Jews have lived in Atlanta since its founding. Their businesses met important economic needs, and they contributed substantially to the cultural, educational, and political well-being of the society. Their history also reflects a rich cultural diversity not typically recorded in southern history. Most of Atlanta’s Jews were immigrants, having lived in other areas of America before migrating to the city. Yet theirs was not necessarily a random movement. They tended to travel in chains of migration following earlier relatives or landsmen—people from the same areas of Europe—to locations that offered the greatest likelihood of mercantile success and, ultimately, in which they could establish Jewish community institutions.

Often referred to as the unofficial mayor of Auburn Avenue, John Wesley Dobbs was one of several distinguished African American civic and political leaders who worked to achieve racial equality in segregated Atlanta during the first half of the twentieth century. Born in Marietta in 1882 to Minnie and Will Dobbs, John Wesley Dobbs grew up in poverty on a farm near Kennesaw. Two years after his birth his mother and father separated.

Georgia senator Julian Bond is pictured on the road for a speech in 1978. He retired from the senate to run for the U.S. Congress in 1986; Bond lost the election in a fiercely contested battle to his longtime friend and fellow civil rights activist John Lewis. The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print.

Kenneth Coleman, professor of history at the University of Georgia in Athens was the preeminent authority of his generation on colonial and revolutionary Georgia. He wrote what is probably the most widely read history of the state, Georgia History in Outline (1955), which has been revised many times and remains in print. As the recommended text for students preparing for the University System’s Georgia history and government exam, it has proven to be the all-time best-seller of the University of Georgia Press.

William Parkins's original Kimball House Hotel (1869-70), a combination of Italianate and Second Empire architecture, burned in 1883. Image from Jolomo~commonswiki The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print. All requests for permission to publish or reproduce the resource must be submitted to the rights holder. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qLHOq56imZWjsLqvy6innpyZlnuwvsZomKusmZi5pr%2BOmqmtq12Ywq3A1KucaJ2Rp7m6edWimq2nop6ur3nAq5qhoaSasLXB0Z5kqK6Vp8OqsdZopGZuYm58