Timeline

In March of 1960, Atlanta newspapers released the now-famous Civil Rights manifesto “An Appeal for Human Rights” as full-page advertisements, announcing the formation of the Atlanta Students Movement.

The Atlanta Students Movement (ASM) , formed by students from 6 HBCUs, carries out non-violent marches, picketing, and sit-ins of segregated public facilities.

Students from the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) were core to the ASM, specifically to the Pickrick restaurant protests.

In the 1961 Atlanta Mayoral election Ivan Allen Jr., businessman and Georgia Tech graduate, crushingly defeats the segregationist candidate Lester Maddox, owner of the Pickrick Restaurant.

Similar attempts at integration are met with resistance at the Pickrick restaurant, owned by Lester Maddox. Black and White integration activists are turned away.

George Willis, (driver), Albert Dunn (passenger), and Woodrow T. Lewis (backseat) , ministry students at ITC, arrive at the Pickrick expecting to be admitted in compliance with the new Civil Rights Act. Lester Maddox, greets then pistol in hand, leading a threatening mob armed with pick axe handles. They are forced to leave without entering the restaurant. https://sites.gatech.edu/pickrickproject/pickrick-showdown/

Charles Wells and Albert Sampson are refused accommodation at Moreton Rolleston’s Heart of Atlanta Motel. https://sites.gatech.edu/pickrickproject/heart-of-atlanta-motel-incident/

The ministry students, represented by attorneys William Alexander and Constance Baker Motley of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund file a lawsuit against the Pickrick and Lester Maddox, citing violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The lawsuit alleges racial discriminaton and seeks a court order to bar the restaurant from refusing service based on race. https://sites.gatech.edu/pickrickproject/lawsuit-against-pickrick/

A three-panel team of federal judges hears both the Heart of Atlanta and Pickrick cases. They order Maddox and Rolleston to turn over all relevant documents to determine if their businesses fall under the Commerce Clause and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Witnesses testify, including a peaceful activist from New Jersey, Sheila Agnes Hatcher who was denied entry to the Pickrick and threatened by Maddox on July 6. https://sites.gatech.edu/pickrickproject/federal-judges-hear-heart-of-atlanta-and-pickrick-cases/

Justice Hugo Black of the US Supreme Court rejects Rolleston’s and Maddox’s requests to stay the lower court’s ruling. He affirms the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, stating that Congress properly exercised its power under the Commerce Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment. Black emphasizes the importance of upholding the law and expresses readiness for the full court to consider the core constitutional questions raised by the legal challenges. https://sites.gatech.edu/pickrickproject/justice-hugo-black-upholds-civil-rights-act/

Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy files a motion seeking a court order holding Maddox in contempt of court for continuing to disobey the law by refusing entry to the ministers. The government and ministers’ lawyers file new legal documents in response to Maddox’s blockade on August 11, as additional evidence of his contempt of court. https://sites.gatech.edu/pickrickproject/rfk-seeks-contempt-charges-against-maddox/

In response to new contempt order, Maddox closes the Pickrick.

Maddox attempts to circumvent the court order by changing the name of the restaurant. https://sites.gatech.edu/pickrickproject/pickrick-renamed-as-the-lester-maddox-cafeteria/

US Supreme Court rules affirming Title II of the Civil Rights Act as legally sound, ruling against Moreton Rolleston and the Heart of Atlanta Motel and in favor of the NAACP and the ministers. The ruling removes any possibility of appeal in the related Pickrick case. https://sites.gatech.edu/pickrickproject/us-supreme-court-upholds-title-ii-affirms-civil-rights-act-in-heart-of-atlanta-case/

Judge Hooper finds Maddox in civil contempt of court and fining him $200 a day for continuing to violate one of the core tenets of the civil rights law. Maddox has an easy solution to “purge” the contempt order and the daily fine. He could simply serve all customers including Black patrons. https://sites.gatech.edu/pickrickproject/maddox-fined-200-a-day/

President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed her to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, where she served for over four decades. https://sites.gatech.edu/pickrickproject/constance-baker-motley-is-appointed-as-the-first-african-american-federal-judge/(opens in a new tab)