Saving the soul of Georgia : Donald L. Hollowell and the struggle for civil rights

Author / Creator

Daniels, Maurice Charles, 1952- author

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Online

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Summary

"Donald L. Hollowell was Georgia's chief civil rights attorney during the 1950s and 1960s. In this role he defended African American men accused or convicted of capital crimes in a racially hostile...

"Donald L. Hollowell was Georgia's chief civil rights attorney during the 1950s and 1960s. In this role he defended African American men accused or convicted of capital crimes in a racially hostile legal system, represented movement activists arrested for their civil rights work, and fought to undermine the laws that maintained state-sanctioned racial discrimination. In Saving the Soul of Georgia, Maurice C. Daniels tells the story of this behind the- scenes yet highly influential civil rights lawyer who defended the rights of blacks and advanced the cause of social justice in the United States. Hollowell grew up in Kansas somewhat insulated from the harsh conditions imposed by Jim Crow laws throughout the South. As a young man he served as a Buffalo Soldier in the legendary Tenth Cavalry, but it wasn't until after he fought in World War II that he determined to become a civil rights attorney. The war was an eye-opener, as Hollowell experienced the cruel discrimination of racist segregationist policies. The irony of defending freedom abroad for the sake of preserving Jim Crow laws at home steeled his resolve to fight for civil rights upon returning from war. From his legal work in the case of Hamilton E. Holmes and Charlayne Hunter that desegregated the University of Georgia to his defense of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to his collaboration with Thurgood Marshall and his service as the NAACP's chief counsel in Georgia, Saving the Soul of Georgia explores the intersections of Hollowell's work with the larger civil rights movement"--

"This is a biography of Donald Hollowell, one of Georgia's foremost civil rights attorneys. The bulk of the manuscript is focused on Hollowell's career as a lawyer and, in particular, his work on key cases in the 1950s and 1960s, but Daniels also includes a discussion of Hollowell's early years, education, military service, and employment as a regional director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In researching the book, Daniels relied on personal interviews as well as the personal papers of civil rights advocates and Southern opposition leaders, court records, newspaper accounts, and other archival sources that offered insight into Hollowell's activism and lawyering. In addition, Daniels conducted three extensive personal interviews with Hollowell that provide firsthand information about his childhood and early background, the influences on his desire to become an advocate for social justice, and his experiences as a civil rights activist and lawyer. Daniels also conducted several interviews with Hollowell's wife, Louise T. Hollowell, to whom he was married for 62 years. The narrative captures Hollowell's civil rights work in Atlanta as well as his work with grassroots leaders in other parts of Georgia. It covers well- known civil rights cases such as the desegregation of University of Georgia while also chronicling the lesser known, yet nonetheless significant, desegregation cases that provided the groundwork for that case. Daniels illuminates Hollowell's behind-the scenes work to help bring about social change in Georgia, his collaboration with proponents of direct action, and the intersection of his work with that of Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund's campaign for equal justice"--

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