Post-World War II Developments in Georgia

1. Post-World War II Developments in Georgia

2. Georgia After the WWII • Georgia remained a farming state until after World War II, which ended in 1945. • The number of people living in the country remained about the same from 1920 to 1960. • In 1920, there were 2.1 million people living in rural areas. • In 1960, there were 1.98 million living in rural areas.

3. Georgia After the WWII • By 1990, however, the Percentage of the population living in the country would drop to only a quarter of those in Georgia. • Georgia’s cities had begun to grow. • Today, less than 2% of Georgians are involved with farms—either living on them or working on them. • Most Georgia farms sell less than $10,000 in products a year.

4. William B. Hartsfield • William B. Hartsfield (1890-1971) served as mayor of Atlanta for longer than any other mayor in the city’s history-_six terms, from 1937 to 1961. • During his tenure, Atlanta’s population multiplied by ten times—from 100,000 to 1 million. • Another important change was the laws governing people of color. • Hartsfield promoted the idea of Atlanta as “A City Too Busy to Hate.”

5. William B. Hartsfield • Hartsfield’s political career began at the age of 32, when he was elected to the Atlanta City Council. • There, he worked to build Atlanta’s aviation industry. • At the time that he began this campaign—in the l920s—people did not yet fly on airplanes for travel as they do today. • In 1928, he was named Atlanta’s “father of aviation” by the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

6. William B. Hartsfield • In 1924, Hartsfield ran for the Georgia House of Representatives, but lost. • He ran again in 1932 and was elected to represent Fulton County. • In 1936, Hartsfield was elected as Atlanta’s mayor.

7. William B. Hartsfield • The Great Depression had hurt Atlanta’s economy a great deal by that time. • He secured donations from Coca-Cola for the city’s funding. • Hartsfield’s strict budgeting helped the city recover from the Great Depression by 1938.

8. William B. Hartsfield • Hartsfield was defeated as mayor in 1940. • However, when the U.S. joined World War II in 1941, the sitting mayor joined the military. • A special election was held in 1942 and Hartsfield won again. • He was elected in four more elections.

9. William B. Hartsfield • In 1952, Atlanta tripled its size from 37 to 128 square miles, adding 100,000 people to its population. • Hartsfield presided over the construction of expressways and parks throughout the city. • In 1961, Hartsfield chose not to run for office again, and was named mayor emeritus of the city. • He died in 1971, and the Atlanta airport was renamed in his honor.

10. Ivan Allen, Jr. • Ivan Allen, Jr. (1911—2003) served in World War II. • Then, he worked for the governor and then in his father’s business. • When Hartsfield left office, he won the following election and served as mayor from 1962 to 1970. • Many people thought Allen kept the city calm during the civil rights movement.

11. Ivan Allen, Jr. • As mayor, Allen was politically liberal. • When he took office, it was still common to see signs on public facilities, like water fountains, saying “White Only.” • Allen’s first act as mayor was to order these signs removed from City Hall. • Before he took office, black police officers could not arrest white people and there were no black firefighters. • Allen ended these rules.

12. Ivan Allen, Jr. • Allen worked with civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. • He was the only politician from the South to speak in favor of the Civil Rights Act in the U.S. Congress. • By 1964, AlIen was able to bring desegregation to all public facilities in Atlanta.

13. Ivan Allen, Jr. • Unfortunately, Allen was also mayor during the construction of a concrete wall intended to keep black people away from a white area. • This incident was called the Peyton Road Affair. • The wall was later found to be unconstitutional and was torn down.

14. Ivan Allen, Jr. • Allen worked to bring the Atlanta Braves to the city. • He worked to build the Atlanta Stadium for a team and then convinced the team to move from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. • He also helped to bring major league football and basketball teams to the city in the late 1960s.

15. Atlanta Braves • When the Braves moved to Atlanta, they were the first professional sports team to be located in the South. • In 1966, the baseball team played its first season. • In 1969, they won the Western Division of the National League. • Throughout the 1970s, however, the Braves continued to be one of the worst professional teams. • One player, however, Hank Aaron, set the 1974 record for the most home runs, in front of a television audience of millions.

16. Atlanta Braves • In 1976, entrepreneur and billionaire Ted Turner bought the Braves. • Turner owned a cable network and he wanted to play the team’s games on his channel. • This was the beginning of the well known cable television station, TBS. • The station televised Braves games throughout the country.

17. Atlanta Braves • Through the 1980s, the Braves continued to play poorly. • In 1991, the team hired new players. • The season ended with the team winning the Western Division title. • Through the early 1990s, the numbers of fans attending games rocketed to 3 million.

18. Atlanta Braves • Finally, in 1995, the Braves won the World Series. • It was the first time a major league team in Georgia had won a national title. • The Braves made it to the World Series two more times, in 1996 and 1999. • Both times, however, they lost to the New York Yankees.

19. Atlanta Falcons • In 1965, the Atlanta Falcons football team joined the National Football League. • Rankin M. Smith of the Life Insurance Company of Georgia purchased the team for $8.5 million.

20. Atlanta Falcons • Like the Braves, the Falcons played their first game in 1966, at Atlanta Stadium. • Through the mid-1970s, the Falcons were not a particularly strong team. • Beginning in 1977, the team began to improve. • They reached the play-offs three times, but continued to play losing seasons through 1997.

21. Atlanta Falcons • In 1998, they played in the Super Bowl for the first time, but lost. • Since 1998, the team has continued to struggle for wins. • Today, Arthur Blank and Rich Mckay of The Home Depot own the Falcons.

22. Atlanta Hawks • The Atlanta Hawks, a basketball team that plays in the National Basketball Association, moved to Atlanta in 1968. • They play at the Philips Arena. • The team moved to Atlanta from St. Louis, Missouri.

23. Atlanta Hawks • Georgia real estate developer Thomas Cousins and former Georgia Governor Carl Sanders purchased the team for Atlanta. • The team went through several seasons of unsuccessful play. • In 1977, Ted Turner purchased the team. In 1980, the team won the Central Division title.

24. Atlanta Hawks • Although many players and coaches have strong records as individuals, the team has never won a major championship. • The Hawks are currently owned by Atlanta Spirit, a company with nine owners that also controls the Philips Arena, where they play. • The Hawks are currently coached by Mike Woodson, the team’s tenth head coach since the Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968.

25. Atlanta Thrashers • The Atlanta Thrashers is a hockey team that plays in the National Hockey League. • It came to Atlanta in 1999 when it was purchased by Ted Turner. • Today, Atlanta Spirit owns the team. Atlanta Spirit bought the Hawks, the Thrashers, and the Philips Arena for $250 million. • The Thrashers played their 1st winning season in 2006 and are active in community service.

26. Ellis Arnall • Ellis Arnall (1907-1992) served as governor of Georgia from 1943 to 1947. • During his tenure, Arnall aggressively reformed Georgia government and paid off the state debt.

27. Ellis Arnall • He was elected to represent Coweta County in the Georgia House of Representatives when he was just 25 years old. • At only 31, he was appointed attorney general of the state, the youngest attorney general in the country at that time. • In 1942, at the age of just 35, Arnall defeated Eugene Talmadge and became governor, also the youngest in the nation.

28. Ellis Arnall • Arnall worked to bring progressive reform to the state. • Georgia’s universities had fallen out of accreditation, which Arnall worked to restore. • He also reformed the state prisons, tax system, and constitution and lowered the state’s voting age. • Arnall also backed a liberal candidate who was unpopular in Georgia, in the 1944 presidential election.

29. Ellis Arnall • In addition Arnall’s reforms allowed black voters to vote in the state’s white-only Primary elections. • Court rulings had already held that such primaries were unconstitutional. • Other states had avoided enforcing such rulings, but Arnall did not. • The politically powerful Eugene Talmadge unseated Arnall in the next governor’s race.

30. Summary • Analyze the impact of the transformation of agriculture on Georgia’s growth. • Explain how the development of Atlanta, including the roles of mayors William B. Hartsfield and Ivan Allen, Jr., and major league sports, contributed to the growth of Georgia. • What impact did Ellis Arnall have on Georgia?