A childhood tragedy would haunt poet and author Conrad Aiken all of his life, and provide the psychological foundation for much of his writing. Perhaps Georgia’s most famous poet, Aiken was born in Savannah. When he was only eleven years old, his father killed his mother and then committed suicide. Later, Aiken attended Harvard and […]
“Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” one of the most famous gospel songs ever written, was inspired by the personal tragedy of its author. Thomas Dorsey was born in Villa Rica in 1899 and grew up listening to shape-note singing and spirituals in church. He was also influenced by blues icons Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. […]
It cost three men their lives and provided the legal basis for the Trail of Tears, the forcible removal of the Cherokee Nation from Georgia. The Treaty of New Echota was signed on this day in 1835, ceding Cherokee land to the U.S. in exchange for compensation. The treaty had been negotiated by a Cherokee […]
The Titanic was supposed to be unsinkable and the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta was supposed to be 100 percent fireproof, so there was no need for fire alarms, sprinklers, and fire escapes. At least that’s how it was advertised when the hotel at 176 Peachtree street opened in 1913. But on this day in 1946, […]
It was October and the trees were golden…and not just the trees. Benjamin Parks was walking through the woods of north Georgia when he kicked a stone. There were lots of stones in the woods, but the color of this one caught Parks’ eye. It turned out to be gold. Five other people claimed to […]
Three Georgians died on the Titanic. One of them was Archibald Butt. He was born in Augusta on this day in 1865. Archie Butt became a journalist for the Macon Telegraph. The Atlanta Constitution made him its Washington correspondent. The U.S. State Department appointed him Secretary of the American Embassy in Mexico. He was there […]
One of the darkest episodes in Georgia history, the lynching of Leo Frank in Marietta, occurred on this day in 1915. Frank was convicted in 1913 of murdering Mary Phagan, a thirteen-year-old employed by Frank at the National Pencil Factory in Atlanta. Police immediately suspected Frank, a New York Jew, despite strong evidence against a […]
Vocabulary – Thomas Dorsey Tragedy Noun A very sad or disastrous event Spirituals Noun A religious song, especially ones coming from African-American culture Influenced Verb To have affected somebody – to change or influence someone Composing Verb to create a piece of music Sacred Adjective Relating to or used in religious worship Fused Verb Combined, […]
Vocabulary – Dahlonega Gold Rush Gold Miners Swarmed Intrusion Ounce Dome Tragedy Glossary Gold: noun, a soft, heavy, corrosion-resistant, yellow metallic element that is highly valued, found in underground veins and alluvial deposits. Use: jewelry, alloys. Miners: noun, somebody who works in a mine digging for minerals Swarmed:verb, to move or gather in a large […]
Learn More -Stand Watie Edward E. Dale and Gaston Litton, ed., Cherokee Cavaliers: Forty Years of Cherokee History as Told in the Correspondence of the Ridge-Watie-Boudinot Family (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1939). Kenny A. Franks, Stand Watie and the Agony of the Cherokee Nation (Memphis, Tenn.: Memphis State University Press, 1979). Morris L. Wardell, […]
