Carolyn Long Banks

A fourth-generation Atlantan, Banks was born in McDonough on October{{nbsp}}30, 1940, to Ralph A. Long, Sr. and Rubye Carolyn Hall Long. She had a brother, Ralph. Her father was a principal and her mother was chair of a high school English department. Banks went to Our Lady of Lourdes Atlanta, then attended Turner High School after her father became principal there. Banks's aunt Annette Lucille Hall was the first black person to enroll at Georgia State University.{{cite book |last1=Daniels |first1=Maurice Charles |title=Ground Crew: The Fight to End Segregation at Georgia State |date=2019 |publisher=The University of Georgia Press |location=Athens |isbn=9780820355979 |page=125}}

Initially, Banks planned to study fashion design at either UCLA or Pratt Institute, but she agreed to attend Clark University, her parents' alma mater, for a year.{{cite magazine |last1=Jones |first1=Joyce |title=The Activist Gene: If These Streets Could Talk |journal=Clark Atlanta Magazine |date=Fall 2014 |pages=15{{endash}}17 |url=https://issuu.com/clarkatlantauniversity/docs/cau_14_fall_oct20}}

During the Atlanta sit-ins, Banks was arrested at least four times, including in 1960 during a sit-in at Rich's to protest its segregated restaurant, Magnolia Room.{{cite magazine |last1=Turner |first1=Renée D. |title=Atlanta: Gone With the Winds of Change |journal=Ebony |date=August 1989 |volume=44 |issue=10 |pages=38{{endash}}45 |issn=0012-9011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xswDAAAAMBAJ}} Banks was joined by Lucille Scott of the Atlanta Daily World; she ordered a salad. "I was so nervous; we ate our food and left," she said. "Then I was arrested."

Banks also helped to produce the 1960 manifesto An Appeal for Human Rights.

Banks later worked as a teacher and as a buyer at Rich's. She had been asked by the National Urban League to apply there and help integrate the store. Banks worked at Rich's as its first black buyer until 1983.

In early 1980, Banks was appointed to the Atlanta City Council's at-large post 14 to succeed Marvin S. Arrington Sr. after he became council president, replacing Carl Ware. Banks had been traveling in New York at the time, and her parents tentatively accepted the position for her. Her appointment gave black council-members a majority of 9{{endash}}8.{{cite magazine |title=1st Black Woman Wins Atlanta Council Position |journal=Jet |issn=0021-5996 |date=10 April 1980 |volume=58 |issue=4 |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lLYDAAAAMBAJ}} She won re-election to the seat multiple times.{{cite web |title=City of Atlanta General Election, October 6, 1981 |url=https://www.fultoncountyga.gov/-/media/Project/FultonCountyGa/remos/elections/October-1981-Atlanta-General.ashx |publisher=Fulton County |access-date=15 April 2023}}

During her tenure, Banks sponsored legislation to ban AK-47 assault rifles, and also was in office during the Atlanta child murders from 1979 through 1981. "I participated in all 26 funerals," said Banks. "It was very difficult." She later served as chair of the public safety committee.{{cite web |title=Jan 3, 1994 Minutes |url=https://atlantacityga.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=12&ID=2604&Inline=True |publisher=Atlanta City Council |page=83}}

During Freaknik in the early 1990s, Banks was opposed to mayor Bill Campbell's plans to block off neighborhoods and stop wild behavior, worried the tactics could spark violence. She added that "the city too busy to hate is gearing up for the confrontation of its life".{{cite news |last1=Stanley |first1=Edith |last2=Harrison |first2=Eric |title='Freaknik' Revelers Descend on an Apprehensive Atlanta |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-22-mn-57447-story.html |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=22 April 1995}}

Banks was the president of the National League of Cities in 1994.

In 1996, the Atlanta City Council approved a new charter which reduced the number of at-large posts from six to three.{{cite web |title=How Your Council Works |url=https://citycouncil.atlantaga.gov/how-your-council-works |publisher=Atlanta City Council |access-date=15 April 2023}} The next year, Banks and fellow council member Robb Pitts both took the opportunity to run for Council President.{{cite news |title=Race gets crowded |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/1997/07/28/tidbits.html |work=Atlanta Business Chronicle |date=28 July 1997}}

Banks converted to Catholicism when she turned eighteen; she attended Saint Paul of the Cross in Atlanta.{{cite news |last1=Haugh |first1=Suzanne |title=Catholic Councilwoman Recalls Civil Rights History |url=https://georgiabulletin.org/news/2010/01/catholic-councilwoman-recalls-civil-rights-history/ |work=The Georgia Bulletin |date=21 January 2010}} She was also a lifetime member of the NAACP.{{cite web |title=First Black woman to serve on Atlanta City Council passes away |url=https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/atlanta-carolyn-long-banks-dies-first-black-woman-to-serve-city-council-magnolia-room |publisher=FOX 5 |date=12 April 2023}}

Banks's ex-husband was in the United States Army Ordnance Corps and served in the Vietnam War.{{cite web |author1=Georgia State University Library |title=Carolyn Long Banks oral history interview |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbqKtY30AZQ |publisher=YouTube |date=1 August 2011}} They divorced in 1969. Banks had two children: a daughter, April, and a son, James.

Following her career in politics, Banks worked for Lockheed Martin from 2000 to 2009. In 2021, she was inducted into the Atlanta Business League Women of Vision Hall of Fame.{{cite news |last1=Rayam |first1=Lisa |title=First African American Woman On Atlanta City Council Honored |url=https://www.wabe.org/first-african-american-woman-on-atlanta-city-council-honored/ |work=WABE |date=29 September 2021}}

Banks died on April{{nbsp}}12, 2023, at the age of 82.

• {{cite journal |last1=Banks |first1=Carolyn Long |last2=Lashutka |first2=Greg |title=Deficits Are Destroying Our Future |journal=Illinois Municipal Review |date=September 1995 |pages=19{{endash}}20 |url=https://www.lib.niu.edu/1995/im950919.html}}

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Category:1940 births

Category:2023 deaths

Category:African-American city council members in Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:21st-century African-American people

Category:20th-century African-American people

Category:Atlanta City Council members

Category:People from McDonough, Georgia