Changes

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.  

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>  

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>