It was touted as one of the finest hotels between New York and Miami, but its owner refused to rent rooms to black patrons. The Heart of Atlanta Motel, which opened on this day in 1956, would figure into the heart of a landmark civil rights case. Located at 255 Courtland Street, the motel was […]
One of the world’s greatest women golfers, Mae Louise Suggs, was born in Atlanta. Comedian Bob Hope nicknamed her “Miss Sluggs.” Golfer Ben Hogan called her the “sweet–swinging Georgia Miss.” Louise Suggs grew up in a sporting family. She began playing golf at age 10 and won eight championships during her amateur career. In the […]
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. Otis Redding became one of the most influential and popular soul musicians of all time. He was born in Dawson. When his […]
An ambulance driver, a lawyer and the first woman elected to Congress from Georgia* — all stops along the way for Helen Douglas Mankin. Mankin was the daughter of two lawyers. She drove an ambulance in France during World War I, and then graduated from Atlanta Law School, which her father helped found. She and […]
On this day in 1964, sculptors began taking a third crack at the Confederate Memorial Carving on Stone Mountain, first proposed 50 years earlier by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Renowned sculptor Gutzon Borglum envisioned seven central figures leading an army of thousands. But World War I and funding problems delayed work. Artistic disagreements […]
