George Bright Papers

George Michael Bright was an engineer and amateur mathematician and inventor. Born in Kingsport, Tennessee on August 15, 1923 and raised in Rochester, New York, he invented a reflecting telescope that enabled people to look deep into their own inner eye and Grip Rights, a patented hand exerciser. Soon after World War II, Bright moved to Atlanta and worked at the Fulton Bag & Cotton Mills. He quickly began to circulate his strong opinions on race relations. In 1946, at the age of 22, Bright affiliated with the hate group the Columbians. Over the next few years, Bright became aware of Rabbi Jacob Rothschild’s presence in Atlanta as the sermons he delivered were often focused on integration and civil rights. Rabbi Rothschild was the Pittsburgh-born rabbi of the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation, also known as the Temple, the largest Jewish congregation in Atlanta at that time.

Soon after the bombing of the Temple on the morning of October 12, 1958, George Bright was questioned and taken into custody along with four other suspected co-conspirators. They were formally indicted by a grand jury and stood trial in December. Before the trail ended, Bright made a six-hour long statement to the jury claiming that he was being persecuted for his beliefs in segregation. He submitted an alibi of visiting a Mrs. Marilyn Craig the night of the bombing and that he harbored no hatred of Jews – having served alongside them in the war and dated a Jewish girl. The trail ended in a hung jury.

The prosecution prepared for a second trial in January. This time, Bright made only a fifteen-minute statement to the jury. The jury deliberated for a couple hours and then declared Bright innocent of the charges.

George Bright died in Atlanta on August 24, 2001.