ABSTRACT
In 1958, Vivian Calhoun and eight other parents of black school-age children sued to compel the desegregation of Atlanta's public school system. The social climate of the city was very different from what it had been in 1958 when Atlanta was perceived as another unyielding bastion of southern intolerance. One important indicator of change was the establishment of the Atlanta Action Forum. The principal negotiators, William Van Landingham, Lyndon Wade, and Lonnie King, were aware of the changes that had taken place in Atlanta. In Atlanta it was pushing for a plan which would have left the school system with virtually all black children. Many people believed that the matter had been substantially settled once the Atlanta National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the school board had worked out an agreement, and the school board had approved it.
