Tag: history

Last week, five people were arrested for chaining themselves to construction equipment as part of protests against the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, dubbed "Cop City" by critics. It’s a long tradition in environmental activism: for many decades, protesters have been lashing themselves to equipment to stop construction projects—including right here in Atlanta. Back in the 1980s, decades before "Stop Cop City," there was "Stop the Road," when thousands of Atlantans came together to block the Presidential Parkway. Leading the fight were the Roadbusters, a ragtag group of activists whose protest stunts, like climbing trees and chaining themselves to construction equipment, made headlines across the city.

Baltimore Block was home to socialites, bohemians, and at least one parakeet. Here’s what it looks like today.

“Through these materials we see the vast impact that this tragic event in Atlanta had on generations of Atlantans, as well as the work done within Jackson’s administration” to address the murders, said Tiffany Atwater Lee, head of research services at the library’s Archives Research Center.

  Officially established in 1716, Natchez is the oldest continuous settlement on the Mississippi River and teems with history. From the early 1800s to the Civil War, Natchez reigned as one of America’s wealthiest cities....

Over the past two decades, the celebration has departed from Peachtree Street and split into two competing operations: the Atlanta Caribbean Carnival, which has taken place at Turner Field, Morris Brown College, Auburn Avenue, Old Fourth Ward Park, and, more recently, Central Park; and the Atlanta-DeKalb Carnival, which started in Conyers then moved to Decatur and, now, Stonecrest. At first glance, the split might seem to mirror the sprawl of the Caribbean community throughout the metro Atlanta area. But Atlanta’s tale of two Carnivals also reflects the age-old tensions that can occur when people with disparate but similar backgrounds have limited options for celebrating their identities and are forced to find community together—alternately being blamed or credited for each others’ actions.

In the 1980s, the Cold War was still raging—and so were the Cola Wars. Maybe it was inevitable that in the summer of 1985, the Pepsi Challenge would make its way into space aboard the Challenger’s Spacelab 2 mission, piloted by Atlanta native Roy D. Bridges Jr.

Located on the site of present-day Westside Park—the city’s premier new greenspace, a rambling campus surrounding a shimmering reservoir—Bellwood was one of a number of chain gang camps in Atlanta and across the state that lasted into the second half of the 20th century.

In 1980, Bagely Park was renamed as Frankie Allen Park for a beloved Buckhead Baseball umpire. No one told the family of William Bagely, a leader in the Black community that lived on and was ultimately forced out of the land where the park stands. Last year, Bagley's granddaughter Elon Osby and the Buckhead Heritage Society helped restore Bagley's name to the park and remind residents of the area's history.

The Roosevelts dine in Warm Springs, Georgia Tech takes on Auburn, Joseph E. Lowery helps lead a sit-in protest, and more.

The Great Speckled Bird was born in controversy. The front page of its first issue, in March 1968, featured an illustration of then-publisher of the Atlanta Constitution Ralph McGill, alongside Lyndon B. Johnson and Jesus, emerging from a cracked egg.