On January 6th 1961, a federal judge ordered the University of Georgia to admit Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault. Five days later, the university suspended them after a riot on campus by white students. Two days later, a court order reinstated them.
Two years later, Holmes became the first Black student admitted to the Emory University School of Medicine. He became an orthopedic surgeon, later serving as an associate dean as Emory and as medical director of the Grady Memorial Hospital before dying in 1995.
Hunter served a distinguished career in journalism, winning two Emmys and a Peabody for her work with The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
In 2020, they received the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage. “Let me say that I do not see myself as someone who has demonstrated social courage,” she said. “Rather, I see myself not so much with courage, but with determination. Determination, among other things, gives voice to the voiceless and makes us stay focused on our mission in the best of times and in such a time as this.”
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