“Prelude to the Atlanta Movement” traces the beginnings of the civil rights movement in Atlanta, Georgia, through the voices of participants. With an emphasis on the 1940s and 1950s, topics covered include Atlanta\'s historical pattern of \"accommodation\" on racial matters, its Black and white \"power structure,\" the cultural and economic flourishing of Auburn Avenue, the striking down of whites-only primaries and rise of Black voting power, and the city\'s first Black police officers. “Prelude to the Atlanta Movement\" is the first installment in Southern Spaces’s Trouble the Land series as well as the first of the series\' five presentations featuring Atlanta.
A 2026 study studied this question.