February 2012
48 posts
February 29, 1940
Gone With The Wind won eight Oscars, including Best Picture.
February 28, 1874
GA Gov. James Smith signed legislation creating the Georgia Department of Agriculture.
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February 27, 1930
Actress Joanne Woodward was born in Thomasville, GA.
February 26, 1854
GA Gov. Herschel Johnson considered draining the Okefenokee Swamp.
February 25, 1864
Union prisoners began arriving at GA’s Andersonville Prison (Camp Sumter).
February 24, 1883
Edward F. Hoge published the first issue of the Atlanta Journal.
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February 23, 1994
Dakota Fanning was born in Conyers, GA.
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February 22, 1892
The Atlanta Cyclorama was put on display in a new building on Edgewood Ave.
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February 21, 1828
The first issue of the Cherokee Phoenix was published in New Echota.
From the Archives: Civil War Letter
Camp Marion Near Yorktown Va Feb 20st / 62 Dear Father + Mother I seat my self this evening to drop you a few lines to let you know where I am I will leave this place tomorrow for Richmond But I do not know what I shall do when I get there as I understand the city is crowded with people and getting lodging there is considered almost impossible Alvin and the boys are all well and in...
February 20, 1970
Georgia ratified the 19th Amendment.
February 19, 1942
The U.S. War Department announced the Bell Bomber plant would be built in Marietta, GA.
February 18, 1862
Georgia’s Confederate Congressmen were sworn into office in Richmond, VA.
February 17, 1974
GA Gov. Jimmy Carter unveiled a portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the state capitol.
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February 16, 1936
Politician Joe Frank Harris was born in Cartersville, GA.
Trending Now- Summer Camp
Atlanta History Center summer campers explore the past and the world around them through enriching and engaging activities. Join the fun with games, stories, crafts, and outdoor expeditions as well as interactive exhibitions. With new themes each week, campers enjoy a variety of hands-on, immersive camp experiences all summer long. Full Day Camp fees are $225 for members; $275 for...
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Trending Now- Susan Haltom Lecture
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 @ 7:00pm
Join the Atlanta History Center’s Cherokee Garden Library for a delightful evening with garden designer and preservationist Susan Haltom, who will discuss her new book, One Writer’s Garden: Eudora Welty’s Home Place. The lecture will be followed by a book signing and reception. Even in her earliest short stories, the writer Eudora Welty...
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February 15, 1952
GA Gov. Herman Talmadge approved the purchase Stone Mountain.
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February 14, 1891
William T. Sherman passed away in New York, NY.
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From the Archives: Civil War Letter
Camp Marion Va Near Yorktown Feb 13th 1862 L. B + M. L. Underwood Dear Father + Mother
As W. J. is writing I seat myself to write you a few lines. Brother landed hear last Sunday I was truley glad to see him. He looks verry well. Grate excitement prevailes in camp on account of late battle at Roanoak Island. The yankees took the Island a grate many of our men was slain but we thing...
February 13, 1917
Martha Lumpkin, for whom Marthasville (later Atlanta) was named, passed away.
February 12, 1733
Georgia Day - James Oglethorpe and GA’s first colonists landed at Yamacraw Bluff.
February 11, 1936
Burt Reynolds was born in Waycross, GA.
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February 10, 1964
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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Q&A with Taylor M. Polites
You are obviously inspired by the Southern Gothic genre, but who are your favorite authors of all time, and why?
The Southern Gothic, and Gothic literature more generally, seemed a natural atmospheric extension of the history and mood of the Reconstruction period. The fact that the South has its own Gothic form speaks volumes already about the nature of its history and society. While I love...
February 9, 1926
The Atlanta Board of Education prohibited teaching the theory of evolution.
February 8, 1917
Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield National Park was added to the National Park System.
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February 7, 1905
Football coaching great James Wallace Butts was born in Milledgeville, GA.
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February 6, 1926
GA’s Oliver Hardy signed a long-term movie contract with Hal Roach.
February 5, 1934
Hank Aaron was born in Mobile, AL.
From the Archives: Civil War Letter
Camp Walker Va Manassas Junction Feby 4th 1862
My Dearest Julia I am happy to say to you to night that I will start home the last of this week. I will stop one day at Culpepper + 1 day at Lynchburg and then for home. “home-sweet home be it ever so humble their [sic] is no place like home” I assure you I am tired of the Army it is too hard of a life for me. The mud (when the ground is not...
February 4, 1861
Delegates met in Montgomery, AL to form the Confederate States of America.
February 3, 1898
Atlanta Constitution publisher and editor Ralph McGill was born in Soddy, TN.
February 2, 1899
Andrew Carnegie announced he would donate $100,000 to build a public library in Atlanta.
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February 1, 1788
The Georgia legislature awarded inventor William Longstreet a patent for a steam engine.