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WALB newsfilm clip of Dr. William G. Anderson responding on local television to criticism of the Civil Rights movement in Albany, Georgia, 1962 July 19

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@ Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

WALB (Television station : Albany, Ga.)

Description

In this WALB newsfilm clip from July 19, 1962, Dr. William G. Anderson, president of the Albany Movement, responds on local television to criticism about the movement, the presence of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other clergy and civil rights workers, and the rights of African Americans. After a July 18 presentation on WALB by James H. Gray, owner of WALB television station and local newspaper The Albany Herald, Anderson was given thirty minutes to respond to local criticism directed towards the Albany Movement and ongoing civil rights demonstrations. Anderson refutes the accusation that the Albany Movement was started by "outsiders," contending that it began among Albany residents "as a deeply-felt expression of the hunger for true freedom." The Albany Movement, a consolidation of extant Albany social improvement alliances, included previous incarnations of African American neighborhood organizations and clubs. One club, the Criterion Club, met with Albany mayor Asa Kelly in 1960, which proved unproductive. After November 1, 1961 when civil rights demonstrations intensified, the individual Albany clubs and organizations organized their efforts into the Albany Movement. Anderson continues to explain to the audience that the Albany Movement invited Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) ministers and others to Albany because "freedom is everybody's business." He clarifies that nonresident civil rights activists have come to Albany at their own expense, and have not benefited financially from their stay; emphasizing that they chose such conditions because human dignity is worth more than money. In response to an accusation that the movement...

Record Contributed By

Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia