• Welcome
  • Introduction Video
  • About this Project
  • Meet the Leaders (Index)
    • Henry Aaron
    • Ralph David Abernathy
    • Julian Bond
    • Joseph E. Boone
    • John Wesley Dobbs
    • W.E.B. Du Bois
    • Alonzo Herndon
    • Jesse Hill, Jr.
    • Donald Lee Hollowell
    • Hamilton E. Holmes
    • Maynard Jackson
    • Martin Luther King, Jr.
    • John Lewis
    • Joseph Lowery
    • Benjamin Mays
    • James & Robert Paschal
    • Roslyn Pope
    • Booker T. Washington
    • Domonique Wilkins
    • Hosea Williams
    • Andrew Young
  • Interactive Map
  • Explorer's Toolbox
  • Historic Districts
    • MLK Historical Park
    • MLK Park Photo Gallery
    • Nat'l Center for Civil & Human Rights
    • Rodney Cook, Sr. Park
    • Sweet Auburn District
  • Newsletter
Black Leaders of Atlanta

Roslyn Pope

Dr. Roslyn Pope made history in 1960 when, as a student at Spelman College, she wrote “An Appeal for Human Rights." The document published on March 9, 1960, announced the formation of the Atlanta Student Movement, whose campaign of civil disobedience broke a suffocating stalemate over civil rights in Atlanta and hastened the end of racist Jim Crow laws and policies across the region.

The “Appeal” quickly became a civil rights manifesto after it appeared as a full-page advertisement in Atlanta’s newspapers. It was denounced by Georgia’s segregationist Gov. Ernest Vandiver but celebrated around the country, reprinted for free in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times and entered into the Congressional Record.

​The idea was to explain why black students would defy their parents, professors and police by illegally occupying whites-only spaces. It decried the racist laws governing education, jobs, housing, voting, hospitals, theaters, restaurants, and law enforcement. It called on “all people of good will to assert themselves and abolish these injustices.”

Where to Connect

  • Atlanta Student Movement Boulevard — this 0.7-mile road of Fair Street was named in honor of the Atlanta Student Movement​

Learn More

  • Atlanta Freedom Trail: Atlanta University Center & Atlanta Student Movement
  • Roslyn Pope: This Civil Rights icon penned a pivotal document while attending Spelman College
  • 60 Years Later, ‘An Appeal for Human Rights,’ Written By A Spelman Student, Still Resonates (WABE)
NEXT STOP
Picture
INDEX + INTERACTIVE MAP + MATCHING QUIZ + EXPLORER'S LOG
CONTACT + DONATE + EXPLORE + LEARN + FOLLOW + SUBSCRIBE
website by ATLsherpa
  • Welcome
  • Introduction Video
  • About this Project
  • Meet the Leaders (Index)
    • Henry Aaron
    • Ralph David Abernathy
    • Julian Bond
    • Joseph E. Boone
    • John Wesley Dobbs
    • W.E.B. Du Bois
    • Alonzo Herndon
    • Jesse Hill, Jr.
    • Donald Lee Hollowell
    • Hamilton E. Holmes
    • Maynard Jackson
    • Martin Luther King, Jr.
    • John Lewis
    • Joseph Lowery
    • Benjamin Mays
    • James & Robert Paschal
    • Roslyn Pope
    • Booker T. Washington
    • Domonique Wilkins
    • Hosea Williams
    • Andrew Young
  • Interactive Map
  • Explorer's Toolbox
  • Historic Districts
    • MLK Historical Park
    • MLK Park Photo Gallery
    • Nat'l Center for Civil & Human Rights
    • Rodney Cook, Sr. Park
    • Sweet Auburn District
  • Newsletter