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Oral History Interview with Frances Pauley, July 18, 1974. Interview G-0046. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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  • Abstract
    Frances Pauley was born in Decatur, Georgia, in 1905, and grew up there. Pauley attended Agnes Scott College during the 1920s and graduated with a degree in mathematics in 1927. During the Depression, Pauley helped to establish a free medical clinic in DeKalb County, Georgia. Her work with the poor during these years foreshadowed her later work in the civil rights movement. During this time, Pauley also became increasingly involved with and interested in issues of public education and school integration. In 1945, she became the president of the League of Women Voters in DeKalb County before becoming the organization's state president. During the 1940s and 1950s, Pauley and the League battled against former governor Eugene Talmadge's efforts to abolish public schools in order to uphold segregation in education. In 1960, Pauley became director of the Georgia Council on Human Relations, an offshoot of the Southern Regional Council. Increasingly advocating the importance of African American leadership and interracial organization in the civil rights movement, Pauley worked closely with local civil rights groups, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In particular, she describes her involvement in civil rights activism in Newton, Georgia, and in Albany, Georgia.
    Excerpts
  • Establishing a free health clinic during the Great Depression
  • The League of Women Voters and advocacy for public schools in Georgia
  • Bridging together white and black civil rights activists in the Georgia Council
  • White woman stands in support of black marchers in Newton, Georgia
  • Uniting black and white civil rights leaders in Albany, Georgia
  • Hollow support and visceral opposition from southern whites during the Albany movement
  • Limits to success of the Southern Regional Council
  • Learn More
  • Finding aid to the Southern Oral History Program Collection
  • Database of all Southern Oral History Program Collection interviews
  • Subjects
  • Georgia--Race relations
  • Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (U.S.)
  • Southern Regional Council
  • Civil rights movements--Georgia
  • Women civil rights workers--Georgia
  • League of Women Voters
  • The Southern Oral History Program transcripts presented here on Documenting the American South undergo an editorial process to remove transcription errors. Texts may differ from the original transcripts held by the Southern Historical Collection.

    Funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this title.