50 Who Made Atlanta: Martin Luther King Jr.
The greatest orator of the twentieth century inspired seismic changes at home that reverberated around the world.
Jimmy Carter
No matter your opinion of Carter’s four years in the White House, there’s no denying his imprint on the city of Atlanta.
Pat Swindall
You’d think with a name like Swindall, a politician would work to be a paragon of integrity. Not Pat Swindall, a former two-term congressman from DeKalb and onetime up-and-comer in the Republican party.
Coretta Scott King
Her husband grew up in the heart of Auburn Avenue, the center of black America. She grew up on a cotton farm in rural Alabama. That made all the difference.
Herman Talmadge
“I don’t need money. People give me things because they believe in me.” So said Willie Stark in All the King’s Men, and so, pretty much, said Talmadge. Ethics investigators found the U.S. senator from Georgia accepted loads of undisclosed gifts: airfare, clothing, fruit of the month packages, a trampoline, and wads of cash that he stuffed in a pocket.
Sara Totonchi
The Southern Center for Human Rights provides a crucial check of Southern prison and criminal justice systems.
Kasim Reed
Sixteen months on the job, the mayor enjoys widespread support among Democrats and Republicans and is quick to defuse criticism by shouldering blame and not shirking it.
Lisa Cremin
After the economy went pear-shaped, Cremin and the Community Foundation—which in 2010 alone paired nonprofit causes with $99 million from donors—made a crucial decision. They changed the way competitive funds—including the one Cremin created...
Brian Leary
To ensure the BeltLine has the transformative effect that advocates pine for, Leary will need to be both innovative and realistic.