Georgianne Thomas, Ph.D., Oral History Interview: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An oral history interview and conversation with professor and activist Dr. Georgianne Thomas. It consists of three versions of digital video recording, two camera card files (2025.12.15.1.1 and 2025.12.15.1.2, .mxf files) and one edited file (2025.12.15.1.3, .mov file).

Dr. Georgianne Thomas was interviewed by College of William & Mary alumna Phoebe Linnell on March 22, 2024, as part of the Social Justice Conversations Oral History Project. The interview took place at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. At the time of the interview, Dr. Thomas was 81 years old.

This oral history interview consists of two distinct sections: an “interview” section (part 1) and a “conversation” section (part 2, 01:00:40). In part 1, Dr. Thomas reflects on her upbringing in Gary, Indiana, discussing her family, her early understandings of race, and her educational experiences in the city. She then discusses her experience at Spelman College in Atlanta and her involvement with the Atlanta Student Movement, including another female protester who died after being jailed and beaten for marching. She also talks about her experience being burned by a member of Ku Klux Klan while marching. She goes on to talk about the legacy of the Atlanta Student Movement and the aftermath of desegregation, including a brief reflection on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. In part 2, Dr. Thomas and Linnell discuss whiteness, white privilege, and the role of white women in maintaining white supremacy. Linnell reflects on the impact racism has on the “soul” and the ban on teaching “divisive concepts” in Virginia. Dr. Thomas discusses the distortion of historical narratives to erase African people and teaching from an Afro-centric perspective. Finally, Dr. Thomas reflects on her daughter’s integration into Atlanta public schools, the higher education system in Atlanta, and her hopes for the future.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: March 22, 2024
• Created by: National Museum of African American History and Culture, American, founded 2003
• Recorded by: Trudy Hutcherson, American
• Recorded by: Candace Dane Chambers, American
• Interviewed by: Phoebe Linnell
• Interview of: Georgianne Thomas Ph.D., American, born 1942
• Subject of: Spelman College, American, founded 1881
• Subject of: Atlanta Student Movement, American, founded 1960
• Subject of: Herschelle Sullivan Challenor, American, born 1938
• Type: video recordings
• Type: oral histories
• Type: digital media - born digital
• Medium: digital
• Dimensions: Duration (2025.12.15.1.3, edited): 1 hr., 38 min., 27 sec.
• Dimensions: File size: 149 GB
• Place filmed: Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
• Place captured: Gary, Lake County, Indiana, United States, North and Central America
• Place captured: Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: African diaspora
• Topic: American South
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Families
• Object number: 2025.12.15.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.