Not Only for Ourselves: The Integration of UGA Athletics

One day we will win our freedom. We will not only win freedom for ourselves, we will so appeal to your heart and your conscience that we will win you in the process. And our victory will be a double victory.

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1966

Admission to the University of Georgia (UGA) was barred to Black students before 1961, when Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter were admitted to the University through the intervention of a Federal judge. Athletics, which are central to campus life in Southern universities, became the next focal point for desegregation. 

This exhibit explores the integration of athletics at UGA. It attempts to provide context to the environment surrounding athletics at the University prior to the integration of its sports teams, as well as following the narrative of integration up to the present. It will run concurrently with a physical exhibit housed in the Russell Building Special Collections Libraries on the UGA campus.

While this exhibit is focused primarily on male athletics, we will explore the implementation of Title IX and the development of women's athletics at the University of Georgia in an exhibit to be opened in 2022.

Further research into the history of University of Georgia athletics can be done through the collections of the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library, which holds the archives of the University as well as the archives of the UGA Athletic Association. 

All materials and photographs in this exhibit are from the collections of the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library, or used by permission of the UGA Athletic Association. Permission to copy or in any way re-use these images must be granted through the Hargrett Library or the UGA Athletic Association.

For more information on the Hargrett Library, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. As well as updates on our collections, exhibits, and programs, we offer photos and information relating to the history of UGA and Athens.