Augusta Georgia

Augusta

Georgia is 59th on the list.  

By 1900, Augusta was sick with Jim Crow and fits the criteria of a Jim Crow sundown town. Like writing the play book for a Jim Crow sundown town, Augusta dehumanized our ancestors in public spaces, had segregation in housing and schools, threats of arrest, and violence or worse. The trifecta of a sundown town: legal segration, terror, and violence Let’s learn the history.

Augusta was home to a large cotton market where they used our ancestors free labor, and by the cotton gin in 1793, their economy fully relied on our ancestors free labor. But like always, we fought. We resisted. From the start. The fires. 

Not too long after the civil war, July 8, 1876, in Hamburg SC our ancestors there owned land, well the white people wanted to use the land. Our ancestors said no, and a massacre happened. What did Augusta have to do with it? Nothing. They could have minded their business, but instead, they used the Confederate cannons left from the civil war to bomb our ancestors, in a whole different state. From the start, Augusta tried to keep us as 3/5s. 

Some of our ancestors in Augusta were free and living in the Springfield community. Well, free, but not free, but even before emancipation, we had 5 churches in Augusta. 

After emancipation, education, wealth building, and politics was top of the list for our ancestors. 

 And by 1880, we had our public high school called ware high school.   

 But its like Augusta wrote the playbook for a Jim Crow sundown town. Even before the end of the reconstruction era, Augusta already had Official and institutionalized segregation in public spaces, housing, and schools in Augusta. 

In 1899 Joseph Cumming, James Harper, and John Ladeveze took the Richmond board of education to court. They made the argument that it was illegal to collect taxes from us when the schools only served white students. They lost the case, and The supreme Court ruled to keep schools segragated. 

Augusta had the law on their side and this Jim Crow sundown town couldn’t hold back any longer. 

right at the turn of the century in 1900 Augusta’s place as a Jim Crow sundown town was firmly placed with what they did to William Wilson over a street car fight. Listen, I recorded the testimony of what happened to him. It’ll be it’s own video. Just know, it was absolutely horrible   

Since we were forced us to do for ourselves, our long time freed ancestors, from the Springfield area, and the Freedman’s bureau helped us settle as we moved to areas like The Terry. Although Jim Crow was loud and proud here, our ancestors created safe spaces for us. William Jefferson White and once enslaved Richard C. Coulter started the Augusta Baptist Institute, as a part of the Springfield Baptist Church. By 1913, through moves, it became known as Morehouse college. By the 1930s, we had 11 doctors and 6 dentists in Augusta. 

While our housing was strategically being segregated through redlining, this Jim Crow sundown town was making sure our place in Augusta was as second class citizens. But here comes James Brown, raised in Augusta with I’m black and I’m proud! 

And by the 1960s, 15 students from our historic Paine College started this citys civil rights movement. Check my page for an interview that has details about how our ancestors formed the paine college steering committee. 

This action strengthened our ancestors and by May 11 1970, an all out riot occured. Charles oatman was in the county jail when he was unalived by 12. 

What they did to this disabled child….. It’s unspeakable. With caution, I encourage you to view this for filler context. That direct action had fire starting consequences. Our ancestors burned this town up! Even the Chinese weren’t spared, but that’s a long and ugly history in itself. Check out the movie… blurring the color line made about this riot and this Jim Crow sundown town. 

By the end of this riot, just 2 days later, May 13, 1970 six Black men were unalived by white police officers….get this, all of them shot in the back. Even after the civil rights movement, we were still fighting. 

Can anyone share a first hand account about this place? Leave a comment. Lets have this conversation.