GA HR1711

Georgia House Resolution honoring the life and memory of Reverend Fred C. Bennette, Jr., a Civil Rights leader born December 2, 1928, in Atlanta, Georgia

Served in the U.S. Army and later attended Morris Brown College and Turner Theological Seminary; became a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement after meeting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1960

Served as key organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1960, coordinating the successful sit-in campaign to desegregate Rich's Department Store

Directed voter registration efforts from 1961-1964 as director of the All Citizens Committee for Voter Registration and deputy director of the Georgia Voters League; appointed by Dr. King in 1964 as first director of SCLC's Operation Breadbasket

Protected Dr. King during a 1961 Freedom Riders rally by throwing aside a gas bomb; later served on the Board of Advisors of The King Center and advised prominent Georgia politicians including President Jimmy Carter and Andrew Young