Reporter: Moore, Ray, 1922-.

In this WSB newsfilm clip from Atlanta, Georgia on January 8, 1961, WSB news reporter Ray Moore interviews Georgia governor Ernest Vandiver about the court-ordered integration of the University of Georgia. Reporter Ray Moore asks the governor if he will recommend that the legislature remove a law prohibiting the state from funding integrated schools. Governor Vandiver says that he will address the question in his state of the state message, scheduled for the opening of the legislature the next day. Vandiver clarifies that he has called a meeting of legislators and people involved with the University System of Georgia and the University of Georgia to discuss the implications of the court-ordered integration of the university. Vandiver emphasizes that the meeting is not a policy making meeting, but a chance for interested parties to ask the state's legal team about the court decision. He refuses to answer questions about the university's use of stand-by funds or the presence of state troopers at the university when the first African American students arrive. While he, like many parents and citizens of the state, is concerned about the university's future, he declines to comment until after his state of the state address. Also, he will not comment on whether state troopers will be present the following morning, Hunter's and Holmes' first day.

African American students Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes first applied to the University of Georgia in July 1959. University officials claimed "lack of space" and refused to admit the two for several quarters. In the fall of 1960, African American attorneys Donald Hollowell, Constance B. Motley, and Horace T. Ward filed a federal lawsuit seeking admission for the two students. Federal judge William A. Bootle on January 6, 1961 ordered the university to admit the two students, ending the university's segregation. Governor Vandiver, who had campaigned on the segregationist-slogan "no, not one," threatened to comply with a 1956 state appropriations law prohibited the state from funding integrated schools and effectively shutting down the university. Judge Bootle issued a temporary restraining order against such action on January 10, and on January 13 declared the 1956 law unconstitutional.

Title supplied by cataloger.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection.

1 clip (about 3 min.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm.

Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of reporter Ray Moore interviewing Georgia governor Ernest Vandiver about the court-ordered integration of the University of Georgia, in Atlanta, Georgia, 1961 January 8, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 0967, 17:21/20:12, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.

Forms part of: Civil Rights Digital Library.