l e t t e r s
*IADA Exhibit*
This series of letters give an overarching summary of the types of appreciation letters received by Mayor Allen following his address regarding the Civil Rights Act at the Senate Congressional Committee in 1963. Despite each letter incorporating the underlying theme of commendation and praise for the mayor, each one represents a different mindset and purpose. They all contribute to portraying the views of the citizens regarding segregation and the future of the Civil Rights Act in this rough time in history.
This letter, from a member of the National Board of the Y. M. C. A. gives a broad introduction to the types of letters received by Mayor Allen in terms of structure, purpose, and context. The structure includes a brief sentence or two describing the sender’s background, a few words of appreciation regarding the address at the Senate Committee, and a reference to how his words will impact the future or how they have changed a certain aspect of the sender’s life. For the purpose, the main objective of each letter is to show the mayor his importance but in simple words from this letter, it is to encourage that the mayor is “entitled to enormous amount of credit.” Finally, the context of the letter is described through references to his impact on the city of Atlanta, the voices unspoken, and the hope he created amongst those fighting for integration.
Even though this letter follows the typical pattern found in the Mayor Allen archive, it stands out to me because of the emphasis that Mr. Schmidt places on the mayor’s courage and what it represented. Any statement regarding the Civil Rights Act was deemed to be risky because of the South’s reputation regarding their views towards integration. However, the impact this would have on the political aspect of Mayor Allen’s career is what shocked the citizens. A quote that stood out to me is, “It even becomes more of a courageous act when it is so obvious that it is political expedience too be against all Civil Rights Legislation.” The fact that he proceeded to do this despite knowing that it could tarnish his political image and cost him his support, shows that he truly believed in what he was doing and was ready to fight even if he was alone. This is caused several to admire and respect their honest leader, even if they disagreed with his views.
This letter is probably one of the only ones amongst these letters of appreciation that addressed any precautions or advice regarding the situation that Mayor Allen was in. The first half of the letter is the generic commending of his actions and appreciation for voicing his opinion. However, the second half is a dissent that is essentially a warning to remind the mayor of what needs to be done to put his words into action. The senders, Mr. and Mrs. Laue, refer back to the way school segregation as treated and how it was a “delaying spectacle” due to the period of grace in the timeline of the legislation. The purpose behind this letter is to make sure the mayor remains cautious of his next steps in order to truly be successful in his actions. This represents the group of people who are appreciative of his statement but have fears due to past experiences where progress can easily be setback overtime.
This letter refers to an aspect of the Civil Rights Act and Mayor Allen’s role, that people tend to overlook. Mayor Allen was a white politician, fighting for integration from one of the biggest cities in the South. This in itself was already a rare sentence that not many Southerners thought would ever exist as a truth. By receiving letters where senders emphasized that they were native whites who agreed with Mayor Allen, the archive was created as a representation of the various types of people that the mayor was voicing. The Civil Rights Act is easily portrayed as one that was only encouraged by the North or purely African Americans, but Mayor Allen and his white supporters are a reminder of how this is untrue.
The last letter to contribute to the overall types of senders and exclamations towards Mayor Allen is one from a non-resident of Atlanta who is proud of his city due to the Mayor’s statement. The first point from this letter is to prove that this address not only changed hope and ideas of people in Atlanta but also people outside of it. It created a sense of pride where people all over the country felt more comfortable saying where they were from or voicing their agreement with the mayor because of the respect that the city and their leader had gained. When Mr.Gross says, “ I can compare Atlanta’s progress…with most northern states,” it shows the level of progress that the city is already being put on. This essentially changed the image of the South but more specifically, the path the South was on in terms of being on the right side of this unfortunate scenario of segregation.