[Atlanta, Georgia]: (Eugene Talmadge Campaign?), [1946]. 14¾” x 8¼”. Broadside. Very good plus with minimal wear and folded horizontally at center.

This is an ugly reminder of the 1946 Georgia Gubernatorial primary which saw the disenfranchisement of thousands of African Americans--more than enough to sway that election. Earlier in 1946, the Georgia Democratic party's use of a white primary was struck down as unconstitutional. While four people ran in this primary, the race was mostly between Eugene Talmadge, a former two-term governor and staunch segregationist, and James V. Carmichael. Carmichael was a businessman who was seen as a progressive reformer and he had strong support among African American voters.

The primary that year was held July 17, 1946. According to Joseph L. Bernd, in “White Supremacy and the Disfranchisement of Blacks in Georgia, 1946.” (The Georgia Historical Quarterly, vol. 66, no. 4, 1982, pp. 492–513. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40580970. Accessed 16 Apr. 2021), “in some urban counties and in about fifty rural counties many blacks were not permitted to vote. Their disenfranchisement was a decisive influence upon the outcome of the gubernatorial primary election.” The purging of Black votes was heavily aided by Talmadge's systematic campaign to disenfranchise black voters which included the distribution of thousands of vote-challenge forms to supporters as well as admonishing them that, “if the white citizens of the State of Georgia will wake up, they can disqualify and mark off the voters' list three-fourths of the Negro vote in this state.” Another prong in Talmadge's approach was fear and intimidation; an example being when he also said, “wise Negroes will stay away from the white folks' ballot boxes on July 17. ... We are the true friends of the Negroes, always have been and always will be as long as they stay in the definite place we have provided for them.”

This broadside simultaneously cements support for Talmadge voters, gives cover for some on the fence, and also intimidates Black voters. It initially appears as something that would have been created by an African American organization as most of it is taken up with a portion of the front page of the April 27, 1946 edition of the Pittsburgh Courier. That page is dominated by an article regarding meetings of the Conference of Southern Students, an interracial organization of students founded the year before to “combat racial and religious prejudice and persecution,” among other reasons. The idea that this is a Black political advertisement disappears in a flash when reading the text underneath the image of the Courier,

“The above reproduction from the world's largest Negro newspaper clearly shows what is being preached to the Negro from all sides. The Southern Negro newspapers are following the lead of the Pittsburgh Courier in preaching this doctrine of equality to the Negroes in the South. Yet the principal Carmichael supporters are trying to lull the people of Georgia into believing there is no attempt being made from anywhere in the United States to give the Negro social or political equality. The above news reproduction belies their efforts. The only issue in this race IS White Supremacy [emphasis in text].”/

In addition to reminding Talmadge's strong supporters that white supremacy was at stake, any voter on the fence who may have been concerned about the welfare of African Americans could see right on the page that great progress was being made on their behalf. That notion of progress could then be used against any Black Georgian who complained about Talmadge or that their interests were not being adequately pursued.

Our guess at who published the broadside is based on the facts above, but any number of hate/segregationist groups could have produced it.

A relic of the voting rights battles in Georgia which continue today.


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