Upheaval in Savannah: The Protest Cycle of a ‘Short’ Civil Rights Movement

Abstract

Both the ‘long civil rights movement’ and resource mobilization schools have proposed a long trajectory of civil rights activism stretching from the 1930s and with legacies in the 1960s and beyond. The visible sit-ins of the 1960s were possible because of resources available in the community which had been cultivated by previous generations of activists. This case study of a direct action movement in Savannah, 1960–4 complicates a long civil rights narrative. Rather this was a protest cycle which relied on a degree of spontaneity and new, charismatic leadership. Moving beyond a discussion of why insurgency arises at certain times, the article explains the techniques used to attract growing numbers of recruits at the height of the protest cycle. Finally, the article explains the decline of the movement and the legacy it left in the city. Because the movement leader Hosea Williams was unwilling to share power beyond a small circle, when he left the city in 1964 the cycle quickly deflated and an older generation of activists stepped in to lead civil rights protest. This represented not a legacy but a return to the status quo. The Savannah case study contributes to a wider historiographical debate over the long civil rights movement and its legacies.