The twentieth-century effort to mobilize Black Georgians in the political process began during the 1930s and continues to the present. It involves a broad base of individuals and organizations whose common goal is to enhance Black political influence and representation in all three branches of government. During the first years of the twenty-first century, a renewed effort has been made to organize and mobilize the African American community. Historical Overview During the 1930s Atlanta University Center professors began to organize “citizenship schools” designed to prepare African Americans to participate in the political process.

In 1838 a federal Branch Mint went into operation at Dahlonega. It coined more than $100,000 worth of gold in its first year, and by the time it closed in 1861, it had produced almost 1.5 million gold coins with a face value of more than $6 million. Courtesy of Dahlonega Mountain Signal The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print.

Hunger on the Georgia home front became so serious during the Civil War that food riots, with women as the main participants, broke out all across the state beginning in 1863. From Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print. All requests for permission to publish or reproduce the resource must be submitted to the rights holder.

Bryan County, on the Georgia coast just south and west of Savannah, was created from Chatham County by an act of the state legislature on December 19, 1793. The county was named in honor of Jonathan Bryan, one of the leading colonial settlers in Georgia and a key figure in the colony’s movement toward independence and during the Revolutionary War (1775-83). In 1794 land from Effingham County was also transferred to Bryan.

Carson McCullers, considered one of the most significant American writers of the twentieth century, is best known for her novels The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, Reflections in a Golden Eye, and The Member of the Wedding. Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Photograph by Carl Van Vechten. The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print.