Later, images of the attempted integration of First Baptist Church and First Methodist Church are interspersed with each other. At First Baptist Church, a group of white people line up on the steps of the church. The group attempting to integrate the church stands with their backs to the camera; a white man speaks to them and appears to point toward the church before the group walks away. When the pro-integration group approaches First Methodist Church, they find a line of white parishioners blocking access at the top of the church stairs; the pro-integration group chooses to kneel and pray at the bottom of the stairs. Tom Brokaw and another white man also appear in the clip, and police officers direct traffic. On August 1, 1965, two six-person groups tried to integrate the two churches....
Type:
Video
Contributors:
Brokaw, Tom
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Record Contributed By

Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia