Tag: Atlanta History Center

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The Sam Massell Papers Collection and the Living Atlanta Oral History Collection

Inaugural address, 1970. Sam Massell papers, MSS 695, Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center.
Inaugural address, 1970. Sam Massell papers, MSS 695, Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center.

We would like to welcome two new collections from our partners at the Atlanta History Center:  the Sam Massell Papers Collection and the Living Atlanta Oral History Collection.

The Sam Massell Papers collection contains a diverse set of materials representing the life and career of Sam Massell, Jr., who served as mayor of Atlanta from 1970 to 1974. These resources provide an excellent perspective of Massell’s career as a politician and businessman, and contain information relating to the many civic, political, and business organizations in which Sam Massell was involved.

Paul Crater, Vice President, Research Services at the Atlanta History Center remarks on the significance of the Sam Massell Papers collection:  “Very few of Atlanta’s mayors left their papers to archival institutions and the Sam Massell papers are uniquely positioned to offer researchers insights into his time in office and of Atlanta politics and social conditions in general.”

The Living Atlanta oral history collection includes oral history interviews of Atlantans discussing race relations, social life, customs, economic conditions, politics, and government during the twentieth century.

Crater notes that the Living Atlanta oral history collection “presents a diverse group of interviewees on a wide range of (still) relevant topics and offer many examples of commentary and reminiscences that I believe our audiences will find compelling.” He recommends listening to an interview conducted with  Alice Adams, an African American domestic worker who began working in the 1930s: “She talks about the reality of working 12-14 hour days for very low pay and having to endure riding on segregated trolleys and street cars to and from her job. She muses on the irony of how she could serve food, clean houses, change babies, make beds, and do laundry for whites and yet was not allowed to sit next to a white person on a street car. Her ability to clearly illustrate the absurdity of the custom of segregation is riveting.”

We hope that you enjoy these two newest resources from the Atlanta History Center!

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1895 Cotton States Exposition – The Legacy

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People gathered in Piedmont Park during the Cotton States and International Exposition. Image Courtesy of the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center.

Piedmont Park is today a refuge in the middle of Atlanta – providing a place to relax in the midst of a busy city – but it was once the location of one of the most widely touted exhibitions in the state’s history. This Friday marks the 115th anniversary of the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition. The 1895 Exposition was the event at which Booker T. 3d vr headset Washington gave his “Atlanta Compromise” address, regarded as one of the most significant speeches in American history. A leading educator, Washington had lobbied for the exposition in Atlanta in order to highlight social and economic advances made in the South. His speech addressed the “Negro problem” and called for whites and blacks to take responsibility for improving relations between the races, while stressing that blacks should work within current systems for advancement. More on the speech, and the controversy it created among African American intellectuals, can be found in the New Georgia Encyclopedia.  In 1904, the city of Atlanta purchased Piedmont Park from the Piedmont Park Exposition Company and extended the city limits north to include the park.

Elevated view of the grounds as seen from the Phoenix Wheel ride. Image Courtesy of the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center.

The Fred L. Howe Cotton States and International Exposition photographs, 1895 collection (held by the Atlanta History Center) contains dozens of photographs that document the exposition, which included 25 buildings, a lake and fountains. In addition to showcasing the latest in transportation, manufacturing, agriculture and other areas, there were rides and midway amusements and an exhibition of some 1,000 works of fine art.

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