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Winner of two 2013 Emmy Awards from the Southeast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

Today in Georgia History
is a joint collaboration of the Georgia Historical Society & Georgia Public Broadcasting.

African-American

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January 23, 1993

Thomas A. Dorsey

“Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” one of the most famous gospel songs ever written, was inspired by the personal tragedy of its author.

Thomas Dorse...
November 03, 1992

Cynthia McKinney

She was the first African-American woman elected to Congress from Georgia.

Cynthia McKinney was born in Atlanta to Billy McKinney, one of Atlanta...
November 25, 1961

Albany Movement

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. considered it one of his few failures.

The Albany Movement in the early 1960s had a simple but formidable objective: th...
September 25, 1946

Robert Benham

When Robert Benham was appointed the first African American on the Georgia Supreme Court, it was only one of a long line of firsts.

Benham was born in ...

September 09, 1941

Otis Redding

When the hit song, "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" went to number one on the charts in 1968, the artist who wrote and sang it had been dead for four months.
February 21, 1940

John Lewis

He courageously put his life on the line many times during the civil rights movement and has become one of the most respected members of Congress.

J...
February 26, 1926

Tiger Flowers

He took a Bible with him into the ring. Dubbed the “Georgia Deacon,” he was the first black boxer to be middleweight champion of the world.

Theod...
September 06, 1905

Alonzo Herndon

He began life as a slave but, at 47, Alonzo Herndon started the company that became one of America’s most successful black-owned businesses. Alonzo Fra...

September 18, 1895

The Atlanta Cotton States & International Exposition

On this day in 1895, President Grover Cleveland threw an electric switch at his Massachusetts home and officially opened the Atlanta Cotton States and Intern...

January 16, 1871

Jefferson Franklin Long

Georgia’s first African-American congressman was born a slave.

Jefferson Franklin Long was born in Alabama in 1836. His master sold him to a man i...

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