Mayor Ivan Allen in July 1963, gave his testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee in support of what later became the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Many residents of Atlanta and Georgia were very pleased with Mayor Allen's actions, and as a result, sent him letters of commendation and appreciation for his efforts to support the African American community, Atlanta, and Georgia as a whole. This goal of this online exhibit is to showcase a few letters that are representative of the large amount that Mayor Allen received and analyze thier patterns and importance.
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Letter from W. C. HensonThis letter, sent by W. C. Henson, commends Mayor Allen for his testimony and his actions for improving "Atlanta and the State" . Henson identifies two senators (Herman Talmadge and Dick Russell) and traces the political dysfunctionality of Georgia back to their administrations.
Henson utilizes pathos to describe the state of Georgia. In his letter, he states that "Georgia is suffering from a political cancer". In particular, "suffering" and "political cancer" are words that invoke harsh feelings. It gives the reader a sense that Georgia is writhing in agony which helps to further establish Henson's views of the current state of Georgia.
We can see that Henson gives Mayor Allen support because he views Mayor Allen as a good leader who will promote future change. We see this when Henson finishes his letter by requesting Mayor Allen to succeed Talmadge and Russell.
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Letter from Samuel W. WilliamsSimilar to Henson, Reverend Samuel W. Williams in his letter views Mayor Allen as a courageous leader. However, Reverend William's letter commends Mayor Allen on a sense of morality.
Reverend Williams utilizes logos by identifying the struggles of Mayor Allen. Reverend Williams realizes that his testimony could jeopardize Mayor Allen's political career since he is a well establish political figure in Georgia.
Reverend Williams describes Mayor Allen's actions as "morally and democratically right." It is from this characterization that Reverend Williams finds Mayor Allen's testimony to be one that invokes an unequivocal message and unifies the people.
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Letter from Jacob M. RothschildIn this letter, Jacob M. Rothschild describes Mayor Allen's testimony as a courageous action, taken to unify the people of Atlanta. Like the writers of the previous letters, Rothschild is also a resident of Georgia and feels Mayor Allen is taking action to improve the state.
Rothschild utilizes a soft and calm tone to implement feelings of success and serenity. This helps him to further express how the people of atlanta stand together with Mayor Allen in his path towards societal justice. One way we can see this is when he states "I know that many Atlantans join with me in unequivocal support of your position."
Rothschild in his letter expresses to Mayor Allen that he "expressed the thoughtful concern of the decent citizens of Atlanta for the inherent rights of all our citizens and for the need to assure the Negro community of its full rights as americans and as Georgians." Here, we can see that Rothschild's lincination to side with Mayor Allen arises from his altruistic ideals.
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Between Rothschild's and Reverend William's responses, both are apart of the clergy, however, they are of different religions. Both Rothschild and Reverend William's ideals align with those of Mayor Allen's despite their differences in religious beliefs. Even with these differences, their overall beliefs are most likely similar which could be the reason why they both have a mutual agreement on the actions of Mayor Allen. Interestingly, Christianity and Judaism both see actions of compassion and justice to be favored by God which strengthens the notion of the two religions having overall similar beliefs.