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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.
William B. Hartsfield served as mayor of Atlanta for six terms (1937-41, 1942-61), longer than any other person in the city's history. He is credited with developing Atlanta into an aviation powerhouse and with building its image as "A City Too Busy to Hate."
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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. While other southern cities experienced recurring violence, Atlanta leaders, led in part by Mayor Allen, were able to broker more peaceful paths to integration. Allen was born in Atlanta on March 15, 1911, the only son of Ivan Allen Sr., the founder of the Ivan Allen Company, an... -
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. Now playing at the Georgia Dome, the Falcons join the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks as professional sporting attractions in Georgia. The Falcons... -
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. Citizens of the city welcomed their new team with a downtown parade. On April 12, 1966, the Braves played their first regular season game in Atlanta Stadium before a sellout crowd of more than 50,000... -
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. Mays also filled leadership roles in several significant national and international...
