Changes

====Gilded Age====

====Gilded Age====

With its central location and excellent railroad connections, Atlanta became a major commercial center. Local entrepreneurs then and now) heavily promoted tourism and conventions. Atlanta hospitality businesses, especially hotels, saloons, and theaters, grew rapidly from 1880 to 1900. Three major expositions and a convention attracted tens of thousands of visitors: the International Cotton Exposition (1881), the National Commercial Convention (1885), the Piedmont Exposition (1887), and the Cotton States and International Exposition (1895).  At the 1895 event black leader [[Booker T. Washington]] proclaimed the "Atlanta Compromise," which involved middle class white support for black education, with the quiet promise of an end to black political activism.<ref> Harvey K. Newman, "Atlanta's Hospitality Businesses in the New South Era, 1880-1900." ''Georgia Historical Quarterly'' 1996 80(1): 53-76. 0016-8297 </Ref>  

With its central location and excellent railroad connections, Atlanta became a major commercial center. Boosters moved the state capital here in 1868. The greatest booster of all was [[Henry W. Grady]], who became managing editor of the ''Atlanta Constitution'' in 1880, and became the principal spokesman for the New South. In his famous 1886 speech, "The New South," given before the New England Society in New York City, Grady won over his Yankee audience with wit and charm and the message that the wounds of the Civil War had healed and that the South was meeting the challenges of the new era.

 

Local entrepreneurs then and now) heavily promoted tourism and conventions. Atlanta hospitality businesses, especially hotels, saloons, and theaters, grew rapidly from 1880 to 1900. Three major expositions and a convention attracted tens of thousands of visitors: the International Cotton Exposition (1881), the National Commercial Convention (1885), the Piedmont Exposition (1887), and the Cotton States and International Exposition (1895).  At the 1895 event black leader [[Booker T. Washington]] proclaimed the "Atlanta Compromise," which involved middle class white support for black education, with the quiet promise of an end to black political activism.<ref> Harvey K. Newman, "Atlanta's Hospitality Businesses in the New South Era, 1880-1900." ''Georgia Historical Quarterly'' 1996 80(1): 53-76. 0016-8297 </Ref>  

Christian evangelicals lost the battle over the commercialization of the theater and other entertainments in downtown Atlanta but held ground in their opposition to Sunday motion pictures. Dime museums, vaudeville, and burlesque attracted scores from the white working class, while drawing criticisms from an elite that was self-consciously attempting to establish Atlanta's position as a regional center of high culture. The white cultural elite turned to the high culture of New York and Paris, notably opera and classical music. They found it impossible to gain support for such new forms of entertainments among the fellow upper crust, who were only a generation removed from the plantations. Meanwhile the city's black elite sought to distinguish itself from the black working class which sponsored jazz in its brothels.  The city's white and black laboring classes, without concern for appearances or the image they were projecting, were responsible for Atlanta's development into a true cultural center of blues, country, and hillbilly music.<ref> Steve Goodson, ''Highbrows, Hillbillies, and Hellfire: Public Entertainment in Atlanta, 1880-1930'' (2002)</ref>

Christian evangelicals lost the battle over the commercialization of the theater and other entertainments in downtown Atlanta but held ground in their opposition to Sunday motion pictures. Dime museums, vaudeville, and burlesque attracted scores from the white working class, while drawing criticisms from an elite that was self-consciously attempting to establish Atlanta's position as a regional center of high culture. The white cultural elite turned to the high culture of New York and Paris, notably opera and classical music. They found it impossible to gain support for such new forms of entertainments among the fellow upper crust, who were only a generation removed from the plantations. Meanwhile the city's black elite sought to distinguish itself from the black working class which sponsored jazz in its brothels.  The city's white and black laboring classes, without concern for appearances or the image they were projecting, were responsible for Atlanta's development into a true cultural center of blues, country, and hillbilly music.<ref> Steve Goodson, ''Highbrows, Hillbillies, and Hellfire: Public Entertainment in Atlanta, 1880-1930'' (2002)</ref>

====Progressive Era====

====Progressive Era====

Philip Weltner (1887-1981) was a major civic leader from the [[Progressive Movement|Progressive era of the early 20th century]] to the 1960s. A lawyer who was both a reformer of social ills and a shaper of welfare, higher education, and philanthropic programs in Georgia, Weltner preferred to remain anonymous, letting others take credit for efforts in which he played a significant role. Obtaining support from wealthy and influential men such as John Eagan, Joseph Logan, Marion Jackson, and Robert W. Woodruff, Weltner helped people better themselves in the areas of housing, health, labor conditions, prison life, and small farm enterprises. He helped establish and served on Georgia University System's Board of Regents and served as regional director of the Resettlement Administration. He also restored fiscal soundness to and gained accreditation for Oglethorpe University, where he was president for ten years.<ref> Noell Wannamaker, "'Mr. Anonymous, Jr.': Philip Weltner and Uplift from Progressivism to the Great Society." ''Journal of the Georgia Association of Historians'' 1995 16: 16-51. 0275-3867 </Ref>  

Philip Weltner (1887-1981) was a major civic leader from the [[Progressive Movement|Progressive era of the early 20th century]] to the 1960s. A lawyer who was both a reformer of social ills and a shaper of welfare, higher education, and philanthropic programs in Georgia, Weltner preferred to remain anonymous, letting others take credit for efforts in which he played a significant role. Obtaining support from wealthy and influential men such as John Eagan, Joseph Logan, Marion Jackson, and Robert W. Woodruff, Weltner helped people better themselves in the areas of housing, health, labor conditions, prison life, and small farm enterprises. He helped establish and served on Georgia University System's Board of Regents and served as regional director of the Resettlement Administration. He also restored fiscal soundness to and gained accreditation for Oglethorpe University, where he was president for ten years.<ref> Noell Wannamaker, "'Mr. Anonymous, Jr.': Philip Weltner and Uplift from Progressivism to the Great Society." ''Journal of the Georgia Association of Historians'' 1995 16: 16-51. 0275-3867 </Ref>  

In early-20th-century Atlanta, police often arrested or detained young working-class women who frequented cheap theaters and other places of amusement. The stated object was to protect women from becoming victims of prostitution and other vices, but it seems to have been more a Progressive Era technique to control male vice. It was easier and less controversial to control women's activities than to attempt to control the entertainment businesses. The coming of World War I in 1917 and the presence of a large Army facility at nearby Camp Gordon intensified the enforcement efforts and prompted the hiring of full-fledged policewomen, an Atlanta "first," to more effectively patrol the streets and inspect commercial establishments where prostitution was suspected.<ref>Georgina  Hickey, "Waging War on 'Loose Living Hotels' and 'Cheap Soda Water Joints': The Criminalization of Working-Class Women in Atlanta's Public Space." ''Georgia Historical Quarterly'' 1998 82(4): 775-800. 0016-8297 </Ref>  

In early-20th-century Atlanta, police often arrested or detained young working-class women who frequented cheap theaters and other places of amusement. The stated object was to protect women from becoming victims of prostitution and other vices, but it seems to have been more a Progressive Era technique to control male vice. It was easier and less controversial to control women's activities than to attempt to control the entertainment businesses. The coming of World War I in 1917 and the presence of a large Army facility at nearby Camp Gordon intensified the enforcement efforts and prompted the hiring of full-fledged policewomen, an Atlanta "first," to more effectively patrol the streets and inspect commercial establishments where prostitution was suspected.<ref>Georgina  Hickey, "Waging War on 'Loose Living Hotels' and 'Cheap Soda Water Joints': The Criminalization of Working-Class Women in Atlanta's Public Space." ''Georgia Historical Quarterly'' 1998 82(4): 775-800. 0016-8297 </Ref>  

Leo Frank, Jewish co-owner of an Atlanta pencil factory, was convicted in 1913 of murdering Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old white Catholic employee, but after his sentence was commuted by the governor of Georgia in 1915, he was taken by a mob from a Milledgeville, Georgia, prison and lynched.  Many historians believe he was innocent in the first place and was the victim of anti-Semitism.

Leo Frank, Jewish co-owner of an Atlanta pencil factory, was convicted in 1913 of murdering Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old white Catholic employee, but after his sentence was commuted by the governor of Georgia in 1915, he was taken by a mob from a Milledgeville, Georgia, prison and lynched.  Many historians believe he was innocent in the first place and was the victim of anti-Semitism.<ref> Nancy MacLean, "The Leo Frank Case Reconsidered: Gender and Sexual Politics in the Making of Reactionary Populism," ''Journal of American History,'' Vol. 78, No. 3 (Dec., 1991), pp. 917-948 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2078796 in JSTOR]</ref>

As a center for religion and publishing Atlanta could not rival Nashville, but it made its mark. John Melvin Henson (1887-1972) was an Atlanta-based composer and publisher of gospel music songbooks, and the proprietor of the J. M. Henson Music Company. Henson's company and the gospel songbooks he published were central to the gospel singing conventions that were popular in the South before World War II but declined thereafter.<ref> Wayne W. Daniel, "J. M. Henson, Gospel Music Entrepreneur." ''Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin'' 1996 57(4): 147-153. 0040-3253 </ref>

As a center for religion and publishing Atlanta could not rival Nashville, but it made its mark. John Melvin Henson (1887-1972) was an Atlanta-based composer and publisher of gospel music songbooks, and the proprietor of the J. M. Henson Music Company. Henson's company and the gospel songbooks he published were central to the gospel singing conventions that were popular in the South before World War II but declined thereafter.<ref> Wayne W. Daniel, "J. M. Henson, Gospel Music Entrepreneur." ''Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin'' 1996 57(4): 147-153. 0040-3253 </ref>

In the rapid growth of the 1870s race and class determined of residential location. Rich whites lived in mansions near the center of the city with the poor (both black and white) on the urban periphery. Emerging black settlements in Atlanta, as in many other southern cities, were further relegated to the most undesirable areas of the city: back alleys; low-lying, flood-prone ground; industrial sites; and tracts of land adjacent to railroads, cemeteries, city dumps, and slaughter houses. Most blacks lived in Jenningstown on the west side, Summer Hill to the south, Shermantown on the east side, and Mechanicsville in the southwestern. They worked as unskilled laborers and domestic servants. About 90% of the unskilled laborers in 1900 were black.  Most blacks were poor but some prospered, including undertakers, barbers, insurance company entrepreneurs, hotel owners and grocers; they catered to black clients. The black leadership class also included politicians, preachers and teachers.  With little aid from government before 1910, blacks created their own self-help welfare agencies that operated orphanages and insurance funds, health centers, youth clubs, and vocational education.  The First Congregational Church of Atlanta, with financial support from new England, sponsored a  home for black working women, business and cooking schools, a kindergarten, and an employment bureau. Similar community services and programs were provided by the city's other leading black churches such as Big Bethel A.M.E. Church and Wheat Street Baptist Church.

In the rapid growth of the 1870s race and class determined of residential location. Rich whites lived in mansions near the center of the city with the poor (both black and white) on the urban periphery. Emerging black settlements in Atlanta, as in many other southern cities, were further relegated to the most undesirable areas of the city: back alleys; low-lying, flood-prone ground; industrial sites; and tracts of land adjacent to railroads, cemeteries, city dumps, and slaughter houses. Most blacks lived in Jenningstown on the west side, Summer Hill to the south, Shermantown on the east side, and Mechanicsville in the southwestern. They worked as unskilled laborers and domestic servants. About 90% of the unskilled laborers in 1900 were black.  Most blacks were poor but some prospered, including undertakers, barbers, insurance company entrepreneurs, hotel owners and grocers; they catered to black clients. The black leadership class also included politicians, preachers and teachers.  With little aid from government before 1910, blacks created their own self-help welfare agencies that operated orphanages and insurance funds, health centers, youth clubs, and vocational education.  The First Congregational Church of Atlanta, with financial support from new England, sponsored a  home for black working women, business and cooking schools, a kindergarten, and an employment bureau. Similar community services and programs were provided by the city's other leading black churches such as Big Bethel A.M.E. Church and Wheat Street Baptist Church.

 

The blacks made Atlanta their national center for higher education. Atlanta University was founded by the American Missionary Association in 1865. Atlanta Baptist College for men (now Morehouse College) opened in 1867, and Clark University, supported by the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was established in 1870. The final two schools of what would later become the Atlanta University Center -- Morris Brown College, affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.), and Spelman Seminary (Spelman College) for women, a Baptist school -- opened in 1881. At first these were advanced secondary schools, this nucleus of black higher provided important educational and training opportunities for Atlanta's black students and contributed to the growth of what by 1910 was a large and well-educated black middle class second in size only to Washington. By contrast the public school system lagged far behind, so that working class black Atlanta had low levels of schooling.   

The blacks made Atlanta their national center for higher education. Atlanta University was founded by the American Missionary Association in 1865. Atlanta Baptist College for men (now Morehouse College) opened in 1867, and Clark University, supported by the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was established in 1870. The final two schools of what would later become the Atlanta University Center -- Morris Brown College, affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.), and Spelman Seminary (Spelman College) for women, a Baptist school -- opened in 1881. At first these were advanced secondary schools, this nucleus of black higher provided important educational and training opportunities for Atlanta's black students and contributed to the growth of what by 1910 was a large and well-educated black middle class second in size only to Washington. By contrast the public school system lagged far behind, so that working class black Atlanta had low levels of schooling.   

Not until the 1920s did Atlanta open its first black public high school. It came about because blacks worked through their churches to vote in city bond referendums and negotiated with the Commission on  Interracial Cooperation to gain a commitment from the board of education to build a black high school. It was located on the west side of  town, where pioneer black businessman, banker, realtor, and builder Heman Perry was  already developing new homes for Atlanta's upscale blacks.  

Not until the 1920s did Atlanta open its first black public high school. It came about because blacks worked through their churches to vote in city bond referendums and negotiated with the Commission on  Interracial Cooperation to gain a commitment from the board of education to build a black high school. It was located on the west side of  town, where pioneer black businessman, banker, realtor, and builder Heman Perry was  already developing new homes for Atlanta's upscale blacks.  

 

It was the era of [[Jim Crow]] and by 1880 all public spaces and transportation lines were racially segregated, with inferior facilities for blacks.  As the population surged 1880-1910 blue collar workers moved to the city and entrepreneurs built rental housing for them.  Real estate agents sold property for development of cheaply built rental homes. Unlike other cities, such houses were mixed in with more upscale middle-class homes, making neighbors of skilled and unskilled whites and African Americans. There was little neighborhood segregation by race or class, although the races did mingle socially. Industrial jobs within walking distance made the housing attractive. By 1910 neighborhoods were becoming class and race conscious, and the people who had rented houses on their property to working-class whites and blacks were moving to segregated, middle-class suburbs.<ref> Leeann Bishop Lands,  "Speculators Attention!" Workers and Rental Housing Development in Atlanta, 1880 To 1910. Journal of Urban History 2002 28(5): 546-572. 0096-1442 </Ref>  

It was the era of [[Jim Crow]] and by 1880 all public spaces and transportation lines were racially segregated, with inferior facilities for blacks.  As the population surged 1880-1910 blue collar workers moved to the city and entrepreneurs built rental housing for them.  Real estate agents sold property for development of cheaply built rental homes. Unlike other cities, such houses were mixed in with more upscale middle-class homes, making neighbors of skilled and unskilled whites and African Americans. There was little neighborhood segregation by race or class, although the races did mingle socially. Industrial jobs within walking distance made the housing attractive. By 1910 neighborhoods were becoming class and race conscious, and the people who had rented houses on their property to working-class whites and blacks were moving to segregated, middle-class suburbs.<ref> Leeann Bishop Lands,  "Speculators Attention!" Workers and Rental Housing Development in Atlanta, 1880 To 1910. Journal of Urban History 2002 28(5): 546-572. 0096-1442 </Ref>  

 

The segregation did not prevent racial violence, most notably the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906. Racial tensions were intensified by a long and bitter campaign for governor in which both white candidates, Hoke Smith and Clark Howell, called for the complete exclusion of blacks from the political process. Following a series of wild rumors of wanton black attacks on white women, a race riot erupted in the city in which whites attacked blacks on the street. Spurred on by lurid newspaper accounts of black rapists and rumors of black insurrection, roving gangs of white males attacked African Americans wherever they could find them in the downtown area and in nearby black neighborhoods.  There were at least 25 dead (mostly black men), hundreds injured, and thousands of dollars in property damage.<ref> See Mark Bauerlein, ''Negrophobia: A Race Riot in Atlanta, 1906.'' (2001) [http://www.questia.com/library/book/negrophobia-a-race-riot-in-atlanta-1906-by-mark-bauerlein.jsp online]; Gregory Mixon, ''The Atlanta Riot: Race, Class, and Violence in A New South City'' (2005)</ref> After the riot geographical segregation intensified.  One major long-term result was that black and white elites forged an interracial alliance dedicated to the preservation of law and order. The new "Atlanta Plan" did maintain the peace and allowed the city to flourish commercially, while but required black elites to reduce their ties to working-class blacks, renounce militancy, and accept the leadership of moderate white businessmen who endeavored to protect blacks from white demagogues.  The violence ended as the city boasted Atlanta was  "a city too busy to hate." This allowed for the emergence of a powerful black middle class, represented in the 1930s by Rev. Martin Luther King, Senior. His famous son Rev. [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] rejected the compromise in the 1950s and sought confrontations with segregationists in Alabama.<ref>David Fort Godshalk, ''Veiled Visions: The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot and the Reshaping of American Race Relations'' (2005)</ref>

The segregation did not prevent racial violence, most notably the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906. Racial tensions were intensified by a long and bitter campaign for governor in which both white candidates, Hoke Smith and Clark Howell, called for the complete exclusion of blacks from the political process. Following a series of wild rumors of wanton black attacks on white women, a race riot erupted in the city in which whites attacked blacks on the street. Spurred on by lurid newspaper accounts of black rapists and rumors of black insurrection, roving gangs of white males attacked African Americans wherever they could find them in the downtown area and in nearby black neighborhoods.  There were at least 25 dead (mostly black men), hundreds injured, and thousands of dollars in property damage.<ref> See Mark Bauerlein, ''Negrophobia: A Race Riot in Atlanta, 1906.'' (2001) [http://www.questia.com/library/book/negrophobia-a-race-riot-in-atlanta-1906-by-mark-bauerlein.jsp online]; Gregory Mixon, ''The Atlanta Riot: Race, Class, and Violence in A New South City'' (2005)</ref> After the riot geographical segregation intensified.  One major long-term result was that black and white elites forged an interracial alliance dedicated to the preservation of law and order. The new "Atlanta Plan" did maintain the peace and allowed the city to flourish commercially, while but required black elites to reduce their ties to working-class blacks, renounce militancy, and accept the leadership of moderate white businessmen who endeavored to protect blacks from white demagogues.  The violence ended as the city boasted Atlanta was  "a city too busy to hate." This allowed for the emergence of a powerful black middle class, represented in the 1930s by Rev. Martin Luther King, Senior. His famous son Rev. [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] rejected the compromise in the 1950s and sought confrontations with segregationists in Alabama.<ref>David Fort Godshalk, ''Veiled Visions: The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot and the Reshaping of American Race Relations'' (2005)</ref>

By the 1920s, Auburn Avenue was already home to a wide range of black-owned and black-operated businesses, such as insurance companies, banks, a newspaper, barber and beauty shops, restaurants, grocery stores, photo studios, and funeral homes that provided African Americans the services denied them in the larger urban community. Freed from competition with white businessmen and assured the patronage of Atlanta's black community, many black entrepreneurs and their businesses prospered under Jim Crow.

By the 1920s, Auburn Avenue was already home to a wide range of black-owned and black-operated businesses, such as insurance companies, banks, a newspaper, barber and beauty shops, restaurants, grocery stores, photo studios, and funeral homes that provided African Americans the services denied them in the larger urban community. Freed from competition with white businessmen and assured the patronage of Atlanta's black community, many black entrepreneurs and their businesses prospered under Jim Crow.

===1945 to present===

===1945 to present===

====Ending segregation====

====Ending segregation====

Progressives on race relations, such as ''Atlanta Constitution'' editor Ralph E. McGill, Governor Ellis Arnall, and Assistant Attorney General Daniel Duke, struggled in the period immediately following World War II to make Atlanta and Georgia a place of greater racial tolerance. White supremacist groups fought back, initially suffering some legal defeats. But racism reasserted itself with the election of [[Eugene Talmadge]] and, upon his death, the legislative manipulation of his son, [[Herman E. Talmadge]].<ref>  John Egerton, "Days of Hope and Horror: Atlanta After World War II," ''Georgia Historical Quarterly'' 1994 78(2): 281-305. 0016-8297; Egerton, ''Speak Now against the Day: The Generation before the Civil Rights Movement in the South'' (1994).</ref>

Progressives on race relations, such as ''Atlanta Constitution'' editor Ralph E. McGill, Governor Ellis Arnall, and Assistant Attorney General Daniel Duke, struggled in the period immediately following World War II to make Atlanta and Georgia a place of greater racial tolerance. White supremacist groups fought back, initially suffering some legal defeats. But racism reasserted itself with the election of [[Eugene Talmadge]] and, upon his death, the legislative manipulation of his son, [[Herman E. Talmadge]].<ref>  John Egerton, "Days of Hope and Horror: Atlanta After World War II," ''Georgia Historical Quarterly'' 1994 78(2): 281-305. 0016-8297; Egerton, ''Speak Now against the Day: The Generation before the Civil Rights Movement in the South'' (1994).</ref> The overt racism of restaurant owner Lester Maddox during the mayoral elections of 1957 and 1961 evoked the "contextual liberalism" of his opponents. Neither Hartsfield (mayor 1937-62) nor Ivan Allen, Jr. (mayor 1963-72) believed that progress should move too rapidly, and each was only as liberal as necessary to get the black vote.  Given the alternatives, blacks voted unanimously for the racially more liberal candidates, Hartsfield and Allen. Black votes, together with the votes of conservative businessmen and professionals offset Atlanta's poor white voters who wanted no racial accommodation. Thus, blacks were responsible for Atlanta's national recognition as an oasis of tolerance.<ref> Bradley R. Rice, "Lester Maddox and the 'Liberal' Mayors," ''Proceedings and Papers of the Georgia Association Of Historians'' 1983: 78-87.</ref> 

Atlanta adjusted smoothly to the end of segregation in 1965 with one major exception. Restaurant owner Lester Maddox and his wife Virginia worked tirelessly to galvanize Atlanta's white-supremacist population against integration in the early 1960s. Even though the city ultimately rejected segregation to foster rapid economic growth, Maddox gained statewide support and was eventually elected governor of Georgia.<ref> Justin Nystrom, "Segregation's Last Stand: Lester Maddox and the Transformation of Atlanta" ''Atlanta History'' 2001 45(2): 34-51. 0896-3975 </ref>

Atlanta adjusted smoothly to the end of segregation in 1965 with one major exception. Maddox worked tirelessly to galvanize Atlanta's white-supremacist population against integration in the 1960s. Even though the city ultimately rejected segregation to foster rapid economic growth, Maddox gained statewide support and was eventually elected governor of Georgia.<ref> Justin Nystrom, "Segregation's Last Stand: Lester Maddox and the Transformation of Atlanta" ''Atlanta History'' 2001 45(2): 34-51. 0896-3975 </ref>

====Public schools====

====Public schools====

Atlanta's public schools desegregated very slowly in the years following the 1954 Supreme Court decision [[Brown v. Board of Education]]. Not until 1961 was any formal plan implemented in Atlanta. Beginning with only a few grades, community leaders hoped that calm would prevail. Governor S. Ernest Vandiver, who had promised during his campaign to preserve segregation forever, attempted to block complete compliance by introducing a "save our schools" package in the legislature. The governor planned to withhold funds from the public schools and provide money to private, segregated institutions. The governor's plans were resisted by the business community, black groups, and, subsequently, the Georgia legislature. Nonetheless, pupil placement procedures and obstacles to school transfers continued to perpetuate racial separation in Atlanta's schools. New federal court orders in the early 1970s led to white flight from the city and little positive response from the Atlanta Board of Education. Ultimately, black leaders conceded the futility of total desegregation (since there were not enough whites "to go around"). In the compromise plan of 1973 African Americans obtained administrative control of the now largely black school system.<ref>Alton  Hornsby,  Jr., "Black Public Education in Atlanta, Georgia, 1954-1973: From Segregation to Segregation." ''Journal of Negro History'' 1991 76(1-4): 21-47. 0022-2992 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2717407  in JSTOR]</ref>  

Atlanta's public schools desegregated very slowly in the years following the 1954 Supreme Court decision [[Brown v. Board of Education]]. Not until 1961 was any formal plan implemented in Atlanta. Beginning with only a few grades, community leaders hoped that calm would prevail. Governor S. Ernest Vandiver, who had promised during his campaign to preserve segregation forever, attempted to block complete compliance by introducing a "save our schools" package in the legislature. The governor planned to withhold funds from the public schools and provide money to private, segregated institutions. The governor's plans were resisted by the business community, black groups, and, subsequently, the Georgia legislature. Nonetheless, pupil placement procedures and obstacles to school transfers continued to perpetuate racial separation in Atlanta's schools. New federal court orders in the early 1970s led to white flight from the city and little positive response from the Atlanta Board of Education. Ultimately, black leaders conceded the futility of total desegregation (since there were not enough whites "to go around"). In the compromise plan of 1973 African Americans obtained administrative control of the now largely black school system.<ref>Alton  Hornsby,  Jr., "Black Public Education in Atlanta, Georgia, 1954-1973: From Segregation to Segregation." ''Journal of Negro History'' 1991 76(1-4): 21-47. 0022-2992 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2717407  in JSTOR]</ref>  

==Further reading==

==Further reading==

* Allen, Frederick. ''Atlanta Rising: The Invention of an International City, 1946-1996.'' Atlanta: Longstreet, 1996. 290 pp.

* Allen, Frederick. ''Atlanta Rising: The Invention of an International City, 1946-1996.'' Atlanta: Longstreet, 1996. 290 pp.

* Ambrose, Andy. ''Atlanta: An Illustrated History.'' (2003) 224pp ISBN 1-58818-086-7.)

* Ambrose, Andy. ''Atlanta: An Illustrated History.'' (2003) 224pp ISBN 1-58818-086-7.)

* Greenhouse, Carol J. ''Praying for Justice: Faith, Order, and Community in an American Town.'' (1986). 222 pp. on Southern Baptists

* Greenhouse, Carol J. ''Praying for Justice: Faith, Order, and Community in an American Town.'' (1986). 222 pp. on Southern Baptists

* Hornsby, Alton, Jr. "Andrew Jackson Young: Mayor of Atlanta, 1982-1990." ''Journal of Negro History'' 1992 77(3): 159-182. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2717559  in JSTOR]

* Hornsby, Alton, Jr. "Andrew Jackson Young: Mayor of Atlanta, 1982-1990." ''Journal of Negro History'' 1992 77(3): 159-182. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2717559  in JSTOR]

* Hunter, Floyd. ''Community Power Succession: Atlanta's Policy-Makers Revisited.'' (1980). 198 pp. political scientist examines the power elite

** Hunter, Floyd. ''Community Power Succession: Atlanta's Policy-Makers Revisited.'' (1980). 198 pp. political scientist examines the power elite

* Keating, Larry. ''Atlanta: Race, Class, and Urban Expansion.'' (2000). 232 pp.

* Keating, Larry. ''Atlanta: Race, Class, and Urban Expansion.'' (2000). 232 pp.

* Kruse, Kevin M. ''White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism.'' (2005).

* Kruse, Kevin M. ''White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism.'' (2005).

* Mason, Herman, Jr. ''Going against the Wind: A Pictorial History of African Americans in Atlanta.'' Atlanta: Longstreet, 1992. 254 pp.

* Mason, Herman, Jr. ''Going against the Wind: A Pictorial History of African Americans in Atlanta.'' Atlanta: Longstreet, 1992. 254 pp.

* Newman, Harvey K. ''Southern Hospitality: Tourism and the Growth of Atlanta.'' (1999). 374 pp.

* Newman, Harvey K. ''Southern Hospitality: Tourism and the Growth of Atlanta.'' (1999). 374 pp.

* Plank, David N., and Marcia Turner. "Changing Patterns in Black School Politics: Atlanta, 1872-1973," ''American Journal of Education,'' Vol. 95, No. 4 (Aug., 1987), pp. 584-608 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1209255 in JSTOR]

* Plank, David N., and Marcia Turner. "Changing Patterns in Black School Politics: Atlanta, 1872-1973," ''American Journal of Education,'' Vol. 95, No. 4 (Aug., 1987), pp. 584-608 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1209255 in JSTOR]

* Preston, Howard L. ''Automobile Age Atlanta: The Making of a Southern Metropolis, 1900-1935.'' (1979). 203 pp.

* Preston, Howard L. ''Automobile Age Atlanta: The Making of a Southern Metropolis, 1900-1935.'' (1979). 203 pp.