Benjamin Brown oral history interview, November 6, 1996

Item — othertype: Oral History

Identifier: BrownB_19961106_P1996-01

Staff Only

Benjamin Brown oral history interview

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Scope and Contents

Interviewed by Cliff Kuhn. Among topics discussed: Ben Fortson; Max Cleland; Frances Duncan; Lester Maddox; Bo Callaway; Q. V. Williamson; Brown’s reactions to Maddox as governor; Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination; meeting between Bobby Kennedy and Legislative Black Caucus; 1969 Atlanta mayoral race of Sam Massell and Horace Tate; Leroy Johnson; Maynard Jackson; Charlie Davis; Abolish Atlanta; proposed consolidation of Atlanta and Fulton County; Carl Sanders; Andrew Young’s congressional race; 1973 Atlanta mayoral race; 1970 governor’s race in Georgia: Jimmy Carter and Carl Sanders; John Cox; Brown’s observations on Carter’s effectiveness as governor; Martin Luther King, Jr. portrait issue (at the capital?); John McCown in Hancock County; Rita Samuel; Brown’s work for George Busbee in 1974 governor’s race; Julian Bond; Betty Clark; statue of black Reconstruction leaders by John Riddle; Bicentennial involving Senator David Scott as Chairman of the bicentennial committee; Ben Brown Chairman of the Black Caucus; Bobby Hill chairman of the Black Caucus in 1977; Governor Busbee’s involvement in the dedication ceremony of the statue in 1977.

Dates

Creation: November 6, 1996

Creator

Brown, Benjamin, 1939-1999 (Interviewee, Person)

Restrictions on Access

Oral history available for research.

Biographical Note

Ben Brown (1939-1999) was born in Montezuma, Georgia, was active in civil rights activities in Atlanta in the 1960s, and served in the Georgia House of Representatives 1966, 1969-1977. He resigned in 1977 to take a position in the Carter administration.