George School welcomed civil rights pioneer H. Julian Bond ’57 to campus for an all-school assembly and discussions with students and faculty on Friday, September 9, 2011.
 
Julian was joined by Mark K. Updegrove ’80, director of the Lyndon B. Johnson Library in Austin, Texas. During the assembly, Mark interviewed Julian about his experiences as a politician, civil rights and student activist, and his remembrances of being one of the few African-American students at George School.

“It was extraordinary to hear Julian speak about his time with Dr. Martin Luther King,” said Sydney Denmark ’14. “He also spoke about being a George School student and having an alumnus speak is always so special.”

A professor of history at the University of Virginia, Julian received a Library of Congress Living Legend Award in April. He is former chairman of the board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. As a student at Morehouse College in 1960, he helped organize the Atlanta student sit-in and anti-segregation protests and helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Julian has credited George School with introducing him to non-violent social change and individual community service.

In 1965, Julian was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives following passage of the Voting Rights Act. He was the first president of the Southern Poverty Law Center. In 1968, his name was proposed as a vice presidential candidate but at twenty-nine, he was too young to hold the office. More recently, Julian has been a professor, poet, and narrator of several documentaries, including the PBS series “Eyes on the Prize.”

Mark Updegrove ’80 is an award-winning author described by CNN as "one of the country's best historians." A native of Philadelphia, Mark spent much of his career at Time magazine and later moved to New York as publisher of Newsweek.

This visit by Julian and Mark, coming at the close of the first week of classes, has been and will continue to be a catalyst for meaningful discussions and encourage members of the George School community to explore ideas about justice and civil rights throughout the academic year.