Ann Atwater facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ann Atwater
Atwater in 1995
Born	July 1, 1935 Hallsboro, North Carolina
Died	June 20, 2016 (aged 80) Durham, North Carolina
Occupation	Civil rights activist
Spouse(s)	French Wilson ​ ​ (m. 1949; div. 1953)​ Willie Pettiford ​ (m. 1975)​
Children	2

Ann George Atwater (July 1, 1935 – June 20, 2016) was an amazing American civil rights activist. She worked in Durham, North Carolina. Ann Atwater helped make life better for people in Durham. She did this through programs like Operation Breakthrough (Durham, North Carolina). This group fought against poverty.

She was a strong leader for black rights. She fought for better housing for everyone. Atwater brought working-class African Americans together. She helped them form community groups. She is famous for leading a special meeting in 1971. This meeting helped reduce school violence. It also helped schools become desegregated peacefully. She proved that people with different views could work together.

Ann Atwater's Early Life

Ann Atwater was born in 1935 in Hallsboro, North Carolina. She was one of nine children. Her parents were sharecroppers. This meant they farmed land owned by someone else. Her father was also a church deacon. He earned very little money. Ann and her siblings worked on farms too. They helped support their family.

Ann remembered being given food through the back door. This happened after white workers had eaten. She was taught that white people were better. She learned to always take second place.

When she was thirteen, Ann married French Wilson. They moved to Durham for better jobs. Durham had big tobacco and textile factories. Many black people lived in Durham. Some were educated and middle-class. But poverty was still a big problem. Many families lived below the poverty line. Poor black people faced two struggles. They fought against white people who thought they were better. They also fought against wealthier black people. These struggles helped Ann become an activist.

Ann Atwater raised her two daughters alone. She got a small welfare check. She struggled to pay rent. She made dresses for her daughters from flour bags. Her house was in very bad shape. The roof had holes. The bathtub had fallen through the floor. The house wiring was so bad that lights would flicker. She joked that her house didn't need windows. She could see everyone through the cracks in the walls.

Fighting Poverty with Operation Breakthrough

Ann Atwater found her life's purpose with Howard Fuller. He asked her to join Operation Breakthrough. This program helped people escape poverty. It helped people set goals and achieve them. Participants gained confidence. They learned they could change their lives. The program offered job training. It also had after-school tutoring. People learned about their rights. The North Carolina Fund paid for this program.

One day, Ann went to the welfare office. She needed money for rent. She met Howard Fuller there. She showed him her terrible house. He invited her to his program. The next day, they went to her landlord. They demanded repairs for her house. To Ann's surprise, the landlord agreed to fix some things. She had never known she had the right to demand this.

Afterward, she went to an Operation Breakthrough meeting. She talked about how poor people could work together. They could get the government's attention. This first meeting started her work. She began helping the poor black community.

Ann Atwater became a leader in Operation Breakthrough. She started helping poor people with housing problems. She went door-to-door. She told others how she solved her own housing issues. She became an expert on housing rules. She copied welfare manuals. She gave them out so people could learn their rights. She taught people to ask landlords to fix bad conditions. Ann Atwater helped poor black people in Durham stand up for themselves. Her goal was to teach them how to survive.

Atwater also fought against disrespect. Many white welfare workers treated black people badly. For example, they would shout at black clients. They made them explain private issues in front of everyone. White clients were treated politely and privately.

Ann Atwater used the power of groups. She organized women who often visited the welfare office. They pushed for change together. Because of her hard work, the office set up private booths. This system is still used today.

Working Together in the Durham Charrette

In July 1971, public schools were still segregated. This was despite a 1954 Supreme Court ruling. The Durham court ordered schools to desegregate. Many people in Durham were against this. Schools had growing racial tensions. Students were getting into fights.

To help with this change, councilman Bill Riddick called a charrette. This was a series of ten-day town meetings. Many residents came to talk. They wanted to solve problems about school integration. Riddick invited people from all parts of Durham. He asked Ann Atwater to co-lead the charrette. Her co-leader was C. P. Ellis. He was the head of the local Ku Klux Klan.

Ellis often spoke against civil rights changes. When Ann first met him, she felt great anger. Ellis was known for saying hateful things. He would say black people were taking over the city. He said they should stay on the other side of the railroad tracks.

Ann Atwater first refused to work with Ellis. But she finally agreed. Ellis felt the same way. He thought, "How could I work with her?" But Ann and Ellis found they had things in common. Their children were being treated badly because their parents were working together. They both wanted their children to go to schools without violence.

Ellis later said they were "two people from the far end of the fence." He said they had "identical problems." He realized they had hated each other without knowing each other. They talked about raising children in poverty. They both wanted their children to have good opportunities.

These two rivals learned to work together. To everyone's surprise, they became good friends. They stopped focusing on race. They started focusing on other issues. They cared about the quality of Durham's schools. Ellis began to realize that black people were not holding poor white people back. He saw that both groups shared problems. Ann Atwater made Ellis question his beliefs. By the end of the charrette, Ellis left the KKK.

Ann Atwater and Ellis gave the School Board a list of ideas. They suggested letting students have more say. They wanted two students from each racial group on the board. They also proposed changes to school lessons. They wanted more teaching about dealing with racial violence. They suggested creating a group to solve problems. They also wanted more textbooks by African-American authors.

Ann Atwater's Personality

According to C.P. Ellis, Ann Atwater had a deep, powerful voice. She could make her audience feel excited. She became a very effective leader. She was not afraid to speak her mind loudly. She was also not afraid to tell people off. She believed the best way to get people to listen was to "holler at them." When she called a meeting, she meant business.

Ann remembered a meeting with a councilman. He was not taking her seriously. She hit him on the head. This surprised him so much that he listened. Atwater also spoke at city council meetings. These meetings only had white members. The councilmen often turned their chairs away from her. She would turn their chairs back around. This forced them to face her. Her bold actions surprised them. They had to listen. Some people might not have liked her demanding ways. But these qualities made her a successful activist.

Later Life and Legacy

After co-leading the charrette, Ann Atwater kept working. She helped the poor and middle-class black community in Durham. She married Willie Pettiford in 1975. She became a deacon at the Mount Calvary United Church of Christ. She and C.P. Ellis remained friends for the rest of their lives.

From 2006 until her death, Atwater worked with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. She was a "freedom teacher" at the School for Conversion. She mentored young people and activists. She taught them about community organizing. The school's Ann Atwater Freedom Library continues her work. It helps make "surprising friendships possible."

Ann Atwater passed away on June 20, 2016.

Honors and Recognition

• In 1967, she was named Carolina Times Woman of the Year.
• A book called Best of Enemies was written about her friendship with C.P. Ellis.
• This book became a play with the same name in 2013.
• It also became a movie in 2019, called The Best of Enemies.
• Durham mayor Bill Bell declared December 6, 2013, "Ann Atwater Day."
• In 2019, Ann Atwater and C.P. Ellis were honored in Durham. They were recognized for helping desegregate Durham Public Schools in 1971.

In Popular Culture

• Ann Atwater: Grassroots Organizer and Veteran of America’s Freedom Struggle (2002) is a documentary about her work.
• An Unlikely Friendship (2002) is another documentary. It shows the friendship between Atwater and C.P. Ellis.
• The movie The Best of Enemies (2019) focuses on Ann Atwater's role. She is played by Taraji P. Henson. Sam Rockwell plays C.P. Ellis.