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"An Island Of Peace In A Sea Of Racial Strife:" The Civil Rights Movement In Knoxville, Tennesse, Michael Blum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the civil rights movement in Knoxville, Tennessee. It argues that the city's history of race relations, economy, and regional circumstances led to a different type of civil rights movement. It was conducted by a variety of groups: student activists, established activists, local businessmen, and elected officals. They had a complicated relationship, which changed frequently as groups responded to the actions of others. This dynamic led to a relatively peaceful movement, which created a degree of racial progress, but failed to remedy the structural problems that pleagued Knoxville's Black community, such as poverty and unemployment.In early 1960, student …