Ann would later become an advocate for better housing and studied and taught Durham’s housing policies so others wouldn’t go through what she did. The activities she led and organized included sit-ins, pickets, and boycotts. Friends and colleagues from the time recalled Atwater as a “natural born leader” and “very wise.” In 1971, Ann was invited by Durham City Council to co-chair a 10-day event called “Save Our Schools.” This event was meant to find a solution to racial tension going on in schools. At this event she would meet Klansman C.P. Ellis. He was a known racist and advocate for impoverished whites in Durham. Atwater initially declined to co-chair with Ellis, but reluctantly agreed. They decided it was best to work together and put their differences aside for the cause. The two would end up finding commonalities and began working together. They both raised their children in poverty, and both believed that children in lower classes have the same potential as children in upper classes. He would find that they shared the same problems and changed his way of thinking toward African Americans