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===1860-1920===
 
===1860-1920===
 
The Civil War saw Atlanta as the main object of General [[William T. Sherman]]'s attacks in 1864. Confederates burned the downtown as Sherman approached, but it was quickly rebuilt.  
 
The Civil War saw Atlanta as the main object of General [[William T. Sherman]]'s attacks in 1864. Confederates burned the downtown as Sherman approached, but it was quickly rebuilt.  
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With its central location and excellent railroad connections, Atlanta became a major commercial center. Local entrepreneurs then 9and now) heavily ptomoted 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).<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>
 
====Progressive Era====
 
====Progressive Era====
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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>
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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>  
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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 called for the complete exclusion of blacks from the political process. Following a series of wild rumoors 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. After the riot geographical segregation intensified.<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]. </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 called for the complete exclusion of blacks from the political process. Following a series of wild rumoors 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. After the riot geographical segregation intensified.<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]. </ref>
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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.  
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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.
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===1920-1960===
 
===1920-1960===
  
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