Archive Atlanta

This week's mini is all about the New Deal in Atlanta; how this national history impacted Atlanta, what was built here with these federal funds, who did it employ, and what legacies can we still see today? Did you know Robert Woodruff saved the City of Atlanta of Atlanta from bankruptcy during the Great Depression? Or that Georgi Tech received the bulk of campus additions and construction? Listen...

This week we're talking about Atlanta's shopping mall history - the first shopping center, the first enclosed, the first multi-story, where these properties stand today and so much more.   Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook |  Instagram |  Twitter

Atlanta and alcohol have a long, sordid history. From the colony of Georgia banning ardent spirits in 1735, to Fulton County taking 5 extra years to actually celebrate Repeal Day, the story of temperance and Atlanta is a great one. Listen this week to hear the stories - well known and unknown - about the Prohibition in Atlanta. Links: Prohibition in Atlanta Liquor in the Land of the Lost Cause Bac...

This week, I am sharing the history of the Model Railroad Club of Atlanta , when they were organized, where did they meet and what did they build, as well as the history of the hobby itself. Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook |  Instagram |  Twitter

This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Leila Yavari , who became the Chief Archivist of the Atlanta Baha’i Assembly in January of this year. In that short time, she’s learned so much about Atlanta’s earliest Baha’i history, including the people, places and events that make up the century of this city’s history.  Register to see the exhibit here . Want to support this podcast? Visit here Ema...

This week we're covering the history of Georgia’s Governor’s Mansions - four official, one unofficial, spread over two different cities (Milledgeville and Atlanta).    Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook |  Instagram |  Twitter  

The word teen or teenage today is part of our lexicon, but that wasn’t the case less than 100 years ago.  The post-World War II period in America was one of prosperity. Young adults didn’t have to go to work, high school attendance skyrocketed and teenagers developed their own culture - music, cars and clothes. This week, I am covering how Atlanta teens organized recreation spaces for themselves,...

Inspired by the Greensboro, NC sit-ins of February 1960, the Atlanta Student Movement, led by the young men and women of Morehouse, Atlanta University, Clark College,  Interdenominational Theological Center, Morris Brown College and Spelman College, brought sit-ins, kneel-ins and boycotts to Atlanta. This ushered in the transition between Atlanta’s “old guard” civil rights leaders and the younger,...

In this week’s mini episode, we’re talking about the Clermont Hotel , from its start as a high-end apartment in the Roaring 20s called Bonaventure Arms, to the infamous Clermont Lounge, to it’s demise and rebirth. This building is full of fascinating stories that you do not want to miss. Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook |  Instagram |  Twitter

Did you know College Park was first named Manchester? Or that it could have been named Attica, Minerva, The Colleges, Colegia, or Ledra? This week we're covering all of that history, through the airport expansion and even into College Park's contributions to Southern rap. Georgia Trust Spring Ramble Flight Path Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook | ...

March is Women’s History Month, and researching women is my very favorite thing to do. So while I was brainstorming an episode idea, I realized I had this huge collection of women on my list whose stories were very short - in terms of research, not the length of their lives or quality of achievements. This week I have collected these shorter stories into one episode about three different women; El...

This week I am handing the mic to Aaron Strand from Behind the Slate who is sharing some wild Atlanta stories - like how the city's motion picture history dates back to 1895, how “Birth of Nation'' impacted the city’s cinema, how segregation and Jim Crow laws affected movie goers, and also covering cinema greats like the Lowes Grand, the Plaza, The Tara, and Coronet. Finishing off with Blaxploitat...

This week’s mini episode is about the Atlanta Sports Arena, which once stood on Chester Avenue in today’s Reynoldstown neighborhood.  This is a story of basketball, boxing, wrestling, amateur sports, square dancing, 70s rock bands and Muhammad Ali. Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook |  Instagram |  Twitter

This week, I’m checking off another Atlanta pillar of higher education, the famed Morehouse College. We’re covering its earliest iteration in Augusta, GA, its move to Atlanta, its first deans, presidents and professors, famous graduates and important buildings - we are talking about as much as we can in 20 minutes! Morehouse Graduates Maroon Tiger Archives   Want to support this podcast? Visit her...

If you’ve been listening for a while, you know that I do my best to cover all facets of Atlanta history and I’m also terrible at planning specific episodes to coincide with national events, holidays, etc. But I could not let Black History Month pass by without an episode about the city’s Black history. This week, I am re-sharing my episode from June of 2019 about Atlanta’s African American Hospita...

This week mini episode is all about Atlanta’s original hippie community of the 1960s. When they arrived, who they were, the businesses they started and patronized, the clashes with government and local police and the community’s eventual demise.    Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook |  Instagram |  Twitter    

Many of us live, work and/or play in buildings that were dedicated fallout shelters during the Cold War. This week, I am covering the federal, state and local response to the Cold War, and how the fallout shelter craze played out in Atlanta.   Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook |  Instagram |  Twitter

There are so many stories from American history that, while not centered solely in Atlanta, have connections to this city. This week, I sharing the story of the U.S. Marine Corps first Black Marines, from the lens of those that enlisted in Atlanta. A dozen Black Marines served in the Revolutionary War, but from 1798 until 1942, enrollment in the corps was denied to Black men.  In May of 1942, the...

With support from the National & Georgia Trusts for Historic Preservation, Mailchimp, and the Department of Community Affairs, Historic Atlanta and the City of Atlanta kicked off an initiative in early 2022 to create an LGBTQ Context Statement, which will identify, document and ultimately lead to preservation of neighborhoods, public spaces and individual buildings associated with Atlanta’s LGTBQ+...

With support from the National & Georgia Trusts for Historic Preservation, Mailchimp, and the Department of Community Affairs, Historic Atlanta and the City of Atlanta kicked off an initiative in early 2022 to create an LGBTQ Context Statement, which will identify, document and ultimately lead to preservation of neighborhoods, public spaces and individual buildings associated with Atlanta’s LGTBQ+...

This week, we’re talking about the history of the telephone - when and where it arrived in Atlanta, the buildings that were built, the different technologies, long distance and area codes. Can you imagine a time when calling Decatur was long distance? Or when every county in the state of Georgia shared the 404 area code? Tune in for these stories and many more! atlantatelephonehistory.org   Want t...

Replaying this episode from February of 2021, as the City of Atlanta has restarted public meetings to discuss updating our zoning.  Atlanta’s Office of Housing & Community Development recently created a revised zoning plan and I got to interview director Josh Humphries to find out some history, the new plan's details and next governmental steps.  By 2050 Atlanta expects our population to (more tha...

This week, we’re talking about Atlanta’s earliest surveyors and map makers. If you do enough historic research, you'll see the names of engineers and surveyors at the bottom of plat maps, bridge plaques, or newspaper articles, so this episode idea was a great way to honor the people whose work was important and yet unnoticed. Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email:  thevictorialemos@gmail....

Franklin Miller Garrett, Atlanta’s only, ever official historian, was born in 1906 and moved to Atlanta in 1914. You can’t “do” Atlanta history without running across Garrett’s name and volume of work. I own almost all the books he has written, and the more I began learning about him and his life, I realized a similarity we shared - being an "enthusiast". Franklin Garrett didn’t have a history deg...

The Crackers may sound familiar, but what about the Osceolas, Atlantans, Firecrackers, Windjammers, Deppens, Cubs and Panthers? This week, I’m talking about the parallel worlds of white and Black baseball in Atlanta, all of the club iterations, where these games were played and how local baseball connects to Henry Grady and Coca Cola. Book mentioned Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: ...