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“Dedicated to Educating the Leaders of Tomorrow” in the AUC
The following is an
interview conducted by
Carvel Bennett, Director of
Student Activities & Student
Publications, with Dr. C.T.
Vivian and Mrs. Octavia
Vivian at the Auburn Avenue
Research Library on African-
American Culture and
History on Friday, February
7, 1997.
Dr. and Mrs. Vivian were
deeply involved in the early
years of the Civil Rights
Movement and were close
friends of Dr. Martin Luther
Jr. and Coretta King. The
interview was conducted in
celebration of Black History
Month, and to have the
Vivians share their
experiences and wisdom
with those of us who are
the benefactors of their
work.
Photos by Johnnie B Bates, Jr.
Dr. C.T. Vivian and Mrs. Octavia Vivian.
A goodly number of our kids must
realize there wouldn't be an America
worth saving - had it not been for the
involvement of Black people making
this or trying to make this the
democratic, Christian culture
it should become.
identify himself. He never
assumed you knew who he
was. He was not a pompous
person, and never thought of
himself as so important that
you knew who he was. He
always stopped and talked to
people, he wanted them to
know that he cared, that he
understood their pain.
Mr. Bennett - As
students at a HBCU, why
should Black History
Month be celebrated?
Dr. Vivian:
You can’t understand who
you are or why you exist and
the important work of the
past, without Black History
Week which eventually
became Black History
Month. I think Black
students today have to
realize that there was a
priority of things we wanted
when we came out of slavery.
Actually, education became a
priority because we realized
that without it, the rest
couldn’t happen.
They have to realize no
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
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^ Views of Expressions
Jordan Hall and the
New Art Gallery
by Morriss Biggers III
T he New Art Gallery at
Jordan Hall opened on
September 21, 1996. The
New Gallery is one of the
largest in the downtown
area, in terms of square
footage. The previous Art
Gallery, located on the first
floor of Fountain Hall, did
not provide enough space to
house the vision of Dr. Lee
Ransaw, Dean of Arts and
Letters at Morris Brown
College. David Barranti
and Ralph Barnette, both
of whom are members of
the Atlanta Artist Club,
assisted Dr. Ransaw in
the development of the
New Gallery.
Dr. Ransaw’s mission for
the Gallery is two fold.
First, he intends for the
Gallery to elevate the
stature of Morris Brown
College culturally in the
community. Second, due to
its prime strategic location
in relation to the Omni and
Georgia Dome, and their
many conventions, it is
expected to attract a lot of
outside exhibitors. The New
Art Gallery at Jordan Hall is
only the beginning, accord
ing to D. Ransaw. He is also
planning to develop a
community theater and a
cafe next to the New Art
Gallery. “We want to draw
the uptown crowd to Morris
Brown”, said Dr. Ransaw.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
Mr. Bennett - Most
young people today are
familiar with the words,
life and images of Dr.
Martin Luther King,
Jr. Share with us, what
it was like working
with him.
Dr. Vivian:
/ first came in contact
with Martin (Luther
King, Jr.) while I was
an Editor at the
Sunday School Publishing
Board of the National
Baptist Convention USA,
Inc. - and was concerned
about his philosophy of non
violence, while we were
involved in non-violent
direct action in Preoria,
Illinois. By 1955, Martin was
operating in Montgomery,
Alabama. Mrs. Vivian and I
were publishing articles on
non-violence that came
across our desk, as most
publishing houses didn’t
want to deal with such
things at the time.
We also worked with
him on the first March on
Washington, DC, then called
a Prayer Pilgrimage. Martin
and Adam Clayton Powell
were the main speakers.
Later in Nashville,
Tennessee, a week after the
Greensboro lunch counter
situation, my wife and I
were involved in what
Martin called “the most
perfect non-violent
movement in the nation,”
because of how effective we
were and the strategies we
used. It was after this
meeting in Nashville that
Martin called me to his staff.
Mrs. Vivian:
I recall an incident
when we had first moved to
Atlanta and I had to pick up
C.T. (Dr. Vivian) from the
SCLC Headquarters. Dr.
King came out of the
building and we started to
talk. He then offered to, and
then went inside to tell C.T.
his family was waiting.
He would always call our
house and would always
To heed
the voices of
wisdom