William b hartsfield biography sample
Chamblee54
“Here in our own city government we are proud of the progress that is being made in amicable race relations. We have and are making progress in increased public housing for our Negro citizens. We have built new parks and libraries; we have aided in the development of new residential subdivisions; we have greatly increased our public health appropriations and the health service rendered to Negro citizens. In the field of hospitals, our Hospital Authority is even now bringing to completion a great new Negro hospital for the use of those not classed as charity cases... Truly, my friends, the record in Atlanta has been one of great and continued progress, under a city administration which believes in fairness and justice for all of our citizens. Such a city, my friends, and such a people, welcome you to Atlanta. We hope you will look us over thoroughly with kindly and understanding hearts and minds, observe the progress that is being made, and go away with a happy and pleasant impression of our great and friendly City of Atlanta. The city government formally bids your convention welcome to Atlanta.” Editor's Note: In the summer of 1951, the NAACP held its 42nd Annual Convention in the city of Atlanta. The excerpt above comes from Hartsfield’s welcoming address to the convention’s attendees. This convention occurred just a few short years before the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision, Brown v. Board of Education, striking down segregation as unconstitutional. Segregationists such as Governor Herman Talmadge loudly criticized Hartsfield for officially welcoming the convention to Atlanta and set the city a buzz with fear over the possibility of integration. Hartsfield’s speech to the NAACP convention marked a change in his own personal views of race relations in Atlanta and in the country. When Hartsfield entered politics in the 1920’s, he was a staunch segregationist much like Herman Talmadge. However, in the years following World War II, Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) Date: October 13, 1958 Location: Atlanta, Ga. Genre: Letter Topic: Churches - vandalism Martin Luther King, Jr. - Political and Social Views In the early morning of 12 October, a dynamite blast tore through the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation, an Atlanta synagogue led by civil rights supporter Rabbi Jacob Rothschild. Arriving at the scene, Mayor Hartsfield decried the bombing and offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the persons responsible. On 17 October five white men were arrested in connection with the bombing, but they were later freed after a jury acquitted the alleged ring leader. Hartsfield thanked King for this letter on 15 October. Hon. William B. Hartsfield On behalf of thousands of Southern Negro leaders and laymen who advocate our program of non-violent goodwill to bring the inveitable social changes of our time, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference commends your prompt action and vigorously expressed determination to “leave no stone unturned” in apprehending those responsible for the cowardly bombing of the Hebrew Congregation of Atlanta Sunday morning. Suth forthright firmness, if exercised by law enforcing agencies throughout the South could readily put an end to the wanton lawlessness that not only discredits the South but also embrasses the entire nation. Since this tragic incident has occured in Atlanta, a city long prided as a shining example of civility and tolerance in the South, we pray God, that it will challenge the decent people of our city, state and region to speak out for “due process of law” and peaceful settling of differences and with equal clarity, to speak out against those who use their elective positions of trust to peddle hatred and to inflame Share On January 23rd, 1970, Dixie Dowis, an eighth-grade student at Decatur's Gordon High School, wrote a letter to former Atlanta mayor William B. Hartsfield. In a florid hand, she explained that a school assignment required her to write to prominent Atlantans to learn what problems confronted the city in the years ahead. “Since I have a deadline on my project,” she concluded, “I would appreciate a reply at your very earliest convenience.” To his credit, Hartsfield replied within the week. Atlanta's future prospects were good, he reasoned, but only so long as the city was allowed to “grow and prosper.” However, if “people insist on moving to the suburbs and then resist the expansion of the city limits,” he warned, “this will finally effect our future government and Atlanta's future will not be bright.” It's hard to imagine Hartsfield responding any differently. From his first term in office in the late 1930s until his death in 1971, Hartsfield remained adamant that Atlanta's future health depended on its ability to regularly expand its borders. And as his personal files at MARBL indicate, its inability to do so was a source of no small frustration. In remarks delivered before the Buckhead Civitan Club in 1941, for example, Hartsfield described annexation as a matter of existential consequence. “If Atlanta's limits are fixed and it can never extend any farther,” he began, “then as a city IT IS FINISHED and we should be willing to see it adopt the attitude of a finished enterprise.” In the pages of text that follow, Hartsfield predicted that annexation would result in greater administrative efficiency, but insisted that the issue was less a matter of tax savings than of citizenship. Remarks by William B. Hartsfield delivered to
As you may have noticed, this blog uses a lot of pictures from ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”. There is one face which keeps turning up, always seeming to find the camera. This is the face of William Berry Hartsfield, the Mayor of Atlanta between 1937-1941, then again between 1942-1961. He is the namesake of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and Willie B, the gorilla at Zoo Atlanta. Mr. Hartsfield is one of the reasons ATL airport is the aviation powerhouse that it is. He probably had little to do with the conception of Willie B, although one can never be too sure.
Mr. Hartsfield was born March 1, 1890, in Atlanta. He did not finish high school or attend college. At 25, he began work as a legal secretary, reading law journals at night. Mr. Hartsfield was admitted to the Georgia Bar.
In 1909, Coca Cola mogul Asa Griggs Candler bought some land near Hapeville, GA, and built a racetrack. There was only one season of racing ( with an appearance from Barney Oldfield), before the track was shut down. There was a series of aviation exhibitions on the site in the following years, and talk of using the land as an airport.
In 1922, William Hartsfield was elected to the Atlanta City Council, and started to promote the idea of an airport. The 285 acres of the Candler racetrack was leased in 1925, On April 13, 1929, the city bought the land for “Candler Field” for $94,400. During World War II , Candler Field was declared an army air base, and doubled in size.
In 1936, Mr. Hartsfield defeated incumbent James Key to become Mayor of Atlanta. He guided the city through the last years of the depression, only to be defeated by Roy LeCraw in 1940. When Mr. LeCraw was called into military service after Pearl Harbor, Mr. Hartsfield won a special election for the Mayor’s job. He held the job until the election of Ivan Allen in 1961.
Atlanta grew tremendously during the H Text
To William Berry Hartsfield
Details
Mayor of the City of Atlanta
City Hall
Atlanta, Georgia
Excerpt of Letter from Dixie Dowis to
William B. Hartsfield, 1970
the Buckhead Civitan Club, 1941