Changes

===1945 to present===

===1945 to present===

=====Mayor Hartsfield=====

=====Mayor Hartsfield=====

William Hartsfield (1890-71) came from a working class background and never attended college; we educated himself at the Atlanta Public Library. He became a lawyer and was elected to the city council in 1923, where he promoted Atlanta as the logical hub of aviation in the South. He negotiated the purchase of land for a municipal airport and won federal designation of Atlanta as a terminal and transfer point on the first New York-Miami and Chicago-Jacksonville air routes. He was elected mayor in 1936, serving, with one brief interruption, until 1961.

William Hartsfield (1890-71) came from a working class background and never attended college; we educated himself at the Atlanta Public Library.<ref> See [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-599&hl=y ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (2007)]</ref>  He became a lawyer and was elected to the city council in 1923, where he promoted Atlanta as the logical hub of aviation in the South. He negotiated the purchase of land for a municipal airport and won federal designation of Atlanta as a terminal and transfer point on the first New York-Miami and Chicago-Jacksonville air routes. He was elected mayor in 1936, serving, with one brief interruption, until 1961.

Hartsfield's goal was to make Atlanta the dominant southern city. With support from top business leaders he initiated a vast program of infrastructure improvements while showing a budget surplus every year. By 1959, Atlanta's metropolitan population had surpassed one million, and Hartsfield had tripled the territorial limits of the city from 35 to 118 square miles through a controversial annexation enacted by the state legislature over the opposition of suburban homeowners who objected to paying city taxes.   

Hartsfield's goal was to make Atlanta the dominant southern city. With support from top business leaders he initiated a vast program of infrastructure improvements while showing a budget surplus every year. By 1959, Atlanta's metropolitan population had surpassed one million, and Hartsfield had tripled the territorial limits of the city from 35 to 118 square miles through a controversial annexation enacted by the state legislature over the opposition of suburban homeowners who objected to paying city taxes.   

====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>  The overt racism of restaurant owner Lester Maddox (1915-2003) 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; on Maddox see [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1387&hl=y ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (2007)]</ref>  

Progressives on race relations, such as ''Atlanta Constitution'' editor Ralph E. McGill (1898-1969)<ref> See [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2769&hl=y ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (2007)]</ref>, 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 (1915-2003) during the mayoral elections of 1957 and 1961 evoked the "contextual liberalism" of his opponents. Neither Hartsfield (mayor 1937-62) nor Ivan Allen Jr. (1911-2003; mayor 1963-72)<ref> See [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1382&hl=y ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (2007)]</ref>  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; on Maddox see [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1387&hl=y ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (2007)]</ref>  

Atlanta adjusted smoothly to the end of segregation in 1964 with one major exception. Maddox worked tirelessly to galvanize Atlanta's white-supremacist population against integration. Even though the city ultimately rejected segregation to foster rapid economic growth, Maddox gained statewide support and was elected governor of Georgia in 1966.<ref> Justin Nystrom, "Segregation's Last Stand: Lester Maddox and the Transformation of Atlanta" ''Atlanta History'' 2001 45(2): 34-51. 0896-3975; see also [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1387&hl=y ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (2007)]</ref>  

Atlanta adjusted smoothly to the end of segregation in 1964 with one major exception. Maddox worked tirelessly to galvanize Atlanta's white-supremacist population against integration. Even though the city ultimately rejected segregation to foster rapid economic growth, Maddox gained statewide support and was elected governor of Georgia in 1966.<ref> Justin Nystrom, "Segregation's Last Stand: Lester Maddox and the Transformation of Atlanta" ''Atlanta History'' 2001 45(2): 34-51. 0896-3975; see also [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1387&hl=y ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (2007)]</ref>