ATLVault

Atlanta police have released a dramatic video and the 911 call related to the Dec. 18, 2021, double homicide of a couple who were shot to death in front of their two children . 

Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the trial of a man accused in the 1990 DeKalb County double homicide of a sister and brother.    Kenneth Perry, 56, is accused of stabbing Pamela and Joseph Sumter  on July 15, 1990.   On June 26, 2024, a grand jury indicted Perry after police said DNA evidence eventually linked what had been a cold case back to him.  Samuel Bassett...

Over a long, distinguished career as an American sports journalist, Terence Moore likely interviewed Hank Aaron more than anyone. In fact, Moore said he was the last media professional to interview Aaron before his death on Jan. 22, 2021. “Hank once said to me, ‘Of all the books that’ve been written about me, and of the documentaries produced about me, no one truly knows the real Hank Aaron,” Moor...

Atlanta’s very first Super Bowl remains arguably the most exciting in NFL history. The crime that happened only hours later remains the Super Bowl's most infamous. Hours after the St. Louis Rams withstood a furious, late-game and last-second surge from the Tennessee Titans to win their first-ever NFL championship, two men were stabbed to death outside a Buckhead nightclub. Ray Lewis - a Balt...

he old offices where legendary Atlanta newspapermen like Ralph McGill toiled, and a long-forgotten African-American burial ground in the heart of Buckhead have been listed as places in peril by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. Each year, the trust releases a list of 10 places in peril throughout the state, a list the organization hopes will raise awareness about Georgia’s historic, arc...

Paige Watts is the author of a new book, "What's With Atlanta?" The travel writer and blogger shares some fascinating aspects about life in the ATL.

On April 6, 1972, a fire began at the Triangle Refinery in Doraville, starting with an overfilled storage tank. Vapors from the tank reached nearby homes on Doral Circle and ignited a pilot light at one of the homes causing an explosion. The explosion then set three storage tanks on fire.  In all, 300 people were evacuated from their homes, staying at nearby elementary schools, hotels, or with fri...

Founded in 1871, Doraville is one of Georgia's oldest cities, but features an amazing diversity. Mayor Joe Geierman talks about his city's rich history; the old General Motors plant that was a catalyst for Doraville's economic growth; the new Assembly Atlanta; and the challenges facing this intown Atlanta suburb.

On Sept. 5, 1955, two Atlanta businessmen - Joe Rogers and Tom Forkner - opened the very first Waffle House, located in DeKalb County's Avondale Estates community. Rogers started in the restaurant business as a short-order cook in 1947  at the Toddle House in Connecticut. By 1949, he was a regional manager, then moved to Atlanta. He met Forkner  while buying a house from him in Avondale Estat...

On Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered one of the most famous speeches in human history. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in an address that culminated the march on Washington, King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. Lasting less than 18 minutes, King's speech has inspired millions around the world.  But where did King actually draft his speech? Conventional...

One of the world’s most celebrated and influential speeches was delivered 60 years ago. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., made his now-famous “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963, capping the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” event. King gave his speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Here is a recording of what became a speech that has inspired millions around the world.

 Mary Phagan had only two things on her mind on April 26, 1913. First, it was Confederate Memorial Day in Georgia, and she was excited to show off her new dress. Second, she had to pick up her paycheck of $1.20 from Leo Frank, her boss at the National Pencil Company in Atlanta, where she worked to help support her widowed mother who ran a local boarding house. Phagan ate a late breakfast of cabbag...

On June 3, 1962, many of Atlanta ’s civic and cultural leaders were returning from a museum tour of Europe sponsored by the Atlanta Art Association when their chartered Boeing 707 crashed upon takeoff at Orly Field near Paris, France. Of the 122 passengers that died, 106 were Atlantans (eight crew members also died; two stewardesses sitting in the tail section survived). In an instant the core of...

The product that has become the world's most iconic consumer brand was first served in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a local pharmacist, produced the syrup for Coca-Cola, and carried a jug of the new product down the street to Jacobs’ Pharmacy, where it was sampled, pronounced “excellent” and placed on sale for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink. Carbona...

On April 3, 1948,  the first Black police officers began patrolling Atlanta's streets around Auburn Avenue, marking the official integration of the Atlanta Police Department. Author Thomas Mullen discusses the challenges these pioneers faced in mid-20th century Atlanta. Mullen is the author of seven books, including Darktown, Midnight Atlanta and Lightning Men, written in the timeframe of 194...

 Early city officials purchased six acres in 1850 to be a public burial ground for a young-but-fast-growing town of Atlanta.  Originally called Atlanta Graveyard or City Burial Place, this was the beginning of Oakland Cemetery.  It was officially renamed in 1872. By then it had expanded to 48 acres, mainly due to pressures of the Civil War. In the late 19th century, families tended the plots of lo...

 The Heart of Atlanta Supreme Court decision stands among the court’s most significant civil rights rulings. In Atlanta, two arch segregationists vowed to flout the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the sweeping slate of civil rights reforms just signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Pickrick restaurant was run by Lester Maddox, who would eventually become governor of Georgia. The other, the...

Its streets were traveled by some of the nation’s principled and most courageous. Its buildings were brick-laid by people who endured and persevered to leave behind a better city than they discovered. Atlanta and the nation have taken a lot from Auburn Avenue. Now, the time may have finally arrived to give something back. ATLVault talks with David Yoakley Mitchell, executive director of the Atlant...

Located in downtown Atlanta, Ebenezer Baptist Church was founded in 1886 by Pastor John A. Parker and eight others.  Affiliated with the Progressive National Baptist Convention and American Baptist Churches USA, it was the church where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was co-pastor  from 1960 until his assassination in 1968; the location of the funerals of both Dr. King and congressman John Lewis; and t...

 Dr. Jeffery Wells, author of 2011′s “ The Atlanta Ripper: The Unsolved Case of the Gate City’s Most Infamous Murders ,” the definitive book about the crimes, talks with ATLVault.  Read part one in our three-part series on our city's very first serial killer, the Atlanta Ripper: https://bit.ly/3XgLcyD 

The two political candidates couldn’t have been more different. One man, descending from a family line of Baptist ministers and championing the values of temperance and chastity, promised law and order. The other belonged to a political party thriving on social disorder and looser interpretations of the laws regarding recreational pursuits. Such a scenario could be easily imagined in any modern el...