- The 1960s were a time of huge change in Georgia.

While leaders like Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr.

were marching for equality, another Georgian was making headlines for doing the exact opposite.

His name was Lester Maddox.

When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made segregation illegal in all public places, Maddox refused to serve black customers at his Pickrick Cafeteria in Atlanta.

He even handed out ax handles to supporters to prevent black people from entering his restaurant.

Just a few years later, that same man would become governor of Georgia.

So how did a restaurant owner who defied federal law rise to power?

And what does that tell us about Georgia's role in the modern civil rights movement?

(dramatic music) (graphics rustling) Georgia wasn't on the sidelines during the civil rights era.

It was right in the middle of it.

Atlanta was home to prominent leaders like Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr., and powerful civil rights groups like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, or SCLC, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee known as SNCC.

From churches, college campuses, and meeting halls, plans made in Georgia would shape the entire nation.

Leaders based in the state also organized, traveled, and spoke out on a national stage.

When Dr.

King stood before thousands at the march on Washington, his words increased public pressure on Congress to finally act.

- Now is the time.

- [Participant] Yes it is.

- To make real the promises of democracy.

Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.

- That pressure led to one of the most important laws in American history, the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the act into law, it made sweeping changes across the United States.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned segregation in public places like restaurants and hotels, outlawed job discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or national origin, and gave the federal government power to enforce integration.

For African Americans in Georgia, this was a historic victory, but not everyone celebrated.

Some southern politicians fought the Civil Rights Act from the beginning.

Georgia Senator Richard Russell strongly opposed the bill in Congress.

He argued that the federal government was interfering with state's rights.

After the law passed, many Georgians gradually adjusted, but some refused.

One of the most famous acts of resistance happened at Lester Maddox's Pickrick Cafeteria near Georgia Tech's campus.

Maddox, a high school dropout, with an entrepreneurial spirit, had opened the Pickrick Cafeteria in 1947.

It served only white customers.

Inside, Maddox displayed segregationist literature and even had a wishing well labeled, "Make a wish for segregation."

When the Civil Rights Act became law, activists chose the Pickrick as a test case for desegregation.

So on July 3rd, 1964, black customers attempted to enter the cafeteria.

Maddox and his supporters blocked the doorway with some holding ax handles, which he later nicknamed Pickrick drumsticks.

When images of the confrontation spread across the country, many Americans saw it as an ugly symbol of racism, but a number of white Georgians saw something different.

They saw a man standing up to federal authority, a man refusing to change.

When federal courts ordered him to integrate, Maddox closed his restaurant instead.

That decision turned him into a political hero for voters who were angry about desegregation.

So in 1966, Maddox ran for governor of Georgia.

He defeated former Governor Ellis Arnall in the Democratic primary, a surprise to many political experts.

In the general election, Republican candidate Bo Callaway won more votes than Maddox, but he didn't win a majority.

Under Georgia's rules at the time, if no candidate won over 50% of the vote, the state legislature decided the winner.

The legislature, which was largely made up of conservative Democrats, chose Maddox.

A man who had openly defied the Civil Rights Act was now governor of Georgia.

And this is when things get interesting.

Instead of reversing years of civil rights progress as many expected, Lester Maddox led a state that had already begun to change.

As governor, he appointed more African Americans to state government positions than all previous governors combined, backed prison reform which was widely supported by Georgia's black voters, increased funding for higher education, and often met with regular citizens in what he called Little People's Days.

Still, Lester Maddox never changed his segregationist beliefs.

Even after the assassination of Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr.

in 1968, Maddox refused to attend his funeral and called King an enemy of the people.

In 1970, Maddox's term as governor was coming to a close.

Back then, Georgia's constitution didn't allow a governor to serve consecutive or back-to-back terms.

So Maddox ran for lieutenant governor in 1970 and won.

He served alongside Governor Jimmy Carter, who famously declared the time for racial discrimination is over during his inaugural address.

Lester Maddox ran for governor again in 1974 but lost.

In 1976, he launched a presidential campaign, earning less than 1% of the vote.

And in 1990, he made his final attempt at the governorship, but was handily defeated.

In 2003, Lester Maddox passed away at the age of 87.

Lester Maddox's rise to power shows just how divided Georgia was in the 1960s.

While this was the home of civil rights activists like Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr., it was also the state that elected an openly segregationist governor.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 may have changed the law overnight, but it didn't immediately change everyone's beliefs.

Georgia helped lead the civil rights movement, yet resistance still had political power.

And even though Maddox fought integration, he could not undo the changes already underway.

In the 1960s, Georgia was a state in transition, and Lester Maddox stood at the center of that struggle.

(dramatic music)