Columbus’s “Journey Toward Justice” Tour the Civil Right Movements We’ve Made

Cities such as Atlanta, Albany, Montgomery, and Birmingham often dominate discussions of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. However, the Chattahoochee Valley has been the site of regular cycles of civil rights activism, allyship, and backlash throughout the past century. Advances in civil rights that proved significant at the national and state levels happened from the 1940s through the 1970s, and vibrant activism continues in the community today.

Journey Toward Justice, a new exhibit at the free Columbus Museum, spotlights the Civil Rights Movement in the Columbus area. Themes and topics include the beginnings of a southern freedom movement and the effects of Jim Crow segregation; the role of Black institutions as a source of community pride and a breeding ground for activists; the influence of Fort Benning; direct public actions that led to the desegregation of public and private spaces; the cycle of generational violence and intimidation that activists faced; and continued civil rights activism in the 21st century. These stories will be told with more than 160 artifacts, documents, and images from nearly a dozen private lenders, as well as the collections of the Columbus Museum and special collections libraries at Columbus State University, the University of Georgia, and Emory University. The exhibition will also feature archival footage of protests and interviews with community members, local civil rights activists, and historians.

“Working with our community to uncover and share Columbus’ civil rights stories has been meaningful and thrilling,” Columbus Museum Curator of History Rebecca Bush told Columbus CEO. “I’m excited for the Museum to play a role in highlighting the Civil Rights Movement in the Chattahoochee Valley – a rich and exciting history that deserves to be remembered alongside the stories of other southern cities.”

The exhibit was created with the help of students from Columbus State University. Students in Dr. Gary Sprayberry’s fall 2021 “Civil Rights Movement/Black Power” class conducted research and provided content for exhibit panels and the exhibit guidebook. The class explored the American civil rights movement, the rise of militancy in the 1960s, origins of reconstruction and the rise of segregation. The nine students who worked on the project each focused on different aspects of the movement.

“I think the civil rights movement would not have succeeded if not for ordinary people deciding to take a stand for justice and equality,” Sprayberry said. “It’s like a tapestry and the story of Columbus is just one thread. Until all of those smaller stories are told, we’re not going to have the full story of the movement.”

The exhibit is open now and will be on view until October 16, 2022. On February 17, there will be a roundtable discussion with movement leaders who organized and participated in local direct action in the 1960s. There will be a morning session specifically for high school students and an evening session for the public. Guided tours and workshops will also be available throughout the run of the exhibition to interested schools and community groups. To learn more, please visit the Museum’s website or contact Lucy Kacir, Director of Education & Engagement, at lkacir@columbusmuseum.com.

Contributed by CSU and The Columbus Museum