Archive Atlanta

Listener Q&A - Vol. 3! This week, I am answering questions like: “How to find out what year your house was built?", "Who was Bessie Branham?”, “Will there be an episode about _____?” and "What are some of the coolest “behind the scenes” places you’ve got to visit recently?" (among many others).
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In the late 1800s - early 1900s, homes for fallen women existed in cities across America where they could gather women and young girls, usually pregnant out of wedlock, and hide them from “respectable” society and attempt to “reform” them. While these places came from good intentions, they were places of hard labor, crude reform and ideas and methods that we consider outdated by today’s standard. 
This week, I'm talking about Atlanta’s efforts to contain and reform their “fallen women”. Who led these efforts, who funded them, where were they, how did locals feel about them and talk about the few names of these women that we know. 
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Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington forged one of the earliest collaborations between Jews and African Americans to create schools throughout the nation for Black children who had no access to publicly funded education. It was an honor to interview author and photographer Andrew Feiler about this history and how he showcases it in his second book, “A Better Life for Their Children: Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Washington, and the 4,978 Schools that Changed America”. 
The photography exhibition, “A Better Life for Their Children”, debuted at The National Center for Civil and Human Rights on May 22nd and it’s going to be up until December. You can get tickets to the museum here. 
 
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This week, I got to speak with Alicia Guzman, who worked on the research and nomination of Fuller-Freedom House, which the City of Atlanta began the historic designation of in February. Who was Fuller? What did he do? What is a Freedom House? We’re covering all those questions and more! 
https://www.atlcitydesign.com/blog/2021/3/15/fuller-freedom-house-designated-as-historic-landmark
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Zoo Atlanta is part of the lived experience of so many Atlantans, but I’m not sure that everyone knows how it started. From a small collection of local animals when the park was formed, to the defunct circus in 1889, to a Candler boost in 1935. We’re going to talk about the famous animals, the controversies, the decline and then later re-emergence of the zoo.
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*CORRECTION: Judge Orinda Evans is white woman. I mistakenly identified her as Black in this episode.*
This week, we’re talking about the history Georgia’s state flag, from the beginning of the colony through the present. Our state did not have an official state flag until 1879, and the design was taken from the first flag of the Confederate States of America (the “Stars and Bars”). The Battle Flag (“St. Andrew’s Cross”) was added in 1956, in retaliation of federal orders to desegregate schools.
When Roy Barnes successfully changed the state flag in 2001, it cost him re-election, and Sonny Perdue did a little ‘bait and switch’ that outraged flag supporters.
Roy Barnes on Marietta Stories
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Did you know that throughout the 1950s, Atlanta had a Christmas Card Lady? Laura Watson recycled hundreds of thousands of used holiday cards, turning them into new ones to send to hospitals, missionaries and 'shut-ins'. This week's mini episode is about Watson and her labor of love.
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This week, we’re talking about the period just before Atlanta’s “white flight”. Three decades of incessant terror, violence and destruction against the Black families that purchased or rented homes in what were considered “white neighborhoods''.
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This week, we’re talking about the history of Atlanta’s City Hall...not just the Art Deco masterpiece you can see today, but also the places that no longer exist. Where they were, how we got them and what their fate was. Our current City Hall (the 4th one in history), was built in 1930 and brought forth something called the Atlanta Graft Ring - an epic corruption scandal that brought down a mayor and won the Constitution a Pulitzer Prize. 
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This week, we’re talking about Kirkwood - its earliest settlement history, community landmarks and historic events and people. This Muskogee/Creek land was ceded in 1821 and divided into 5 initial land lots. Early white settlers include James Kirkpatrick and Jesse Clay. Post-Civil War, Kirkwood became home to politicians like John B. Gordon. It tried to incorporate as it's own city in 1899 (not without drama), which didn't pass until 1904, and then was annexed into Atlanta in 1921 (more drama). After 'white flight' of the late 50s/early 60s, Kirkwood becomes an exclusively African American neighborhood by 1967. 
 
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