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→1945 to present: Hartsfield
The spectacular premier in Atlanta of David O. Selznick's film version of Margaret Mitchell's novel ''Gone With The Wind'' in December 1939 was an unprecedented and unconventional success, marking both a new stage in film promotion and a milestone in Atlanta's efforts to remake itself as the capital of the New South. It was a segregated event. The best-selling novel and the top-selling film ever gave Atlanta a heroic image worldwide.<ref> Matthew Bernstein, "Selznick's March: The Atlanta Premiere of Gone With The Wind." ''Atlanta History'' 1999 43(2): 7-33. 0896-3975 </ref>
The spectacular premier in Atlanta of David O. Selznick's film version of Margaret Mitchell's novel ''Gone With The Wind'' in December 1939 was an unprecedented and unconventional success, marking both a new stage in film promotion and a milestone in Atlanta's efforts to remake itself as the capital of the New South. It was a segregated event. The best-selling novel and the top-selling film ever gave Atlanta a heroic image worldwide.<ref> Matthew Bernstein, "Selznick's March: The Atlanta Premiere of Gone With The Wind." ''Atlanta History'' 1999 43(2): 7-33. 0896-3975 </ref>
===1945 to present===
===1945 to present===
=====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.
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.
High priority went to the airport, through improvements in runways, lighting, and approaches. By 1950 Atlanta had emerged as the hub of air transportation in the Southeast, a crucial factor in the city's simultaneous dominance of the commerce and finance of the region. As chairman of the airport committee of the American Municipal Association, Hartsfield won support from the Eisenhower administration for a major federal program of assistance to airports.
Hartsfield and the business leaders wanted no racial troubles, so they approved of steady advances in black rights. Atlanta escaped the turmoil that characterized the civil rights era elsewhere. When the U.S. Supreme Court declared in 1944 that black voters could no longer be excluded from Democratic primaries, Hartsfield began to court the black leadership of his city. African Americans voters became an important element of his coalition, along with upscale whites and business leaders. He appointed Atlanta's first black police officers in 1948, ended segregation on buses and trolleys in 1957, and presided over the integration of city schools in 1961. Shortly after his death in 1971 his beloved Atlanta Municipal Airport, now one of the busiest in the world, was renamed the William Berry Hartsfield International Airport; it is now called the [[Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport]].<ref> See Harold H. Martin, ''William Berry Hartsfield: Mayor of Atlanta'' (1978)</ref>
====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 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>
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>
====Air transport====
====Air transport====
The relationship between cities and their airports has increased in significance since the widespread introduction of commercial jet passenger aviation in the 1960s. Atlanta was a model for other cities such as Dallas and Denver because of the active roles of its major airline, Delta, and the close ties between airline, city, and airport authorities. Delta and therefore Atlanta came to dominate air travel in the entire Southeast. Delta's pioneering hub-and-spoke system formed a blueprint for other airlines in the United States following deregulation in 1978, while the contribution Atlanta's airport made to the local economy aroused the interest of other growth oriented cities. <ref> Drew Whitelegg, Keeping Their Eyes on the Skies: Jet Aviation, Delta Air Lines and the Growth of Atlanta. Journal of Transport History 2000 21(1): 73-91. 0022-5266 </ref>
The relationship between cities and their airports has increased in significance since the widespread introduction of commercial jet passenger aviation in the 1960s. Atlanta's [[Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport]] was a model for other cities such as Dallas and Denver because of the active roles of its major airline, Delta, and the close ties between airline, city, and airport authorities. Delta and therefore Atlanta came to dominate air travel in the entire Southeast. Delta's pioneering hub-and-spoke system formed a blueprint for other airlines in the United States following deregulation in 1978, while the contribution Atlanta's airport made to the local economy aroused the interest of other growth oriented cities. <ref> Drew Whitelegg, Keeping Their Eyes on the Skies: Jet Aviation, Delta Air Lines and the Growth of Atlanta. Journal of Transport History 2000 21(1): 73-91. 0022-5266 </ref>
====1980s====
====1980s====
Charismatic black leader [[Andrew Young]] was mayor of Atlanta from 1982 to 1990, following the two terms of the first black mayor Maynard Jackson. During his two terms in office, Young's pro-business posture, fiscal policies, and civil rights reputation gained him some supporters, but Atlanta's violent crime, police brutality, and drug problems led to criticism of the city administration by both the black and white communities. Young admitted the failure of his administration to address Atlanta's need for improved and expanded public housing and was frustrated by problems in improving the city's mass transit system. Nonetheless, Young was able to promote economic investment in the city and, despite the city's social problems and his own personal difficulties, to enhance Atlanta's domestic and international image.<ref> Alton Hornsby, 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]</ref>
Charismatic black leader [[Andrew Young]] was mayor of Atlanta from 1982 to 1990, following the two terms of the first black mayor Maynard Jackson. During his two terms in office, Young's pro-business posture, fiscal policies, and civil rights reputation gained him some supporters, but Atlanta's violent crime, police brutality, and drug problems led to criticism of the city administration by both the black and white communities. Young admitted the failure of his administration to address Atlanta's need for improved and expanded public housing and was frustrated by problems in improving the city's mass transit system. Nonetheless, Young was able to promote economic investment in the city and, despite the city's social problems and his own personal difficulties, to enhance Atlanta's domestic and international image.<ref> Alton Hornsby, 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]</ref>