Former Atlanta Student Recalls Catholic Church’s Role In Civil Rights

Lisa Rayam, Maria White Tillman • Feb 16, 2021

First Communion ceremony that was held in the old church on the first floor of the old school building ( the original building) now known as the Katharine Drexel Community Center.

Credit Sandra Criddell

First Communion ceremony that was held in the old church on the first floor of the old school building ( the original building) now known as the Katharine Drexel Community Center.

SANDRA CRIDDELL / PBA
Sandra Criddell with classmates.

SANDRA CRIDDELL / PBA
5th grade class. It was Miss Mattie Walker ( Ellison)’s first 5th grade class

WABE.ORG / PBA

Photo Credit Sandra Criddell
the Lourdes boys’ basketball team with Sister Ann Nicole.

SANDRA CRIDDELL / PBA

The century-old, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church sits in the heart of the Sweet Auburn Historic District in downtown Atlanta was swept up in the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Many marches and protests during that time took place outside its front doors.

The church, which is considered the mother church for African American Catholics in the metro area, also had an elementary and middle school on the church property.

Sandra Criddell is a 65-year-long member of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. (Courtesy of Sandra Criddell)

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church member Sandra Criddell attended Our Lady of Lourdes’ elementary and middle school.

When Criddell was in High School she attended Drexel Catholic High School which was built for Black high school students during the segregated south.

Criddell recalled during her conversation with the host of WABE’s “Morning Edition,” Lisa Rayam, how the nuns during the civil rights era were determined to teach the importance of having a voice in social reform.