Date

8-29-2025

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)

Chair

Luci Vaden

Keywords

Civil Rights, Dr. Thomas Brewer, Direct action civil rights South, Black Power, NAACP, Columbus Georgia civil rights history, Civil Rights Movement local activism, NAACP local vs national strategies, grassroots activism black community, Dr. Thomas Brewer assassination, police brutality Columbus Georgia 1950s, Sylvester Henderson arrest Columbus, Lucio Flowers, Safety Board Columbus, Fort Benning black soldiers activism, NAACP history Georgia, NAACP local chapters, NAACP litigation strategy South, National civil rights organizations, black power roots South, armed self-defense civil rights, black power pre1960s, racial discrimination policing South, Accommodationist strategy civil rights, white power structure Columbus, Southern black militancy, litigation and protest civil rights, federal intervention civil rights South, voting rights movement Georgia, community organizing Southern states, White Citizens Council, Ku Klux Klan

Disciplines

History

Abstract

The Civil Rights Movement in Columbus, Georgia, began in the early 1900s. Historians have typically excluded Columbus from discussions of impactful or powerful movements that created radical changes, but Columbus made sweeping changes to the Civil Rights Movement. African Americans in Columbus took advantage of direct-action protests, and the local NAACP transformed the white Democratic primary in Columbus, improved the living environments of black citizens, and authorized the hiring of black citizens as black police officers. It was a movement poised to confront the segregated school system during the passage of Brown v. Board in 1954 until the death of its leader. The local black community of Columbus made significant and influential contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. While some historians argue that Columbus failed to produce a Civil Rights Movement with lasting, substantial changes, the city’s successful effort to legally dismantle the all-white Democratic primary demonstrated its power and potential. The Columbus Civil Rights Movement was becoming a powerhouse until its trailblazing leaders were killed, left, or rebuffed by those who wanted to navigate the Civil Rights Movement by identifying themselves within a white framework. Dramatic change would have begun with Columbus if the leaders of the movement, specifically Brewer, had not been stopped. The Columbus movement started the use of direct action before the national movement. The influence of the local soldiers partially helped propel the movement. History in Columbus has slowly eroded the impact of the local Civil Rights Movement and, over time overshadowed by other narratives and lost to the passing of generations. The movement in Columbus stood apart from others in the area because it allowed Brewer to use self-defense to protect his rights. But at what cost? Brewer’s use of black power resulted in his death. It stunted the movement, forcing the trajectory to change from tangible progress to stagnation, as token black individuals who received favors from white society, resistant to change, created new barriers to advancement.

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