Red Was the Midnight 1906
The Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot
Thursday, September 21
M.L. King Jr. National Historic Site

“Red Was the Midnight: The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot Exhibit”
Opening 9:00a.m.
Viewing 9:00a.m. - 6:00p.m.
Visitors Center Gallery

Brunch 1200p.m. - 12:45p.m.
Fellowship Hall, Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church

Memorial Service 1:00p.m.
Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church- Remembrance of the victims of the 1906 Riot. A procession to Southview Cemetery for a graveside memorial and tree planting will follow.

Broadcast of “The Atlanta Race Riot” radio documentary
6:00p.m. - 7:00p.m.
WRFG (89.3 FM)

Candlelight Vigil and March Through the Fourth Ward
7:00p.m. - 9:00p.m.
Starting at the grave site of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King at The King Center
Sponsored by the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials (GABEO)

Opening Reception for Stan Woodard’s “I see no one, no one sees me” based on the 1906 Riot
7:00p.m. - 9:00p.m.
Spruill Gallery, 4681 Ashford-Dunwoody Road


Friday, September 22
Speaker’s Auditorium Georgia State University

“What Happened in 1906 and Why”
9:00a.m. - 11:00a.m.
Historians Allison Dorsey, Gregory Mixon, David Godshalk, and Carole Merritt

Breakout sessions
11:00a.m. - 12:30p.m.

Lunch 12:30p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Book signing 1:30p.m. - 2:00p.m.

Family Stories of the Riot: Victims, Participants and Witnesses
2:00p.m. - 3:45p.m.
Metro Atlanta Chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Patricia Walker Bearden, Yolanda Walker Simmons, Farroll Allen, Jr., and other descendants

Student Responses to the Riot
4:00p.m. - 5:30p.m.
Association of Georgia State University Historians film, “Muted Riot”
Grady High School students cultural magazine, self-guided tour to Riot sites
Columbia Theological Seminary students development of Sunday School lessons
Performance by Horizons School students

“What Color the Dawn:
Breaking the Silence on the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot” 8:00p.m.
Eyedrum Gallery
Coordinated by Alice Lovelace
An evening of poetry and performance


Saturday, September 23
Robert W. Woodruff Library
Atlanta University Center
Exhibition Hall

Race and The Media Round Table
9:00a.m. - 11:00a.m.
Cynthia Tucker from theAtlanta Journal Constitution,
Burt Weiss from “The Bert Show” on Q100,
Shelly Winter from WAOK,
Dennis O’Hayer from WXIA,
and a representative from The New York Times

Lunch 11:15a.m. - 12:30p.m.

Looking Back to Move Forward:Southern Communities Respond to Racial Atrocity
12:30 - 2:00p.m.
Melton McLaurin, Wilmington 1898 Foundation
Sherry DuPree, Historic Rosewood Foundation
Kimberly Ellis, Tulsa Reparations Coalition
Bobby Howard, Moore’s Ford Memorial Committee

Breakout Sessions
2:30p.m. - 4:00p.m.

Town Meeting
Lessons for Atlanta: Where Do We Go From Here?
4:30p.m. - 5:30p.m.

Live radio production of “Investigator for Democracy”on life of Walter White
8:00p.m. - 9:00p.m.
Grady High School Theater


Sunday, September 24
Walking Tour
1:00p.m. Woodruff Park
Walking tour of sites related to the Riot followed by a group discussion

Open for Viewing
“Red was the Midnight”
M.L. King Jr. National Historic Site

“What Color the Dawn”
Eyedrum Gallery

“Fences” by Lisa Tuttle
Agnes Scott College

Closing Ceremony
4:30p.m. - 6:30p.m.
Rialto Theater
Through acknowledgment, music, reflection, song and dance the community will celebrate our hope for the future. All are invited to sign a pledge to continue working for a just and welcoming community.


John Lewis and Xernona Clayton honorary co-chairs of the Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot





What Color the Dawn: Breaking the Silence on the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot


On August 19th, 2006, Eyedrum Art and Music Gallery opens an exhibition of works by local and national artists entitled What Color the Dawn: Breaking the Silence on the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot. The show will run through September 30th, 2006. The opening reception takes place on Saturday August 19th, 2006 from 7pm to 11 pm and is free and open to the public.

On September 22, 1906, white mobs poured into the Five Points area intent on racial violence. Enflamed by months of political rhetoric and newspaper sensationalism that fed racial fears and stereotypes, the violence against black citizens spread rapidly to East Atlanta, Brownsville and Inman Park. In the end at least twelve were dead and hundreds were injured. Fearful for their lives, many blacks fled the city--their fates erased from history. In What Color The Dawn: Breaking The Silence On The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot a host of acclaimed artists will offer up aesthetic meditations on the history of this tragic moment and on the racial tensions of post-reconstruction southern culture and beyond. The exhibit seeks to peel back the layers of this buried history in an effort to challenge our communities to re-view our shared stories.

The artists participating in the in exhibit are John Abner, Tony Bingham, Hermina Glass-Avery, Michael Harris, Theodore Harris, Daniel Hoover, Public Domain (Chea Prince/Robert Cheatham) and Karen Tauches. A listening station of oral histories by first- and second-generation witnesses will also be installed.

What Color the Dawn has been organized by the Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot in collaboration with Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery and is curated by Kevin Sipp with Louise E. Shaw. This exhibit launches a month of activities to mark the Centennial of the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot including Red Was the Midnight, a groundbreaking historic exhibition opening in September at the MLK National Historic Site followed by a weekend of Centennial Remembrance Activities from September 21-24.

What Color The Dawn: Breaking The Silence On the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot is funded in part by The Andy Warhol Foundation and the City of Atlanta, Office of Cultural Affairs with media sponsorship from Atlanta Magazine.

Eyedrum is located at 290 MLK Jr. Dr. SE, Suite 8, Atlanta,
GA 30312, at the corner of Hill St. and M.L.K. Jr. Dr.--3 blocks west of historic Oakland Cemetery on the west end of the Old Mattress Factory complex. For additional directions please visit the Eyedrum website at www.eyedrum.org.
Gallery hours: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 12 am -5pm 404.522.0655



The Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot

The past ten years have seen profoundly disturbing acts of ethnic and racial violence and genocide throughout the world. At the same time efforts to address the truth and to seek justice and redress have emerged in a new paradigm. In the United States, city after city has begun the process of facing their disturbing pasts. In the early 90’s in Richmond Virginia, a citizen based coalition created Hope in the Cities, to take a hard, truthful look at the city’s pivotal role in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. A community-wide effort was focused on truth telling through honest conversation, personal and institutional responsibility, and acts of repair and reconciliation. Wilmington, N.C., launched a similar initiative to address theWilmington Race Riot of 1898. Tulsa, Oklahoma, followed, as have Birmingham, Alabama, Duluth, Minnesota, and Syracuse, New York. Unlike government sponsored truth commissions of South Africa and Rwanda, these efforts came directly from the people demonstrating a desire to break free of the shared legacy of racial violence and hatred. In each of these communities efforts have continued well after the centennial year.

The Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot is a broad-based community effort responding to the challenge and opportunity of the upcoming centennial of an important part of the city’s unacknowledged history. In Atlanta on September 22, 1906, white mobs poured into the Five Points area intent on racial violence. Enflamed by months of political rhetoric and newspaper sensationalism that fed racial fears and stereotypes, the violence against black citizens spread rapidly to East Atlanta, to Brownsville and Inman Park. In the end, at least twelve were dead, hundreds injured.

Fearful for their lives, many fled the city, their fates somehow erased from history. For more information on the riots

The one-hundredth anniversary of the Atlanta Race Riot will occur in September of 2006. On the centennial of these tragic events The Martin Luther King Historic Museum in collaboration with the Atlanta History Center, will open a ground breaking exhibit on the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site joined with Southern Truth and Reconciliation, Inc. (STAR) to convene The Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot. The Coalition‘s mission is to create public awareness of the riot and its legacy, to facilitate open and ongoing dialogue among diverse communities, and to inspire positive systemic change in Atlanta’s racial relations.

The Coalition is comprised of representatives from higher education including Georgia State University, Spellman, Clark Atlanta, Morehouse ,Georgia Tech, Atlanta University Center, Emory University, Kennesaw University, and Georgia Perimeter College, public schools and private schools including Grady High, Lovett and Horizon Schools, media including WABE,WRFG, and Georgia Public Broadcasting, archives and libraries, including Auburn Avenue.
Drafted by Jesse Harris-Bathrick


New Article on Race Riot

Church School Lessons
Race Riot-Lesson One
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As JPEGS
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Race Riot-Lesson Two
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As JPEGS
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Race Riot-Lesson Three

Race Riot-Lesson Four

Curricular materials produced about the 1906 Atlanta race riot by teacher-authors at the Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project.




June 7 AP Story on Race riot of 1906

Dr. Michael A. Battle January Sermon on Race Riot at First Presbyte...
Senate Resolution to Remember the 1906 Race Riot


Webshow on 1906 Atlanta Race Riot

Story on the 1906 Coalition, "Remembering the 1906 Atlanta Race Riots" by Bruce Kennedy (former News Director for WABE 90.1 FM)wins the Edward R. Murrow regional award for Best Hard News Feature