Changes

==History==

==History==

Atlanta began as a railroad town in 1837, when the Western and Atlantic Railroad selected an uninhabited site for its western terminus. Here, a small settlement, aptly named Terminus, was built; its name was changed  to Marthasville in 1843 and finally to Atlanta in 1845. With the arrival of two other railroads, Atlanta became a major crossroads and the center of a fast growing transportation network. Wholesalers and bankers located in Atlanta, making it one of the the main inland commercial centers of the Southeast. An important founder was John James "Cousin John" Thrasher (1818–99), an entrepreneur who built railroads in Georgia. Thrasher represented Fulton County in the state legislature during 1859-63, and during the Civil War his Atlanta home was used as a headquarters by the Confederate Army. After the war, Thrasher helped the South rebuild by constructing civic buildings and railroads.

Atlanta began as a railroad town in 1837, when the Western and Atlantic Railroad selected an uninhabited site for its western terminus. Here, a small settlement, aptly named Terminus, was built; its name was changed  to Marthasville in 1843 and finally to Atlanta in 1845. With the arrival of two other railroads, Atlanta became a major crossroads and the center of a fast growing transportation network. Wholesalers and bankers located in Atlanta, making it one of the main inland commercial centers of the Southeast. An important founder was John James "Cousin John" Thrasher (1818–99), an entrepreneur who built railroads in Georgia. Thrasher represented Fulton County in the state legislature during 1859-63, and during the Civil War his Atlanta home was used as a headquarters by the Confederate Army. After the war, Thrasher helped the South rebuild by constructing civic buildings and railroads.

By the eve of the Civil War, Atlanta, with a population of more than 9,000, was the fourth largest city in Georgia.   

By the eve of the Civil War, Atlanta, with a population of more than 9,000, was the fourth largest city in Georgia.   

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>

The Atlanta chapter of the [[Women's Christian Temperance Union]] (WCTU) was founded in 1880, followed in 1883 by the Georgia WCTU under the presidency of Jane Elizabeth Sibley. The organization at first enjoyed close relations with the [[Methodist Episcopal Church, South|Methodist Church in Georgia]] but conflict later arose over the issue of women's rights, particularly since the WCTU had close connections with the Georgia Women's Suffrage Association, set up in 1889. Warren Akin Candler, president of Emory College, was a particularly vociferous Methodist opponent of WCTU support for female suffrage in the 1890s.<ref>Nancy A. Hardesty, "'The Best Temperance Organization in the Land': Southern Methodists and the W.C.T.U." ''Methodist History'' 1990 28(3): 187-194. 0026-1238</ref>  

The Atlanta chapter of the [[Women's Christian Temperance Union]] (WCTU) was founded in 1880, followed in 1883 by the Georgia WCTU under the presidency of Jane Elizabeth Sibley. The organization at first enjoyed close relations with the [[Methodist Episcopal Church, South|Methodist Church in Georgia]] but conflict later arose over the issue of women's rights, particularly since the WCTU had close connections with the Georgia Women's Suffrage Association, set up in 1889. Warren Akin Candler, president of Emory College, was a particularly vociferous Methodist opponent of WCTU support for female suffrage in the 1890s.<ref>Nancy A. Hardesty, "'The Best Temperance Organization in the Land': Southern Methodists and the W.C.T.U." ''Methodist History'' 1990 28(3): 187-194. 0026-1238</ref>  

Given the success of the WCTU and the churches in banning liquor from middle class homes, Southern pharmacists searched for a concoction that would quench thirst without alcohol.  The stunning breakthrough took place in Atlanta's large patent medicine industry by three pharmacists. John Stith Pemberton, who moved to Atlanta in 1870, became noted for developing Coca-Cola. He urged customers to "drink the brain tonic and intellectual soda fountain beverage, Coca-Cola." During the 1880s, Joseph Jacobs developed a variety of proprietary products that he dispensed in his Atlanta pharmacy. He also acquired a financial interest in Coca-Cola that was to increase his wealth. Asa G. Candler (1851-1929) was another Atlanta pharmacist interested in selling proprietary medicines. He became convinced of Coca-Cola's commercial potential and disposed of all of his resources to promote his interest in the product, which he had purchased in 1888. Coke remains headquartered in the city. Candler at first advertised the therapeutic values of his drink. By 1900 he realized that this limited the potential clientèle to sick people, and he therefore switched to the appeal that Coke and pleasure were synonymous.  Candler, who became mayor in 1916, was a conservative felt that the urban commercial elite had a responsibility to improve the living conditions of the poor and the working classes. The family sold its stake in Coca Cola in 1919 to  a group of investors led by Ernest Woodruff (1863-1944).  Robert Winship Woodruff (1889 – 1985) ran the company from 1923 until 1954 and used his vast fortune to promote Atlanta and Emory.<ref>James Harvey Young, "Three Atlanta Pharmacists," ''Pharmacy in History'' 1989 31(1): 16-22. 0031-7047</ref>  

Given the success of the WCTU and the churches in banning liquor from middle-class homes, Southern pharmacists searched for a concoction that would quench thirst without alcohol.  The stunning breakthrough took place in Atlanta's large patent medicine industry by three pharmacists. John Stith Pemberton, who moved to Atlanta in 1870, became noted for developing Coca-Cola. He urged customers to "drink the brain tonic and intellectual soda fountain beverage, Coca-Cola." During the 1880s, Joseph Jacobs developed a variety of proprietary products that he dispensed in his Atlanta pharmacy. He also acquired a financial interest in Coca-Cola that was to increase his wealth. Asa G. Candler (1851-1929) was another Atlanta pharmacist interested in selling proprietary medicines. He became convinced of Coca-Cola's commercial potential and disposed of all of his resources to promote his interest in the product, which he had purchased in 1888. Coke remains headquartered in the city. Candler at first advertised the therapeutic values of his drink. By 1900 he realized that this limited the potential clientèle to sick people, and he therefore switched to the appeal that Coke and pleasure were synonymous.  Candler, who became mayor in 1916, was a conservative felt that the urban commercial elite had a responsibility to improve the living conditions of the poor and the working classes. The family sold its stake in Coca Cola in 1919 to  a group of investors led by Ernest Woodruff (1863-1944).  Robert Winship Woodruff (1889 – 1985) ran the company from 1923 until 1954 and used his vast fortune to promote Atlanta and Emory.<ref>James Harvey Young, "Three Atlanta Pharmacists," ''Pharmacy in History'' 1989 31(1): 16-22. 0031-7047</ref>  

====Progressive Era====

====Progressive Era====

====Great Depression====

====Great Depression====

As a commercial city with a small industrial base, Atlanta suffered less during the Great Depression than most northern cities. Nevertheless unemployment was high and times were hard.  

As a commercial city with a small industrial base, Atlanta suffered less during the Great Depression than most northern cities. Nevertheless, unemployment was high and times were hard.  

The city was a stronghold of the New Deal, and blacks now switched from loyalty to the Republican party to the Democratic party, even though they could not yet vote.

The city was a stronghold of the New Deal, and blacks now switched from loyalty to the Republican party to the Democratic party, even though they could not yet vote.

===1945 to present===

===1945 to present===

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

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

William Hartsfield (1890-1971) came from a working class background and never attended college; instead he 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.

William Hartsfield (1890-1971) came from a working-class background and never attended college; instead he 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.