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WALB newsfilm clip of African American students turned away from using the public library in Albany, Georgia, 1962

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@ Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

WALB (Television station : Albany, Ga.)

Description

In this silent WALB newsfilm clip from Albany, Georgia, in 1962, African American students seek to use the Albany Carnegie Library and are turned away; this is followed by footage of two Albany policemen using the library. An African American woman in sunglasses speaks to a white woman and a white man standing behind a desk in the library, while in the background, a white woman walking by sees the black woman at the desk and walks in the opposite direction. Next, two African American women are seen near a collection of library books; one sits at a table with books in front of her while the other looks at the books on a shelf behind the table; she joins the other woman at the table. An elderly white woman sitting at an adjacent table gathers her things after the second black woman sits down. Next, a cameraman films three African American students leaving the building; he remains inside after they leave. Later, four black students, three female and one male, walk up the steps to the library. One of the female students is wearing a black armband (members of the Albany Movement wore black armbands to protest the July 10 convictions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Reverend Ralph Abernathy for their participation in a December, 1961 march). The students speak to someone through a partially-opened door, then turn around and leave the building. Finally, in another shot inside the library, an officer sitting at a desk appears...

Record Contributed By

Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia