Southern Regional Council

The Help Our Public Education (HOPE) project was established in 1958 by a group of community leaders and concerned citizens to disseminate information regarding school integration in Georgia. After the Supreme Court's school desegregation decision of 1954, HOPE anticipated that many of Georgia's public schools would close, because the state would refuse to comply. HOPE believed an informed public would take the necessary action through elected representatives to keep Georgia's public schools open. HOPE was not administratively tied to the Southern Regional Council.

The Southern Regional Council was formed as the Commission on Interracial Cooperation in 1919, with the goals of improving relations between blacks and whites and achieving an unsegregated society. In 1944, the Commission was succeeded by the Southern Regional Council, a non-profit and non-denominational organization whch was founded to continue to strive for racial equality and harmony in the South. The Southern Regional Council is organized into State Divisions and local groups, with its main headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. A basic function of the Southern Regional Council is to provide factual information on race relations and related matters to individuals and public, private, and official agencies. To this end, a library and research facility are maintained, original studies are undertaken and published, and special projects and services are supported. In addition, such Southern Regional Council publications as New South help to advance the objectives of the organization.

The Southern Regional Council (SRC) was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944, succeeding the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (1929-1944). It was composed of black and white moderates with the goal of working within the system of racial separation in the South to make "separate but equal more equal" and to promote economic development in the region.

"Will the Circle Be Unbroken?: An Audio History of the Civil Rights Movement in Five Southern Communities and the Music of Those Times" is an awarding-winning radio documentary. Produced by the Southern Regional Council (SRC), it chronicles the struggle to end segregation in Atlanta, Georgia, Columbia, South Carolina, Jackson, Mississippi, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Montgomery, Alabama. While other documentaries about the civil rights movement concentrate on national leaders and national organizations, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" focuses on "the essential local character of the places and people who collectively became the Movement." In order to capture the undocumented side of the movement, the producers conducted over a hundred original interviews with civil rights activists and combed through archives across the country for oral histories and other materials. "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" aired on Public Radio International (PRI) affiliates across the country in 1997, and it won a prestigious George Foster Peabody Award the same year.

In the ninety years of activism, the Southern Regional Council (SRC) is perhaps best known for the research and reports of conditions in the South. The Southern Regional Council was founded in 1919 as the Commission on Interracial Cooperation(CIC). A major mission of the CIC was to bring to the attention of the national media the conditions of African-Americans in the South. The Commission also regularly published reports on economic, political and social issues in the region. In the 1930s the CIC worked closely with the NAACP to research and publish the seminal work: The Tragedy of Lynching by Arthur Raper. In a 1944 reorganization the CIC became the Southern Regional Council with a mission to "attain through research and action the ideals and practices of equal opportunity for all peoples of the region." In the 1950s and 1960s, the SRC became more active in support of the civil rights movement, being one of the first organizations to support the student activism of the Greensboro lunch counter sit-in. Still later, the SRC developed education programs to enhance public education for all students, voter registration and education projects, and communication projects. In 1978, the SRC began publication of the journal Southern Changes. In 1998 the SRC was awarded the George Peabody award for excellence in the production of the documentary Will the Circle be Unbroken, a record of the Civil Rights movement through memoirs and oral histories. The SRC governance consists of an Executive Director and a Board of Directors with offices in Atlanta, GA.

Southern Regional Council (SRC) was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944, succeeding the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (1929-1944). It was composed of black and white moderates with the goal of working within the system of racial separation in the South to make "separate but equal more equal" and to promote economic development in the region.

Organizations Assisting Schools in September (OASIS), was formed to organize the opening of Atlanta schools in September 1961. It served as a coordinating agency for approximately fifty of the civic, religious, and youth-serving Atlanta organizations seeking peaceful and orderly acceptance of school integration. OASIS was not administratively tied to the Southern Regional Council.

"Southways" was a weekly documentary radio show. Each week "Southways" explored a different person, place or event in the South. Although the programs were regionally focused, the show was broadcast on public radio stations across the country. "Southways" debuted on May 3, 1991. "Southways" was produced and syndicated by the Regional Radio Network (RRN), a radio network established by the Southern Regional Council (SRC). The SRC established the network to produce and syndicate programs about the South and "Southways" was the first program the new network created. The SRC hoped RRN would fill a void in radio programming, because most radio shows were produced either locally for a particular city or state or nationally by large corporate networks.

The Southern Regional Council (SRC) was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944, succeeding the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (1929-1944). It was composed of black and white moderates with the goal of working within the system of racial separation in the South to make "separate but equal more equal" and to promote economic development in the region.

In late 1966, the SRC received grant funding to be used for the purchase and free distribution of paperback books to various groups and agencies. Under the direction of Louise Cole, books were distributed to community centers, educational institutions, Upward Bound programs, VISTA programs, and voters' organizations.

The Southern Regional Council (SRC) was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944, succeeding the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (1929-1944). It was composed of black and white moderates with the goal of working within the system of racial separation in the South to make "separate but equal more equal" and to promote economic development in the region.

The Urban Planning Project, directed by Moreland Smith, was established in 1966 for the purpose of assessing urban planning, with the emphasis on making the cities of the South more habitable for all of its residents.

The Southern Regional Council (SRC) was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944, succeeding the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (1929-1944). It was composed of black and white moderates with the goal of working within the system of racial separation in the South to make "separate but equal more equal" and to promote economic development in the region.

In 1965 the SRC, in conjunction with the National Institute for Labor Relations (NILE) and the AFL-CIO, secured grant funding for a Labor Education Program. Directed by Emory F. Via, the program focused primarily on southern labor unions, and specifically on civil rights problems, discrimination in employment, and the general social and economic development of the region.

The Southern Regional Council (SRC) was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944, succeeding the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (1929-1944). It was composed of black and white moderates with the goal of working within the system of racial separation in the South to make "separate but equal more equal" and to promote economic development in the region.

The Crime and Corrections Project, directed by John O. Boone, was created to investigate the problems of prison reform, criminal rehabilitation, crime prevention, and juvenile delinquency.

The Southern Regional Council (SRC) was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944, succeeding the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (1929-1944). It was composed of black and white moderates with the goal of working within the system of racial separation in the South to make "separate but equal more equal" and to promote economic development in the region.

In 1956, a Voting and Registration Project was established in an effort to document the "status of the Negro vote in the South, in terms of size, proportion of the total vote, distribution, and extent and methods of disfranchisement." The final report, "The Negro Voter in the South", was released in 1957 in the midst of the Congressional civil rights debate. Because it was used by Congress as an objective study, the publication was updated in 1958, and published in 1959 under the title "The Negro and the Ballot in the South."

The Southern Regional Council (SRC) was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944, succeeding the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (1929-1944). It was composed of black and white moderates with the goal of working within the system of racial separation in the South to make "separate but equal more equal" and to promote economic development in the region.

When the SRC was created, the State Committees on Interracial Cooperation became known as the State Councils on Human Relations. These state organizations carried out interracial activities at a more local level.

The Southern Regional Council (SRC) was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944, succeeding the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (1929-1944). It was composed of black and white moderates with the goal of working within the system of racial separation in the South to make "separate but equal more equal" and to promote economic development in the region.

The Community Organization Project, directed by Albert C. Ulmer, was known as SRC's "action arm" during the mid-1960s. The project tackled a number of community-related issues and concerns including the organization of credit unions and cooperatives for marketing farm produce, migrant farm workers, and volunteer staffing of playgrounds and community centers.

The Southern Regional Council (SRC) was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944, succeeding the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (1929-1944). It was composed of black and white moderates with the goal of working within the system of racial separation in the South to make "separate but equal more equal" and to promote economic development in the region.

The Veterans Service Project was established to help returning World War II veterans, especially African American veterans, get employment and job training, job re-training, resume college and high school educations, and investigate the financing of small business and housing opportunities.

The Southern Regional Council (SRC) was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944, succeeding the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (1929-1944). It was composed of black and white moderates with the goal of working within the system of racial separation in the South to make "separate but equal more equal" and to promote economic development in the region.

The Voter Education Project was established in 1962 in cooperation with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Congress of Racial Equality, the National Urban League, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the NAACP. The project was aimed at educating African Americans and poor people on their rights to vote; then later expanded to include citizenship training and the convocation of educational conferences supportive of prospective candidates and newly elected African American officials.

The Southern Regional Council (SRC) was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944, succeeding the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (1929-1944). It was composed of black and white moderates with the goal of working within the system of racial separation in the South to make "separate but equal more equal" and to promote economic development in the region.

The Information Dept. of the SRC was originally established to gather information about racial problems and progress and make this information available to the public. The Research Dept. apparently replaced the Information Dept. in 1959.

The Southern Regional Council (SRC) was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944, succeeding the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (1929-1944). It was composed of black and white moderates with the goal of working within the system of racial separation in the South to make "separate but equal more equal" and to promote economic development in the region.

Operation Opportunity was a short-lived program carried on for the purpose of preparing the Southern public for, and assisting in the implementation of, Title II (the public accommodations section) of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.