CIVIL RIGHTS AND INTEGRATION
In the struggle for equal rights and opportunities, African Americans in the Chattahoochee Valley were faced with daunting challenges and resistance. This struggle is powerfully conveyed in the story of Columbus resident and Civil Rights activist Primus King.

THE 21st CENTURY
Some define “frontier” as the cutting edge or vanguard. Indeed, Columbus in 2003 again finds itself on a frontier as an evolving city of the “New South.” Now, instead of textile mills, the supplemental insurance industry (AFLAC) and financial (CB&T) and technology sectors (TYSYS) fuel the region’s economy. Columbus embraces and celebrates its rich history and traditions while looking toward the future and new growth.

Born in Columbus, Ma Rainey (1886-1939) began singing professionally as a teenager. She felt that the blues expressed the heart of the south, and the sad-hearted people who toiled from sunup to sundown, crooning or chanting to lighten their labors.

Jacqueline Cochran (1906-1980) moved to Columbus to work in the cotton mills as a child, and went on to become a pioneering aviator and the first woman to break the sound barrier. She is shown here with one of her closest friends, Amelia Earhart.

Born in Columbus, Alma Thomas moved at an early age with her family to Washington, D.C. to seek better economic and educational opportunities. After retiring from a teaching career, she turned her attention to painting. Thomas was the first African-American woman to be granted a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Columbus resident Primus King, who was not allowed to vote in the 1944 local Democratic primary election. King filed suit and, after extensive deliberation, won a verdict that earned all African Americans in the state the right to vote in Georgia primaries.

A.J. McClung was the first African-American to serve on the Columbus City Council and the first appointed African-American mayor in Georgia.