Anette Jones White
Teacher, Writer, Nurturer
Albany, Georgia
She experienced racial violence and discrimination as a youth in her hometown of Albany, Georgia, and began to rebel against racial injustice. As a college student she became a leader in the Albany civil rights movement, and suffered for her involvement. A longtime educator, she continues to pass the torch of freedom by informing and engaging young children about her life’s struggles.
White was crowned Miss Albany State in the fall of 1961, but was forced to decide between accepting the title and its accompanying scholarship or continuing her involvement as a civil rights activist. White chose to help end segregation, a decision that led to her suspension and eventual expulsion from Albany State University as well as the loss of her Miss Albany State crown.
The cover of the SNCC album “Freedom in the Air,” showing protesters kneeling in Albany, Georgia. White was involved as a singer for the album.
Black demonstrators herded into what became known as “Freedom Alley.” White was one of the protesters in the alley. Knowing that not everyone detained could fit in the tiny town jail, White pushed her way forward to be one of those arrested in order to make a statement.
Albany mayor Asa Kelley orders black protesters outside of city hall to disperse on December 13, 1961. White was arrested early that day and taken to the jail in Newton, Georgia. She was unaware that the movement was escalating and that Martin Luther King, Jr. had decided to come to Albany to join the protest.
The demonstrators were marching as part of a boycott of white-owned stores and in support of Martin Luther King, Jr., who decided to go to jail rather than pay a fine.
Members of the Albany Movement, including Andrew Young, at a planning session on July 1, 1962. White was one of the key players in the early demonstrations that started the movement.
Demonstrators carry signs protesting the arrest of civil rights leaders in Albany, Georgia in early 1962. Although White and other students had been protesting for years, the “Albany Movement” officially began in November 1961.
A photo of the Arctic Bear Drive-In in Albany, Georgia, the site of White’s first overt protest action in the fall of 1959. Instead of eating in the car as she and other black patrons normally did, she insisted on eating at the benches. When the manager asked that they leave, White refused.
Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers a sermon to a packed church rally in Albany, Georgia on July 21, 1962. King had come to the town to support the Albany Movement, which was launched a few years earlier by Albany State University students like Annette Jones.
Five hundred black demonstrators kneel in prayer on a sidewalk in Albany, Georgia on July 22, 1962. They were arrested for parading without a permit. Despite constant harassment and widespread incarcerations, White and others pursued action in Albany, gaining the attention and support of national civil rights figures like Martin Luther King, Jr.
Albany, Georgia on August 1, 1962. The young men were part of a group that tried to integrate lunch counters in the town. White had been involved in sit-ins and desegregation protests since 1959 when she refused to get up from the tables used by white patrons at the Arctic Bear Drive-In.
The Albany Movement was not confined to Albany State University, where students like White began organizing protests. In this photo, men wash paint reading “No Niggers Please” off of a window at Albany High School on September 4, 1962. A group of black students attempted to register at the all-white school, but they were not admitted.
A photo of Albany State University’s Student Government Leadership, of which White was a member. The group was organized with the help of Dean Irene Asbury, who served as a role model for White.
A young Annette Jones White, in the center of the bottom row.
An old photo of White, standing on the far right.
This photo shows White as a teenager, sitting on steps with others. White is seated on the left.
White is in the center of the photo.
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