Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

In these photographs, captured by Robert Ellison, Civil Rights and Vietnam War photographer, SCLC field officer Willie Bolden leads the Crawfordville students in protest. The demonstration from Friendship Baptist Church to the Crawfordville Courthouse began September 27 th , 1965, after 189 White pupils transferred from the Stephens school to neighboring counties. The demonstrators had registered with the All-White Stephens school and were unaware of the transfers. When the students attempted to ride the bus with the Whites, they were stopped by the Georgia State Troopers.

Other students marched to the State Park and swam in the pool for the first time while others tried to integrate Bonners Café into town. The demonstration caught the attention of the Klu Klux Klan, who planned counterdemonstrations. Demonstrators were often wrongfully arrested and beaten by anti-protesters; parents of student marchers lost their jobs and were evicted from their homes.