Henry O. Flipper, pictured circa 1877, was the first African American to graduate and receive his commission from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. A native of Thomasville, Flipper attended Atlanta University for one year before enrolling at West Point.  Courtesy of U.S Military Academy at West Point 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.

A successful pioneer in the automobile industry, Howard Coffin rebuilt an abandoned antebellum mansion on Sapelo Island and revitalized the agricultural potential on it, developed St. Simons Island and Sea Island as Georgia’s premier coastal tourist destinations, and provided seed money for the mighty pulpwood industry that continues to thrive in the state’s Coastal Plain. Born in 1873, Howard Earle Coffin grew up on an Ohio farm and in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he studied engineering at the University of Michigan.

John Treutlen was a leader in Georgia during the American Revolution and helped to write Georgia's first constitution. In 1777 he became Georgia's first elected governor. Image from Internet Archive Book Images 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.

One of the most accomplished statesmen in Georgia’s history, John Forsyth led a political career that lasted more than thirty years. He was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on October 22, 1780, to Fanny Johnston Houston and Robert Forsyth. He attended Springer Academy in Wilkes County, Georgia, before attending the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), from which he graduated in 1799. After his college graduation, Forsyth moved to Augusta, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1802.

John M. Slaton was Georgia’s sixtieth governor, serving two terms, in 1911-12 and 1913-15. He was also a state representative and state senator, and he practiced law in Atlanta. John Marshall Slaton was born on December 25, 1866, to Nancy Jane Martin and William Franklin Slaton near Greenville, in Meriwether County. After the Civil War (1861-65) his father came to Atlanta, where he became superintendent of the public schools. Slaton attended Sam Bailey Institute in Griffin and graduated from Boys High School in Atlanta in 1880.