Archive Atlanta

The Atlanta Public School system would be established by the City Council in 1869 and opening day would be in 1872. The first two high schools in the city were named Boys High and Girls High. This week, I'll talk about the history of both, how you can still see them today and a little personal tidbit about my vintage yearbook collection.

Today, I finally get to tell one of the most important histories of Atlanta. In 1913, Atlanta is only 50 years out of the Civil War, but there are still huge resentments between the North and South. Georgia’s child labor standards were the nation’s worst, with children as young as ten years old working. Populist, Tom Watson, was lighting the fire underneath the anti-Catholic, anti-black and anti-Jew rhetoric. 
In this climate, Leo Frank is charged with Mary Phagan's murder, tried, sentenced and then has his sentence commuted...only to be lynched in Marietta by the 'Knights of Mary Phagan'. If you don't know this story, you need to hear this episode!
Links:
https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Shall-Rise-Murder-Lynching/dp/0679764232
http://bittersoutherner.com/from-the-southern-perspective/miscellany/a-hole-in-the-oheart-of-georgia-state-prison-farm-demolition
Map of all the Leo Frank-related sites:
https://www.bing.com/maps?v=2&encType=1&cid=B381A84E094A8587!217
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Happy Thanksgiving! This week, I am bringing you a quick episode on two Sweet Auburn churches - Big Bethel AME and Wheat Street Baptist. Learn about fires, famous plays and how the pastor of Wheat Street helped desegregate Atlanta's buses.
Big Bethel AME:
Wheat Street Baptist:

The Atlanta Women's Club is one of the oldest non-profit organizations in Georgia. Listen to this week's episode to learn about their organizer, Rebecca Douglas Lowe, the lasting legacy of the club in Atlanta's history and their headquarters, the Wimbish House.
Links:
https://people.umass.edu/mchangam/Files/Black%20Women's%20Club%20Movement.pdf
https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1059&context=eps_diss
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=3625&context=gradschool_dissertations
Photos:
Rebecca Douglas Lowe
(courtesy of GFWC)
Wimbish House
 

In 1881, Jacob Elsas built the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill and the neighboring mill worker neighborhood, now called Cabbagetown. The two are intrinsically link and have great histories.
Links:
https://www.allofitp.xyz/
https://www.amazon.com/Contesting-New-South-Order-1914-1915/dp/0807849731/ref=mp_s_a_1_3/139-1043212-8837558?ie=UTF8&qid=1541771234&sr=1-3&refinements=p_27%3AClifford+Kuhn&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&dpPl=1&dpID=51n4sD-r7pL&ref=plSrch
https://www.gofundme.com/help-the-patch-works-save-history
Jacob Elsas:
 
(Breman Museum)
Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill:
Elsas Mausoleum:

We're back with two more downtown Atlanta hotels! First up? Hotel Row, the city's most intact row of commercial structures in the oldest business district. Second, the Imperial Hotel, home of the seeing Domino Lounge and currently a preservation win.
Links:
http://www.atlantatimemachine.com/downtown/imperial_list.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQjf_gC0TrU
Terminal Station:
Terminal Hotel:
Hotel Row:
Imperial Hotel:
 
 
 

Reynoldstown is a Atlanta neighborhood from the 'other side of the tracks', founded by newly-freed slaves in the 1860s. Just like all of Atlanta, the area is changing so rapidly, that the history of this incredible community is in jeopardy. Join me this week as a I share why I love Reynoldstown and learn the unique stories it has to share.
 1892 Aerial:
IP Reynolds building:
John F. Faith Elementary:
IP Reynolds Elementary:
 
 

Atlanta's High Museum is one the more modern structures in the city's history, but the story of it's origins go back more than a century. Today were talking about the beginnings of Atlanta's art scene and how the museum, in it's current form, came to be.
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Atlanta has a long and complicated history of incarceration. This week, we're talking about three places still around today - in some form or another. The Atlanta Stockade, the Federal Penitentiary and the Old Prison Farm. 
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Gaines Hall is one of the oldest buildings in Atlanta. Built as part of Atlanta University in 1869, it's a monument to the founder’s vision of a biracial society and their commitment to basic human and civil rights, which their students sought to advance here and elsewhere in the United States.
The building has been gutted by fire and it left open to the elements. Learn how you can help share it's story and #savegaineshall.
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Email: thevictorialemos@gmail.com
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