The Mission of the Foot Soldier Project

The Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights Studies and Research seeks to establish an archival and documentary research infrastructure for studying, disseminating, and preserving information and scholarship on the civil rights movement, social justice and reform, and policy-related issues. Its aim is to advance civil rights scholarship while contributing more broadly to enhancing local and national discourses on diversity and equity.

This project centers on chronicling the lives and stories of those “foot soldiers for equal justice” whose names may not be familiar, but whose dedication to the cause of equality and civil rights formed the backbone of a movement that brought about sweeping changes in the nation’s history. It seeks to illuminate the contributions of some of the foremost, yet still unsung, twentieth century freedom fighters in order to provide a fuller understanding of issues of race, equity, and social reform in Georgia and the South during the 1950s and 1960s. Such work will help to illustrate how social change and social reform results from the hard work and dedication not only of the few celebrated figures whose names are preserved in history books and movies, but also of the countless committed individuals whose contributions, while unrecognized, are nevertheless crucial.