Georgia Interscholastic Association
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The Georgia Interscholastic Association was a school league for black high schools in Georgia.
History
Football
Its first recognized football champion was Washington High of Atlanta in 1948 and the final was Houston County Training of Perry in 1969. The league ceased operations in 1970.
Washington, the first champion, was the winner of the Big Seven conference. The GIA expanded to three football classifications in 1949 - AA, A and B. Class C existed for the league's smallest schools and crowned basketball champions through 1964, but with very few C teams fielding football teams, they were included in that sport with Class B. Class B was dropped in 1968.
With public school integration starting in Atlanta in 1961, more schools began opening their doors to black students. The Georgia High School Association voted to begin accepting all-black schools as members in 1966 during its annual meeting[1]. Football-playing Atlanta schools Archer, Howard, Washington, South Fulton, Harper, Price, and Turner, and Savannah schools Beach, Johnson, and Tompkins departed that year. More large schools left in 1967-69 for the GHSA and with smaller schools closing because of full integration, the GIA opted to disband in 1970[2]. Current member schools were advised to apply to join the GHSA.
As of 2017, the only GIA schools still competing in the GHSA are Beach, Carver (Atlanta), Carver (Columbus), Hancock Central, Johnson (Savannah), Josey, Lucy Laney, Monroe (Albany), Spencer, and Washington (Atlanta).
In 2002, the GHSA voted to include GIA state championships with its records [3]
References
- ↑ "School Group Drops Barrier," The Palm Beach Post, May 26, 1966
- ↑ "G.I.A. to disband in 1970," The Atlanta Constitution, November 12, 1969
- ↑ "Black Schools Get In Georgia Record Books," Athens Banner-Herald, October 9, 2002