1. Post WWII Developments
GA Studies

2. Georgia after the War
Immediately after WWII, Georgia remained a farming state
The number of people living in rural areas remained approximately the same between 1920 & 1960 (2million)
By 1990, the number of people living in the country had dropped to only ¼ of the state’s population
Today, Less than 2% of Georgians are involved with farms
Most sell less than $10,000 in products per year

3. William B. Hartsfield
Hartsfield served as mayor of Atlanta for longer than any other mayor in Atlanta’s history (6 terms)
During his tenure, Atlanta’s population increased from 100,000 to 1 million
Hartsfield promoted the idea of ATL as “A City Too Busy To Hate”

4. William B. Hartsfield
Early in his political career, as a member of Atlanta’s city council, he worked to build Atlanta’s aviation industry (1920’s)
In 1928, he was named Atlanta’s father of aviation by the ATL Chamber of Commerce
In 1936, he was elected mayor and helped ATL recover from the Great Depression by soliciting donations from Coca Cola for the city’s funding

5. William B. Hartsfield
He was defeated in the election for mayor in 1940, but was re-elected in a special election when Atlanta’s sitting mayor joined the military during WWII
In 1952, ATL tripled its size from 37 to 128 square miles
Hartsfield presided over the construction of highways and parks throughout the city
He died in 1971, and the airport was renamed in his honor

6. Ivan Allen, Jr. Ivan Allen, Jr. was elected
mayor of ATL after Hartsfield
Many felt he kept the city calm during the Civil Rights Movement
His first act as mayor was to remove signs from City Hall that designated drinking fountains “White Only”
He also ended rules that did not allow black police officers to arrest whites and allowed blacks to serve as firefighters

7. Ivan Allen, Jr.
Allen worked alongside Civil Rights leaders, such as Martin Luther King, Jr.
He was the only white politician from the South to speak in favor of Civil Rights
By 1964, he was able to bring desegregation to all public facilities in ATL

8. Ivan Allen, Jr.
Allen worked to bring the Atlanta Braves to the city by building the Atlanta Stadium for the team and convincing them to relocate from Milwaukee, WI
He helped bring major league football and basketball teams to the city in the late 1960’s

9. Atlanta Braves
The Braves were the first professional sports team to be located in the South
Relocated in 1966, they won their first division title in 1969
Although they were one of the worst pro teams in the 1970’s, Hank Aaron set the record for most home runs in 1974

10. Braves, cont.
In 1976, billionaire Ted Turner bought the Braves and began televising their games on TBS
In 1991, the team hired many new players, and again won the division title
In 1995, the Braves won the World Series—the first Georgia team to accomplish this feat

11. Atlanta Falcons In 1965, the Falcons joined the NFL
Rankin M. Smith of the Life Insurance Company of Georgia purchased the team
They played in 1966 for the first time at Atlanta Stadium

12. Atlanta Falcons
The team struggled until , then reached the playoffs three times
After their brief success, the team played losing seasons until 1997
The Falcons played in the 1998 Super Bowl where they lost
Today, the Falcons are owned by Home Depot founder Arthur Blank

13. Atlanta Hawks
The NBA’s Hawks moved to ATL in 1968 from St. Louis after being purchased by GA real estate developer Tom Cousins and former GA governor Carl Sanders
Ted Turner bought the team in 1977
The team has never won a major championship
They are currently owned by Atlanta Spirit a company that controls Philips Arena where the Hawks play

14. Atlanta Thrashers
This NHL team was brought to ATL in 1999 when it was purchased by Ted Turner
Today it is owned by Atlanta Spirit and plays at Philips Arena
Although they have only had one winning season, they are active in community service

15. Ellis Arnall Served as governor of GA from 1943 to 1947
During his tenure he worked to reform government and paid off state debt
He worked to bring progressive reform to GA and to restore accreditation to Georgia’s universities
Because of his reforms black voters were allowed to vote in the white-only primaries
Eugene Talmadge defeated Arnall in the next governor’s race