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(dramatic music) (dramatic music continues) - Hello, I'm Jeff Hullinger, and this is the story of two transplants who left their indelible mark on our state: one arriving in the early

1960s and spending the rest of her life in her adopted hometown of Atlanta, and one who visited regularly for almost two decades, influencing a generation of students in the use and art of

poetry. Civil rights icons are known, and Clayton didn't arrive in Atlanta until the early '60s. Recruited into Dr. King's civil rights organization, Clayton followed up on

her own work in Chicago and California; that eventually led her to the role of broadcasting pioneer, creating her own Georgia legacy and becoming one of our own. Pamela Kirkland has her

story. - [Pamela] From the cool beaches of Southern California to the heat of the Deep South, Xernona Clayton's journey as an educator, organizer, civil rights leader, and media

trailblazer took her from being lost on the streets of Downtown Atlanta to eventually having one named after her. On August 30th, 1930, Xernona Brewster and her twin sister Xenobia were born

in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Her father, James Brewster, was the local administrator of Indian Affairs, her mother, Lily, a housewife. Growing up, Xernona, Xenobia, and her siblings learned the

importance of giving their time to help others from their father, who was also a Baptist minister. - And so the rules and regulations that you heard every day, you got sick and tired of

'em, but you can't ignore 'em 'cause they're a part of you. There's a price you pay, and I'll never forget that, for the life you live. That's why

I'm thinking and hoping that I'm trying to follow the tenets of the Good Book: feed the hungry and clothe the naked and treat your neighbor as thyself. Those are basic things I

lived by. That's what I lived by. - [Pamela] She also nurtured a love of music and created a majorette act called the Brewster Twins in high school. In 1948, both went off to Tennessee

State Agricultural and industrial College in Nashville, where Xernona majored in music and minored in education. The two sisters also experienced the racist attitudes of the Deep South after

stopping at a nearby white-owned restaurant. We were hungry, had money, and we went in (muffled speaking), and hopefully to get a hamburger. That man picked up a butcher knife that seemed

like it was four feet long. And he said, "You niggers know you don't belong in here. Now get outta here or else I'll cut all your heads off," and shooed us out the door.

And that was my first real experience. And it makes you angry. Makes you darn right mad. But when people ask me when did I decide I wanted to do something in the area civil rights, I said

the first day I realized I was Black in America. And it made a difference to a lot of people. - [Pamela] After graduating with honors in 1952, Clayton pursued a graduate degree at the

University of Chicago and became a music teacher, eventually teaching in Chicago's high schools. It was during this time that Xernona began working with the National Urban League,

exposing racial discrimination at local businesses. - My sister and I would apply, but we positioned ourselves. We were five minutes away from the store when we called. "I see you got

an ad in the paper. Is this job still open?" "Oh yes." Five minutes later we show up. "Oh, I'm so sorry. We just filled it." You filled it in five minutes?

Well, we knew then. So we exposed, my sister and I worked to expose the discrimination. - [Pamela] She also met "Jet" magazine executive editor, Ed Clayton, and married him in

1957. Their marriage put Xernona and her sister at the epicenter of Chicago's Black culture, society, and politics. In 1960, Ed Clayton's work took them to Los Angeles. Xernona

quickly found herself surrounded by and befriending many of the entertainment stars of the day. She also agreed to help a friend run for local office. He was Republican, and Clayton soon

found herself joining the party, one of only a few Black faces in the organization. Clayton found another cause as well: helping high school dropouts finish their education after President

Kennedy called publicly for community volunteers. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was in need of a journalist to help with public relations. Dr. King reached out to Ed Clayton to come join

his organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. While hesitant at first, Ed Clayton eventually joined the group in Atlanta with Xernona following later. - You know, a lot of

things were going on. Black folk had to live in certain neighborhoods. And then I realized that where I came from, we did it too. But it was, you know, different stages and settings. But I

heard so much about the real South that I wasn't sure that I wanted to be bothered by getting my head beat in, you know? So I said no when Coretta King first asked me, - [Pamela] When

she did finally arrive, she quickly became good friends with Coretta Scott King. - I'd have to say that they helped me to move in real easily. And then I got busy right away. - Happy

birthday- - [Pamela] Busy organizing marches for the SCLC and helping in a variety of other roles for Dr. King. - People said to me: "I don't see many pictures of you

marching." Well, I'm the one to take, I did not march with Martin Luther King. I was a partner with him. I was a supporter with him. I was an employee of his. I was a friend of

his. and I was certainly committed to the cause. So I did lots of things. See, you just can't have a march, decide, you know, it's Friday, let's march. You can't do that.

You gotta get permits, you gotta get people rounded up. And you don't wanna go out there with four or five people. 'Cause, you know, numbers can make a significant difference in

the success of what you're trying to do. - [Pamela] But it was more than the Southern culture, politics, and racial divisiveness that Clayton had to navigate in Atlanta. - The street

signs were missing. I got out of a car one day and called City Hall, and I said, "Listen, I'm lost." "Oh really? Well, where are you?" I said, "I have no idea.

'cause there's no sign anywhere." And there were a lot of missing signs. So I made myself a committee of one. Let's put some street signs up so people can find out. And

people use names of buildings, like the lucky building, the so-and-so building. Well, where is it? A lot of people didn't even know addresses. Like, it's downtown, but where?

'Cause I'm supposed to go there, but I don't know where it is. And so I got on a kick about that. - [Pamela] In 1966, Clayton teamed up with local doctors to desegregate

Atlanta's white hospitals, which would only allow Blacks treatment on certain days. - We also feel that a negro patient who's ill, and he goes to the doctor of his choice, he

should also have a choice as to hospitals if you know one is more convenient or the fees are a little lower and more convenient to his budget; as long as the standards are equal and fair, we

really don't... - [Pamela] Those efforts would help lead the nationwide hospital desegregation after Clayton and a delegation of doctors visited briefly with President Lyndon Johnson

at the White House later that year. she also became the community affairs coordinator in the Model Cities program in Atlanta, an element of Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty to help

improve conditions in poor and blighted urban areas. Through that program, she met and eventually befriended an unusual ally after one of the neighborhood meetings. - It wasn't until

the next day, and he came to my office and he said, "I'm Calvin Craig." And well, I met him by name, but he went on to tell me who he was by identity. Ku Klux Klan Grand

Dragon. - [Pamela] The two began to talk on a daily basis, often exchanging views on race and religion. Craig would eventually hold a press conference and announce his leaving of the Klan,

crediting a Black woman with changing his attitudes. - I tell people, I think it's because when I put his conscience with his standing in church, having a face of external love, and

inside he had this bigotry, I think it kind of had an inner conflict with him. That's what I think. He never said that. I did ask him all the time. - [Pamela] Later that year, Ed

Clayton passed away from a heart attack at the age of 45. On April 3rd, 1968, Coretta Scott King asked Clayton to drive her husband to the airport. - Now, I drove him to the airport here in

Atlanta. I drove him here to the Atlanta Airport to go to Memphis. And that was the last time I saw him. - [Pamela] Dr. King was returning to Memphis to finish organizing a march for the

striking sanitation workers. Dr. King was in a pensive mood that day. He had recently spoken out publicly against the war in Vietnam. - Dr. King's world collapsed. His friends

didn't call, money dried up, nobody talked to him, nobody wanted to see him. He was pained by that. He said, "I can't understand why people didn't understand my position

on war," period. But then when he saw those little children getting burned in the Vietnam War, he said, "I've gotta speak up." - [Pamela] When Dr. King was killed,

Clayton did her best to help Mrs. King manage in the weeks following. - I was having dinner with somebody downtown, so I wasn't home; she couldn't reach me. And she said, oh, she

went on to tell me what had happened. She said, "I'm on my way to Memphis." And I stayed with the children, and I get a chance to make arrangements. And you just wanted the

connection there to see that they were okay. And she said, "Also, go over and see how mom and dad (faintly speaking)." And so I did. I ran over there, and the first thing she said

to me: "Well, your call is gonna help me go through this." (horn honking) - [Pamela] Xernona Clayton continued with her civil rights efforts, lobbying for more diversity in

Atlanta's newsrooms by teaming up with her longtime friend and The Atlanta Constitution's editor, Ralph McGill. McGill suggested that Clayton should speak to a group of local

broadcasters about the importance of television coverage to the civil rights cause. She did. And she also pointed out the lack of Black broadcasters seen on TV. Unbeknownst to her, McGill

had been speaking with the three Atlanta TV stations about the issue. It led to a lunch and an agreement between Clayton and the station manager of WAGA to break the color barrier on Atlanta

TV. (whimsical music) In 1968, Clayton became the first Black TV host for a regularly scheduled show in the South. She received good reviews and grew an audience of both Black and white

viewers. She continued with it for the next seven years. After marrying her second husband, Judge Paul L. Brady, in 1974, she was ready to spend more time at home and decided to quit the

show. But her break from broadcasting didn't last long after a call came in from a local Atlanta UHF station owned by a relatively unknown Ted Turner. - He had a small station. And his

station manager called and he said, "Xernona, I heard you didn't sign your contract. That means you're free." And I said, "Free for what?" He said, "Free

to join us." And I said, "Well, I think I didn't sign because I thought I'd take a little hiatus." I was not gonna work for a while. I had gotten remarried. And I

said, "Eh, let my husband feed me for a while," you know, jokingly said that. He said, "Well, why don't you just come over and talk to us?" - [Pamela] She did, And

soon began producing documentaries for the growing station. Clayton's relationship with Turner began after a unique encounter at the station one day. - He only slept in a towel. That

was his pajamas: sleepwear, I should say. And he came down, and it looked like Ted Turner, you know? And his hair was all tousled. And he had this towel wrapped around his body, and that was

it. And I said, "Well, where are you going?" And he said, "I'm going to get some coffee. Well, what are you doing here so early?" And I said, "Oh, I like early

mornings. And so I'm here thinking." And he said, "Well, where's your office?" And I said, "Right there." And so I was near. He said, "Well, could I

have a cup of your coffee?" But that was the beginning of my relationship with Ted Turner, because he knew I was there every morning and he knew the coffee pot was there. And he'd

come to get the coffee, but he would sit and chat and get my ideas. - [Pamela] She quickly became a sounding board for Turner and his ideas. - He was open and honest. And even when he was

wrong, he would apologize. He was wrong about race, free-lipped, he just said what he would speak. And then, oh gee, you know, I shouldn't have said that. And I used to say to him:

"Think before you speak." - [Pamela] Often steering him through controversial matters. - We had, you know, three or four, but the one that was interesting, to say the least, they

would do the tomahawk chop at the Braves games. The Native Americans said that this is insulting to them. And you know how to create fun without insulting somebody. And he changed. He said,

"Oh darn. No, no. Oh, come on. Don't be no stick in the mud," or something, he said to me. I said, "I'm serious. You are doing something that's insulting to

somebody else. A group of people who said that all of them insulted by the tomahawk chop. (crowd cheering) And you were leading it. And that surprises me." And I said, "I'm

disappointed in you." - [Pamela] The Braves organization officially stopped the chop tradition after her urging. And yes, while the chop continued with fans, Clayton convinced Turner to

stop the practice internally. (audience applauding) In 1993, she created the Trumpet Awards. - I wanted this idea of a program that dealt with the contributions of African Americans. Even

though we've been kept in servitude as a people and a race, white people chose to come to America seeking a better life. We came to America against our choice. We were hauled in a boat

and brought to America for servitude. And that's the way we were for a long, long time, in servitude. But even in servitude, we made contributions that were never related. Nobody ever

told us. We got some smart people over there in shackles doing servant jobs. And so through the Trumpet Awards, I wanted to tell these stories. - [Pamela] Clayton eventually rose to the

title of Vice President of Urban Affairs at Turner before retiring in 1997. But she continued to sit on the board of directors at the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change and the Georgia

Department of Labor. - I didn't ask to come to Atlanta. Martin Luther King, you know, forced me to come almost, you know, with a long telephone call or request to come there. I

didn't plan this. Once I'm here, then once I get where I'm going, I wanna do something. I mean, that's when I come into play. But I didn't plan all of this. I think

the good Lord just put me in places where I needed to be. You know, that's what I think. - [Pamela] In 2011, Xernona Clayton was honored with a street named after her, not far from

where she once found herself lost. And in 2023, a statue depicting the civil rights legend and broadcasting pioneer was dedicated in Downtown Atlanta, surrounded by other civil rights and

local leaders, broadcasters, Hollywood stars, and admiring fans. - I think I'm the most blessed person in the world, because so many wonderful things have happened to me. And things

that I, I mean, if I, you know, concocted it myself, I would say, "Well, I baked that pie," and I did this and I did that. But most wonderful things that helped me, I didn't

plan them. (gentle music) - Pulitzer Prize-winning poet laureate Robert Frost originally had no ties to the South. That was until an invitation along with a cash stipend from a noted Decatur

women's college lured the literary giant to come to Georgia. And more than a decade after his arrival, his relationship with the faculty and the girls of Agnes Scott College

transformed not only the school, but made Frost a Georgia legend. (soft music) Among the stories lost to modern Atlanta, the saga of the poet laureate Robert Frost and the small

Decatur-rooted college, Agnes Scott; Mr. Frost made his annual pilgrimages or visits to Agnes Scott from 1945 to 1962. Robert Frost loved Agnes Scott College. According to Agnes Scott, the

poet stayed in the northeast corner of the president's house on as many visits to the college. - Emma May Laney paid Frost $500 in 1935, which was a lot of money in 1935, to come to

Agnes Scott. And then she didn't hear from him and didn't know for sure he was coming. So she wired him and telegraphed. That was a big deal. And so he found that very amusing,

which we later construed into boughten friendship. So the very last four years that he came here were my school years. So I felt very involved with the poet. And as an English major, we got

particular access to him, which was a benefit. In fact, I almost failed a art test because I stayed up listening to him talk with the other English majors one evening when I should have been

studying. But he was a presence. And we anticipated his coming. We looked forward to the three days to a week that he would be here. And it was all about Frost. When I was a student, we

were in love with Frost. And he was very aware of that. And he often talked about the affectionate girls. We thought it worked both ways, that he cared about us too. We considered him our

poet. He was fundamental to the identity of the college. He stayed fundamental to the identity of the college. - And remains so now. - I think so. I mean, we aren't yet recognized for

the resources we have about Robert Frost. We deserve to be acknowledged as a place where there are materials for scholars. And at the very least, for people who have an affection and an

interest in Robert Frost. - Agnes Scott's College collection of Frostiana includes first editions, both limited and trade of the poet's books, holographed copies of his poems, some

written especially for the Agnes Scott collection, periodicals containing the first printing of his writings, anthologies containing the first printings of his poems in book form,

translations into foreign languages, Christmas cards, broadsides, page proof sheets, keepsakes, records and other collectors' items. The collection also includes a wide range of

biographical and critical material in books and periodicals, together with hundreds of newspaper clippings chronologically arranged and all pertaining to Mr. Frost. Can you close your eyes

and still put yourself in that room when you were making those notes? - Absolutely (laughs). Absolutely. The room, the Gaines was so packed that the fire marshals were upset. The people

would come. And it wasn't just Agnes Scott, but Decatur, Atlanta, everybody came to hear Frost. It was just very, very special. And I guess the first time I heard him, I had some notion

that he read his poetry very badly (laughs). I had some idea that poetry should be theatrical. And when he came with his homespun sort of regular voice and said the poems, it was

disconcerting to me. And I guess I was disappointed. I got over that. I grew out of that. I understood. And now anybody reading a poem very theatrically actually annoys me, because I think

that you put too much of that person in it Somehow in these poems; they have their voice, they speak, and he did what was right by them. (soft music) "The witch that comes, the withered

hag To wash the steps with pail and rag Was once the beauty Abishag The picture pride of Hollywood. Too many fall from great and good For you to doubt the likelihood. Die early and avoid

the fate. Or if predestined to die late, Make up your mind to die in state. Make the whole stock exchange your own! If need be occupy a throne, Where nobody can call you crone. Some have

relied on what they knew, Others on being simply true. What worked for them might work for you." And he was insistent about poetry being largely a metaphor that sort of comes from the

inspiration of the spirit or the soul or the emotions. And then gets shaped as it pushes itself out of the poet. And what he said made good poetry, great poetry was freshness, really, the

surprise of it. It's that fresh surprise getting shaped into wisdom, perhaps the seemingly simplest of Frost poems. You'll look at it again and you'll hear something or see

something or feel something a little different. "No memory of having starred Atones for later disregard Or keeps the end from being hard. Better to go down dignified With boughten

friendship at your side Than none at all. Provide, provide!" And then he would pause and he would say, sort of almost maliciously: "Or somebody else will provide for you." -

You got to sort of intersect with Frost. We don't see those sorts of lifeforms anymore. Do you think about Frost in that way, that this is such a unique life? - Well, yes, and he had a

long life, fortunately. I mean, he lived to be 88, so he put his stamp here, - (soft music) Frost wrote, in perhaps his most famous poem, "The Road Not Taken," Two roads diverged

in a wood, and I, I took the one that dared me to try," something that the students at Agnes Scott College were extremely happy that he did. For "Georgia Legends," I'm

Jeff Hullinger. (dramatic music) (dramatic music continues) (no audio)