Archive Atlanta

This week, I’m talking about volunteer militia formed by Black men in Atlanta from the 1870s thru 1903. These men, just years out of the slavery system and most of them Radical Republicans, pushed for the militia for two reasons - military service was the epitome of masculine, model citizen Victorian manhood and also for protection. The end of Reconstruction left African Americans in the South unprotected. There were five militias in Atlanta, led by prominent businessmen and community leaders and I share some fun stories of parades, encampments and mock battles. 

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Regardless of age, I bet you have a personal memory that involves a pair of roller skates - and almost every decade, from 1870 onward, had them too. Through this research I learned that the skating trend ebbs and flows, rinks come and go, but the activity has stood the test of time. 

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Mark and his wife Melinda were inside Broad Street Antiques in Chamblee, when a certain watercolor caught their eye. It had faces, swirls, rhythms, colors, musical notes, keyboards, bits of instruments and books with poems. After trying to find information on the artist, Jewel Simon, they found almost nothing published. Mark dove head first into the archives and as her life unfolded, so did the story of this remarkable Black woman, artist, mother and Atlantan. 

If you know of any Jewel Simon pieces, you can contact Mark here!

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While women only made up 3% of prisoners, Black women made up 98% of that group. From grading the railroad ‘cuts’ in 1866, all way into running the Haven Home in 1959, women as young as 16 served their time in places like Chattahoochee Brick, Bolton Broom, the almshouse property and Camp Mattox. These are stories about childbirth, death, escape and what is left in Atlanta that connects us to these women. 

Books to read:

Slavery by Another Name

Chained in Silence

Website Mentioned: www.savechattbrick.com

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As an outsider to the preservation world, I had a lot of questions: What is historic and who decides? Does that little National Register plaque do anything? Why do historic buildings still get demolished? Is historic preservation bad for low-income communities? This week, I interviewed Charles Lawrence, Board Chair of Historic Atlanta and got the answers to all the above, and more. You do NOT want to miss it.

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So this week, we’re covering the Indigenous and Native American history of the Atlanta area. This is by no means the full story, but hopefully something that will implore to learn more, or at the very least think deeper about the land that you are on today.

Podcasts to listen to:

https://www.allmyrelationspodcast.com/podcast

https://www.npr.org/2020/10/06/920935570/a-treaty-right-for-cherokee-representation

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I couldn’t be more excited to share with week's episode - not only do you get to learn about Atlanta’s LGBTQ history (FINALLY) but we get to do it through the lens of the Atlanta Eagle, which in itself tells us the story of Ponce de Leon’s transition from grand residential street to commercial corridor. It was an honor to record this interview with Charlie inside the Eagle, inside the spaces that have held decades of stories - stories about vibrating mattresses, Italian restaurants, punk rock, RuPaul and Red Dog raids. You don't want to miss this!

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President McKinley signed the Three Prisons Act in 1891, which authorized the building of the U.S. first three federal penitentiaries. Atlanta was chosen as the Southern site and the prison here opened it's gates in 1902. This week we're covering the early history, its reform programs, infamous inmates and successful escapes.

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In the spirit of Halloween, I interviewed Liz Clappin, friend and host of the podcast Tomb With A View. We talk about the earliest history of body snatching in the United States (riots in NY), through the start of it here in Georgia (Augusta's medical college purchases an enslaved man to do that work) and some incidents of it here in Atlanta and Decatur. 

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100 EPISODES! To celebrate I did another Listener Q&A, with amazing questions, like: “What is your favorite repurposed historic space?”, “How do I research my house/building?” and "What do you think Atlanta's future looks like?" (among many others).

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