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'''Hungry Club Forum''' was an interracial civic forum in [[Atlanta, Georgia]], held at the Butler Street YMCA. Founded in 1945, it brought Black and white Atlantans together for regular luncheons with guest speakers and discussions of political and civic issues.<ref name="AHC">{{cite web
|last1=Montgomery
|first1=Malcolm
|last2=Harte
|first2=Tiffany
|title=Food for Thought, Fuel for Change: DeWitt Martin and the Legacy of the Hungry Club Forum
|url=https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/blog/food-for-thought-fuel-for-change-dewitt-martin-and-the-legacy-of-the-hungry-club-forum/
|publisher=Atlanta History Center
|date=October 5, 2025
|access-date=September 4, 2026
}}</ref><ref name="AHA">{{cite web
|last=Myrick-Harris
|first=Clarissa
|title=Atlanta in the Civil Rights Movement, 1940–1970
|url=https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/atlanta-in-the-civil-rights-movement-1940-1970/
|publisher=American Historical Association
|date=December 1, 2006
|access-date=September 4, 2026
}}</ref>

==History==

===Establishment===

According to the [[Atlanta History Center]], the Hungry Club Forum was founded in 1945. Sociologist [[Ira De Augustine Reid]], who chaired the sociology department at [[Atlanta University]], suggested the creation of a forum where Black and white Atlantans could communicate. Members of [[Omega Psi Phi]], university staff, and business leaders from [[Auburn Avenue]] developed the idea and established the forum at the Butler Street YMCA.<ref name="AHC"/>

Meetings were held weekly and usually included a luncheon, a guest speaker, and Q & A. Early speakers included educators, and discussions often dealt with race and other issues affecting Atlanta.<ref name="AHC"/><ref name="AAIHS">{{cite web
|title=Atlanta's Black Libraries and the Push for Black Voters
|url=https://www.aaihs.org/atlantas-black-libraries-and-the-push-for-black-voters/
|publisher=African American Intellectual History Society
|access-date=September 4, 2026
}}</ref> The forum was interracial, but white participation was initially limited by the social restrictions of segregated Atlanta. By the 1950s, white politicians were increasingly attending the meetings as Black political participation became more important in Atlanta elections.<ref name="AHC" /><ref name="AAIHS" />

===Political role===

The Hungry Club became a regular meeting place for political discussion. [[The American Historical Association]] includes it among the Atlanta institutions that provided forums for political activity and discussion during the city's [[civil rights movement]].<ref name="AHA"/>

In September 1955, Mayor [[William B. Hartsfield]] spoke at the forum and began a practice of Atlanta mayors opening its annual season. Hartsfield also delivered his annual state-of-the-city address there. The forum gave Black Atlantans an opportunity to hear the mayor speak and present him with questions at a time when segregation restricted their access to various official civic events.<ref name="AHC"/>

During the 1960s, mayors [[Ivan Allen Jr.]] and [[Sam Massell]] continued the practice of appearing at the opening of the forum's annual season. The Hungry Club also attracted politicians seeking to reach Atlanta's Black voters.<ref name="AHC"/><ref name="Scott">{{cite web
|title=The Cautious Crusader: How The Atlanta Daily World Covered The Struggle For African American Rights From 1945 To 1985
|url=https://api.drum.lib.umd.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/8698a0d7-449f-4e6a-9284-448a4aefae13/content
|publisher=University of Maryland
|access-date=September 4, 2026
}}</ref> In January 1966, former Georgia governor [[Herman Talmadge]] spoke at the forum and joined the luncheon.<ref name="AHC" />

Historian David Scott described the forum as part of Atlanta's [[African Americans|African American]] power structure. His study of the [[Atlanta Daily World]] notes that the newspaper regularly reported on the forum and its meetings.<ref name="Scott"/>

===Civil rights movement===

In 1963, [[Ralph Abernathy]] used the forum to announce plans for the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]].<ref name="AHC" /> [[Martin Luther King Jr.|Martin Luther King Jr]] also spoke at the forum several times. On May 10, 1967, he discussed racism, poverty, and war, which he called the "three evils" facing American society, and criticised the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="King">{{cite magazine
|last=King
|first=Martin Luther Jr.
|title=America's Chief Moral Dilemma
|magazine=The Atlantic
|date=February 2018
|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/02/martin-luther-king-hungry-club-forum/552533/
|access-date=September 4, 2026
}}</ref><ref name="Dantzler">{{cite journal
|last1=Dantzler
|first1=Prentiss
|last2=Yang-Clayton
|first2=Kathleen
|title=Deconstructing the racial structure of public service through critical participatory practices
|journal=Journal of Public Affairs Education
|year=2023
|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1080/15236803.2022.2097038
|access-date=September 4, 2026
}}</ref> Other speakers associated with the [[civil rights movement]] included [[Benjamin E. Mays]], [[Langston Hughes]], [[Jackie Robinson]]<ref name="AHC" />

===Later years===

During the 1970s, the Hungry Club continued to meet at the Butler Street YMCA. A November 1974 issue of ''[[Creative Loafing]]'' listed the Butler Street Hungry Club Forum among the forums scheduled in Atlanta.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=November 23, 1974 |title=Creative Loafing |url=https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/digital/api/collection/CLATL/id/5338/download |access-date=September 4, 2026 |magazine=Creative Loafing |publisher=Georgia State University Library}}</ref> The forum broadened its discussions to include issues such as race, gender, education, and labor. In October 1970, [[Jimmy Carter]] appeared at the forum during his campaign for [[governor of Georgia]]. In 1973, [[Maynard Jackson]], a longtime participant in the forum was elected Atlanta's first Black mayor.<ref name="AHC" /> In 1975, DeWitt N. Martin Jr. became president of the Butler Street YMCA, a position he held until 2000. He later worked to preserve records documenting the history of the YMCA and the Hungry Club Forum.<ref name="AHC" />

The forum continued to meet during the 1980s and 1990s, discussing politics, race, urban development, industry, and public health.<ref name="AHC" />

By 2012, the Butler Street YMCA was experiencing financial difficulties, and the Hungry Club Forum had not met for several months. The YMCA ceased operations in December of that year, bringing the forum to an end.<ref name="AJC">{{cite news |date=2012 |title=Butler Street YMCA faces severe financial crisis, possible reorganization |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/local/butler-street-ymca-faces-severe-financial-crisis-possible-reorganization/9BWHaez4lyCNSW8cNWbN2K/ |access-date=September 4, 2026 |work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution}}</ref><ref name="AHC" /> Mayor [[Kasim Reed]] was the last Atlanta mayor to participate in the tradition of opening the forum's annual season.

In 2024, the family of DeWitt N. Martin Jr. donated archival material relating to the forum to the [[Atlanta History Center]].<ref name="AHC" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1945 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:African-American history in Atlanta]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Atlanta]]
[[Category:Georgia in the civil rights movement]]