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William B. Hartsfield
William B. Hartsfield was a man of humble origins who became one of the greatest mayors of Atlanta. He served as mayor for six terms (1937-41, 1942-61), longer than any other person in the city's history. -
Civil Rights Act
The civil rights movement in the American South was one of the most significant and successful social movements in the modern world. Black Georgians formed part of this southern movement for full civil rights and the wider national struggle for racial equality. -
Benjamin Mays
Perhaps best known as the longtime president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Benjamin Mays was a distinguished African American minister, educator, scholar, and social activist. He was also a significant mentor to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and was among the most articulate and outspoken critics of segregation before the rise of the modern civil rights movement in the United States. -
1946 Governor's Race
The state of Georgia inaugurated the Governor's Awards in the Humanities in 1986. Through the initiative of Governor Joe Frank Harris, Georgia Humanities was designated as the convener and organizer of this annual event, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the humanities. -
Herman Talmadge
Herman Talmadge, son of Eugene Talmadge, served as governor of Georgia for a brief time in early 1947 and again from 1948 to 1954. In 1956 Talmadge was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until his defeat in 1980. -
Brown V. Board of Education
In 1936 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) launched a legal campaign to compel the desegregation of southern colleges and universities. After years of litigation and incremental progress in Georgia, the organization earned a landmark victory in January 1961 when U.S. District Court judge William Bootle ordered the admission of Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter to the University of Georgia (UGA). -
1956 State Flag
On May 8, 2003, Governor Sonny Perdue signed legislation creating a new state flag for Georgia. The new banner became effective immediately, giving Georgia its third state flag in only twenty-seven months—a national record. -
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC (pronounced "snick"), was one of the key organizations in the American civil rights movement of the 1960s. In Georgia SNCC concentrated its efforts in Albany and Atlanta -
Sibley Coommission
In 1960 Georgia governor Ernest Vandiver Jr., forced to decide between closing public schools or complying with a federal order to desegregate them, tapped state representative George Busbee to introduce legislation creating the General Assembly Committee on Schools. Commonly known as the Sibley Commission, the committee was charged with gathering state residents' sentiments regarding desegregation and reporting back to the governor. -
The Albany Movement
According to traditional accounts, the Albany Movement began in fall 1961 and ended in summer 1962. It was the first mass movement in the modern civil rights era to have as its goal the desegregation of an entire community, and it resulted in the jailing of more than 1,000 African Americans in Albany and surrounding rural counties. -
Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter
Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault, the students who desegregated the University of Georgia in 1961, returned in 1992 to speak at the first annual Holmes-Hunter lecture. Holmes, a prominent orthopedic surgeon in Atlanta until his death in 1995, was named the first African American member of the university foundation's board of trustees in 1983. -
Ivan Allen Jr.
Ivan Allen Jr. served as mayor of Atlanta from 1962 to 1970. He is credited with leading the city through an era of significant physical and economic growth and with maintaining calm during the civil rights movement. -
March on Washington
Martin Luther King Jr. (bottom left) led the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August 1963. King's "I Have a Dream" speech was the most memorable event of the day and confirmed him as black America's most prominent spokesperson. -
Atlanta Falcons
In 1965 the Atlanta Falcons became the first professional football team in the city of Atlanta and the fifteenth National Football League (NFL) franchise in existence. Since the team's first preseason game against Philadelphia at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium), the Falcons have become a mainstay in Atlanta's sports culture. -
Lester Maddox
The tumultuous political and social change in Georgia during the 1960s yielded perhaps the state's most unlikely governor, Lester Maddox. Brought to office in 1966 by widespread dissatisfaction with desegregation, Maddox surprised many by serving as an able, though unquestionably colorful, chief executive. -
Atlanta Braves
After spending seventy-seven years in Boston, Massachusetts, and thirteen in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Braves moved to Atlanta to begin the 1966 major league baseball season. The move made the Atlanta Braves the first major league professional sports team to call the Deep South its home. -
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks, a National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise and part of the Eastern Conference's Southeast Division, have called Atlanta home since 1968. Playing at Philips Arena in the heart of downtown Atlanta, the Hawks join the Braves and the Falcons as professional sports teams in Georgia. -
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), was the most prominent African American leader in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. -
Andrew Young
Andrew Young's lifelong work as a politician, human rights activist, and businessman has been in great measure responsible for the development of Atlanta's reputation as an international city. Early Life and Career Andrew Jackson Young Jr. was born on March 12, 1932, in New Orleans, Louisiana, into a prosperous middle-class family. -
Maynard Jackson Elected Mayor
Elected mayor of Atlanta in 1973, Maynard Jackson was the first African American to serve as mayor of a major southern city. Jackson served eight years and then returned for a third term of African Americans and to help blacks rise in the ranks. -
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Jimmy Carter in Georgia
Jimmy Carter, the only Georgian elected president of the United States, held the office for one term, 1977-81. His previous public service included a stint in the U.S. Navy, two senate terms in the Georgia General Assembly, and one term as governor of Georgia (1971-75). -
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1996 Olympic Games
From July 19 until August 4, 1996, Atlanta hosted the Centennial Summer Olympic Games, the largest event in the city's history. Local leaders hoped to use the publicity to promote Atlanta's image as an international city ready to play an important role in global commerce.
