Archive Atlanta

Just over one month after NYC’s Stonewall Riot, Atlanta had its own version, when, on August 5, 1969, a movie at the Ansley Mall Mini-Cinema was raided by police. In this week’s mini episode, I’m covering what led to the raid, the details of the event and what it inspired going forward.  Gayle Dose Podcast Smithsonian Article Atlanta History Center Documenting Queer History Archives Want to suppor...

The Dixie Hills Riot, a days-long community uprising, born out of the frustrations of a whole host of issues that we’ll cover, happened exactly 55 years ago today.  In 1950, Dixie Hills residents were without running water, paved roads and proper sewers. By the 1960s, 45% of the city’s population was Black, yet were only legally allowed to live in 22% of it’s housing. There was overcrowding, segre...

Hey everyone! I am currently taking my yearly podcast summer break and using this time to finish new episodes, work on new ideas and record some amazing interviews. In the meantime, catch up on previous episodes and we'll be back on June 17th!  

Forward Atlanta was a multi-million dollar marketing campaign launched by the City of Atlanta in the 1920s that is still influencing the city in 2022. I hope by the end of this short episode you can understand how important this campaign was, how it ties into the reason that Atlanta today is so quick to forget and suppress its past, and how we are still in the big business of selling our city to o...

While convict leasing, as a system, was abolished in Georgia in 1908, the chain gang era immediately followed and operated through 1955. Chain gangs installed water and sewer systems and smoothed and paved every. single. road you drive, bike, run or walk on today. This week we’re covering the history of the chain gang, the Fulton County chain gang, the projects they worked on, the men and women th...

In September of 1896, Thomas finished dinner, told his wife not to wait up, and rode the streetcar to Lakewood Park. There, he rented a bathing suit and a row boat and ventured out onto the lake. That's the last time anyone would see him alive. Was it an accident? Was it a suicide? Listen to find out all the Victorian-era true crime drama.    Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevic...

This week, I am covering the fascinating history of the Atlanta Humane Society, from the formation of the Atlanta Branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1871, to its reorganization as the Atlanta Humane Society in 1890.   The early AHS fought for the better treatment of hack and dray horses and mules, banishment of rooster and dog fighting, care for chickens being sold i...

With one of the most recognized mausoleums at Oakland Cemetery, Jasper Newton Smith spends eternity cast in stone looking over the cemetery. He purchased the plot 25 years before his death, and the casket 12 years prior, but those are the quirkiest part of his life story. Listen to this week's mini episode to learn about The House That Jack Built, the Bachelor's Domain and the failed Smith's House...

This month, 105 years ago, the Great Fire of 1917 swept through Atlanta. Over the course of 10 hours, we lost 73 square blocks, more than 300 acres, 1938 buildings and 1900 homes. 10,000 Atlantans were homeless, which was 5% of the city’s population.  Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook |  Instagram |  Twitter

"Atlanta's Petticoated Sherlock Holmes" - that's how the newspaper's described Hattie Barnett, the city's first licensed female detective. With very little information to be found, I took the mentions of Hattie and pieced together a small snapshot of her life here in Atlanta. Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook |  Instagram |  Twitter    

World War I was the first conflict where American women were allowed to enlist in the armed forces and 100K men and women from around the State of Georgia contributed to the war effort. This week, I'm talking about the Atlanta women and their roles in WWI. From those who sewed in their homes to those that gave the ultimate sacrifice. Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemo...

This week, we're talking about the Georgia State Lottery. If you ask Google when it began, it will tell you 1991...but the truth is that is formed in 1866, and the story is rife with drama.   Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook |  Instagram |  Twitter    

Westside Park is the largest greenspace in the city, at 280 acres, with a 350-foot reservoir that holds 2.4 billion gallons of emergency water reserves. As Atlanta celebrates this new park, I think it’s incredibly valuable to understand the history of the land and what led to it becoming what it is today. One part is the story of a working class Black community from the turn of the 20th century th...

This week I am covering the history of an Atlanta icon - the Fox Theater! From its beginning as a mosque, to opening as a premiere movie theater, to its place as the catalyst of the city’s historic preservation movement. Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook |  Instagram |  Twitter

This week’s mini episode is about the history of Georgia’s white-only primary. White primaries were primary elections held in the South in which only white voters could participate and they were established by the Democratic Party and/or state legislatures in South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Georgia. Atlanta first established their white primary in 1892...

In 1881, not even two decades out of slavery, a group of Atlanta's African American washerwomen started the "Washing Society" and launched the fight for higher wages, respect and acknowledgement of Black women's important role in the New South economy. One of best lesser-known 'herstories' of the city. Further Reading: To Joy My Freedom Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorial...

This week’s mini episode is about bicycle messengers, a topic that came from Atlanta Courier Collective . From the first messenger company in 1894, through the stories of strikes, arrests and speed records.  Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook |  Instagram |  Twitter

This week I am sharing my interview with Clayton Trutor, author of "Loserville: How Professional Sports Remade Atlanta - And How Atlanta Remade Professional Sports", which is available on February 1st. We talked about why the South lacked professional sports teams, who and what changed that, the origin stories of the Braves, Hawks, Falcons, Flames and Chiefs and the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium a...

Ida Elliott was a young working class girl from Bellwood, today the area along Marietta Street, from 8th North Avenues. Mule-drawn trolleys came to the area in 1882, electric streetcars in 1894 and was annexed into Atlanta in 1897.  In 1896, a sensational news story landed the neighborhood on the front page of the local papers. Since so much of our history is always about the successful, the rich,...

This week, we’re talking about three people, Dr. Grafton Gardner, Dr. Rosa Monnish and Otis Lee, that performed abortions in Atlanta, from the 1880s through the 1940s. Who they were, where they lived and work and what consequences they paid for their advocacy.  Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook |  Instagram |  Twitter  

Fernbank Forest is a 65-acre, old-growth forest with white oaks, tulip poplars, loblolly pines, American beech, different oaks, hickory and maples, some that are several hundred years old. This week, I'm talking about the land, the family that once owned it and the push to preserve it for future generations. Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook |  In...

This week, we're talking about Grove Park, which with the new Quarry Park and Microsoft headquarters announcement, has been thrusted into the headlines recently. Named for patent-medicine-magnet Edwin Grove, it was platted first as West Atlanta Park, then later Fortified Hills, before being known as Grove's Park. I am covering the earliest school building, churches, community theater and integrati...

In 2021, there was a lot of conversation about establishing high speed rail between Savannah and Atlanta, and, like everything else in Atlanta’s history, we’ve tried it before! The first time, 129 years ago and then again 74 years ago. So this week, we’re talking about the Nancy Hanks train (the original and II).  Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook...

This week, we’re replaying an episode from the archives - covering Atlanta’s history with the bicycle; its riders, causes, promoters, races, and venues. In the first 50 years of the city's cycling history, riders establish numerous clubs, started a lantern parade tradition, fought for paved roads and closing streets to vehicle traffic and created the first dedicated bike path...and that's just the...

In today’s world, we all know what Uber and Lyft is and what they provide, and many cities with highly established and regulated taxi systems have waged constant war against them - I am definitely thinking of NYC. But did you know that these cities had the same issues, just many decades before you were born? A jitney is the name of a taxi that operated outside of municipal regulations, the word st...