The New Georgia Encyclopedia is supported by funding from A More Perfect Union, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Supporters of LGBTQ+ rights gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building during oral arguments for Bostock v. Clayton County (2020). By a 6-3 majority, the Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination and unjust termination based on their sexual orientation.
Image from Wikimedia
In 2016 Gerald Bostock sued Clayton County for workplace discrimination. His case ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ employees against unjust discrimination and termination.
Image from Wikimedia
Michael Hardwick, defendant in the Georgia sodomy case Bowers v. Hardwick, speaking to the Atlanta Business and Professional Guild, Colony Square, Atlanta, Georgia, September 7, 1986.
Courtesy of Special Collections & Archives, Georgia State University Library, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographs.
Kathy Wilde, attorney for Michael Hardwick, speaking at a gay rights demonstration in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision for Bowers v. Hardwick (Georgia sodomy law case), Richard B. Russell Federal Building, Atlanta, Georgia, July 3, 1986
Courtesy of Special Collections & Archives, Georgia State University Library, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographs.
Lewis F. Powell Jr., pictured in 1976, served as a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1972 until 1987.
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
A sleeping ward at Milledgeville State Hospital for the Insane, circa 1940. Authorities at the hospital practiced compulsory sterilization of patients throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Following an award-winning 1959 report by Atlanta Constitution Jack Nelson, the number of operations dropped dramatically before finally ceasing in 1963.
Courtesy of Special Collections & Archives, Georgia State University Library, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archive .
Francis Galton was an English statistician whose theories on heredity lead him to develop the field of eugenics. During the early twentieth century, Galton's ideas gained support among scientific and medical professionals, politicians, and Progressive-era reform groups.
Image from Eveleen Myers
This tinted postcard of the Georgia State Sanitarium (later Central State Hospital) depicts the grounds of the institution circa 1905. During this time the hospital was under the leadership of Theophilus O. Powell, who implemented more precise methods of diagnosis.
Courtesy of Melinda Smith Mullikin, New Georgia Encyclopedia
Iris Blitch, pictured here speaking in Jesup in Wayne County, broke ground for female politicians in the 1950s and 1960s. When she was first elected in 1948, she was the only female legislator in the state.
Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Iris Blitch, far left, greets U.S. House Sepaker Sam Rayburn. Blitch and Edith Green of Oregon, second from left, were newly elected congresswomen in 1955. The Eighty-Fourth U.S. Congress had seventeen women.
Courtesy of the Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
Iris Blitch, pictured here circa 1955, won her first congressional election in 1954, after unseating U.S. representative William McDonald "Don" Wheeler. She served the Eighth Congressional District of Georgia from 1955 to to 1963.
Courtesy of the Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
Roswell, originally located in Cobb County, lies twenty miles north of Atlanta on the Chattahoochee River. Annexed to Fulton County in 1932, the city today is part of the Atlanta Regional Commission, a member of the Georgia Association of Regional Commissions.
Photograph by Jerry Joiner
Georgia is divided into twelve regional commissions, which function as multicounty planning and development agencies.
Courtesy of Georgia Association of Regional Commissions
John Archibald Campbell, a native of Wilkes County, served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1853 until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Women in Gwinnett County demonstrate in favor of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guaranteed women the right to vote. The amendment passed in 1920.
Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # gwn151b.
Frances Pauley attends a banquet of the Atlanta branch of the Urban League (AUL) in 1961. Pauley served on the board of the AUL and was president of the Georgia League of Women Voters during the 1950s.
At the end of the 1820s Augustin Smith Clayton of Athens constructed a cotton mill near his hometown, hoping to prove the protective tariff that subsidized northern industry at the expense of southerners unnecessary.
Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries, Georgia Photo File.
Published in 1885, the print Our Overworked Supreme Court depicts Supreme Court justices Woods, Blatchford, Harlan, Gray, Miller, Field, Waite, Bradley, and Matthews surrounded by paperwork for cases.
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
William Burnham Woods, a native of Ohio, was a resident of Atlanta when he was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1881. He served on the Court until his death in 1887.
Courtesy of British Museum, London
Joseph Rucker Lamar, a native of Elbert County, served as a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1911 to 1915.
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Joseph Rucker Lamar, a native of Elbert County, served as a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1911 to 1915.
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
James Moore Wayne, pictured circa 1850, was a Savannah native and the first Georgian appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. He served as a justice from 1835 to 1867, one of the longest tenures in the Court's history.
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Governor Nathan Deal, elected in 2010, delivers the State of the State address in January 2011. Deal served as governor from 2011 to 2019.Â
Courtesy of georgia.gov
Nathan Deal (right) was sworn in as Georgia's eighty-second governor on January 10, 2011, in Atlanta. He is pictured with his predecessor, Governor Sonny Perdue (left), and Georgia secretary of state Brian Kemp. Deal served as governor from 2011 to 2019.
Courtesy of Georgia.gov
Henry L. Benning was an influential advocate for secession and helped to draft Georgia's Ordinance of Secession.Â
Courtesy of Georgia Info, Digital Library of Georgia.
Fort Benning, home of the U.S. Army Infantry, comprises nearly 120,000 acres in Chattahoochee County.
Courtesy of Fort Benning
The motto of the Court of Appeals of Georgia was engraved into the wall of its former courtroom in the State Judicial Building in Atlanta. Fifteen judges serve on the Court of Appeals, which was established in 1906 to ease the caseload of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Photograph by S. Sean Barrett
Hugh Peterson, pictured in 1925, was a state legislator from 1922 until 1934, during which time he was instrumental in passing the State Reorganization Act of 1931. Peterson went on to represent Georgia's First Congressional District in the U.S. Congress, serving from 1934 to 1946.
Congressman Hugh Peterson (front row, center), pictured in July 1937, and guests eat watermelons sent by J. M. Stubbs of Savannah. Peterson served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1934 to 1946.
Three companies of the British Sixtieth Regiment of Foot were sent to the Georgia colony in 1763 by King George III to strengthen the defense of colonial garrisons against attack by the French and Spanish.
Courtesy of The Company of Military Historians
The Judicial Building in Atlanta houses the Supreme Court of Georgia, as well as the Court of Appeals and the Attorney General's office.
Courtesy of the Supreme Court of Georgia
Leah Ward Sears, the first woman and youngest justice to sit on the Supreme Court of Georgia, served as chief justice from 2005 to 2009.
U.S. president Jimmy Carter (right) meets with Hamilton Jordan in the Oval Office of the White House in 1977. Jordan served as Carter's chief of staff from 1977 to 1980.
Courtesy of Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.
Hamilton Jordan, pictured in 1977, served as a prominent advisor to Jimmy Carter during Carter's tenures as governor of Georgia and president of the United States. Jordan grew up in Albany and graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in political science.
Courtesy of Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.
Georgians Jody Powell (left) and Hamilton Jordan, known as "the gold dust twins," sucessfully managed Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign in 1976. Following the election both men, pictured in 1977, served in Carter's administration, Powell as press secretary and Jordan as chief of staff.
Courtesy of Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.
The central office of the Georgia Department of Labor is pictured in 2008 at the corner of Piedmont Avenue and Andrew Young International Boulevard in Atlanta. The Department of Labor, created in 1937, provides workforce and vocational rehabilitation services, in addition to overseeing workplace safety programs and gathering labor and occupational statistics in Georgia.
Courtesy of Georgia Department of Labor
Mark Butler, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Labor, was elected in 2010.
Courtesy of Georgia Department of Labor
The Valdosta Career Center, pictured circa 2008, is one of fifty-three career centers administered by the Georgia Department of Labor. These career centers, which aim to assist Georgia workers through training, educational resources, and financial support, replace traditional unemployment offices in the state.
Courtesy of Georgia Department of Labor
The Athens Career Center, pictured circa 2008, provides computers and other resources to job seekers in the Clarke County area. The center is administered by the Georgia Department of Labor.
Courtesy of Georgia Department of Labor
Michael L. Thurmond, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Labor, was elected in 1998 and served until 2011.
Courtesy of Dekalb County
Newt Gingrich speaks to the media in Atlanta in December 2000, after the U.S. Supreme Court had decided in favor of George W. Bush in the contested presidential election of that year. Gingrich has remained politically active since his resignation from the U.S. Congress in 1999.
Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In 1978 Republican Newt Gingrich won his first term to the U.S. House of Representatives. He went on to represent the Sixth District of Georgia until 1999.
Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
During the 1730s, Scottish settler Patrick Tailfer led a group of colonists, knowns as the Malcontents, in protest of various laws and policies enforced by the Georgia Trustees. His 1740 tract, entitled A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia, was read in influential circles but failed to make a substantial impact on the circumstances of the Malcontents.
From A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia in America, by P. Tailfer
On the final day of the 1964 legislative session, Georgia representative Denmark Groover attempted to stop the clock in the state House of Representatives during a debate on congressional redistricting.
Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Representative Denmark Groover, pictured in 1984, was considered one of the shrewdest members of the General Assembly because of his prodigious memory for legislation. He was also involved in some of the state's most controversial political events, including two redesigns of the state flag.
Courtesy of Georgia Info, Digital Library of Georgia.
Pictured in 1982, Tom Buck of Columbus served in the Georgia House of Representatives for thirty-eight years, one of the longest tenures of any lawmaker in the state's history.
Courtesy of Georgia Info, Digital Library of Georgia.
Calvin Smyre (left) and Tom Buck were powerful and effective legislators in the state House of Representatives for their home district of Columbus. They are pictured in 1986.
Courtesy of Georgia Info, Digital Library of Georgia.
State senator Culver Kidd, pictured in 1990, was a powerful legislator who sponsored a larger number of bills each session than most of his colleagues.
Courtesy of Georgia Info, Digital Library of Georgia.
Culver Kidd served as a member of the Georgia General Assembly for forty-two years, representing Baldwin County in middle Georgia. His portrait was painted circa 1996 by Stan J. Strickland and hangs in the state capitol.
Courtesy of Georgia Capitol Museum, University of Georgia Libraries
Georgia state senator Culver Kidd speaks in 1988 with fellow Democratic state senator David Scott in the legislative chambers. Scott was elected to the U.S. Congress in 2002.
Courtesy of Georgia Info, Digital Library of Georgia.
Moody Air Force Base in Lowndes County is home to the A-10 aircraft. The A-10C Thunderbolt II pictured here is equipped with satellite-guided precision weaponry and is used for the air force's search-and-rescue missions.
Courtesy of Moody Air Force Base. Photograph by Parker Gyokeres
An HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter hovers over a field at Moody Air Force Base in Lowndes County. The helicopters are used by the air force to conduct search-and-rescue missions in hostile environments, especially to recover downed aircrew or other isolated military members during war.
Image from U.S. Air Force
Airmen from the 41st Rescue Squadron and the 347th Operations Support Squadron, based at Moody Air Force Base, participate in combat survival training in the Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area, near Moody.
Courtesy of Moody Air Force Base. Photograph by Eric Schloeffel
Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta is home to the 23d Wing, which includes the 347th Rescue Group. More than 4,600 military and civilian personnel are assigned to the 12,000-acre base.
Courtesy of Beryl I. Diamond
Monticello native William A. Connelly served as Sergeant Major of the Army, the highest-ranking noncommissioned officer in the U.S. Army, from 1979 to 1983.
Courtesy of U.S. Army
Bill Lee (left), one of the longest-serving members of the state House of Representatives, converses with Representative Calvin Smyre in 1988. A native of Clayton County, Lee served as chairman of the House Rules Committee.
Courtesy of Georgia Info, Digital Library of Georgia.
State representative Bill Lee (left) is pictured with fellow representative Frank Redding in the 1990s. Lee served in the house for forty-two consecutive years, thereby earning the nickname "Dean of the House."
Courtesy of Georgia Info, Digital Library of Georgia.
Calvin Smyre speaking to a colleague on the floor of the Georgia State House in 1987.
Courtesy of Atlanta History Center, Southline Press, Inc. Photographs, #VIS 158.01.269.
Calvin Smyre concluded a forty-eight-year career in politics in April 2022.
Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Sidney J. Marcus was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1968 and served for seven terms. He chaired the house's Health and Ecology Committee and was a member of both the Rules Committee and the Ways and Means Committee. The auditorium at the World Congress Center in Atlanta, which Marcus worked to establish, is named in his honor.
Courtesy of Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Sidney J. Marcus Papers.
Senator George Hooks, from Americus, retired in 2012 from serving the Georgia General Assembly. During his thirty-two years in the assembly, he became known as an expert on the state's finances, as well as the unofficial historian of the senate.
Courtesy of Georgia Info, Digital Library of Georgia.
Dorothy Felton, pictured in 1979, was the first Republican woman to be elected to the Georgia General Assembly. She was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1974 and served until 2000.
Courtesy of Georgia Info, Digital Library of Georgia.
Mike Egan (right) is pictured with George Busbee in 1974, the year Busbee was elected governor of Georgia. Egan served in the state legislature as both a representative (1966-76) and a senator (1989-2000). He also served as associate attorney general under U.S. president Jimmy Carter.
Courtesy of Georgia Info, Digital Library of Georgia.
Paul Broun Sr., pictured in the 1980s, served in the state senate from 1962 until 2000. A native of Randolph County, Broun was a businessman in Athens at the time of his election to the senate, where he served as chairman of the Appropriations Committee and the University System Committee.
Courtesy of Georgia Info, Digital Library of Georgia.
Paul Broun (right), a state senator for thirty-eight consecutive years, is pictured in 1986 with Georgia lieutenant governor (later governor) Zell Miller. Broun and Miller worked together in the 1990s to establish the HOPE scholarship program.
Courtesy of Georgia Info, Digital Library of Georgia.
U.S. senator Walter F. George (center) is pictured in 1951 at his Dooly County office with members of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce Housing Committee. George served in the U.S. Senate from 1922 until 1957.
Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # clq085.
Up to 1937 U.S. senator Walter F. George had supported most of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's major New Deal programs, but he joined a coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats who resisted further reforms. In 1945 George supported Roosevelt's efforts to create the United Nations charter.
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, National Photo Company Collection.
Walter F. George (back seat, far right), one of Georgia's longest-serving members of the U.S. Senate (1922-57), drives through Warm Springs with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1933. U.S. senator Richard B. Russell Jr. rides in the front seat.
Courtesy of Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
With fifty-six years in office, Hugh Gillis of Treutlen County was the longest-serving member of the Georgia General Assembly. Gillis held powerful committee positions during his long legislative career, including president pro tempore of the senate.
Courtesy of Georgia Info, Digital Library of Georgia.
A University of North Carolina sociologist, Howard W. Odum was one of the founders of the Southern Regional Council. Previously, he had been the president of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation.
Courtesy of Odum Institute for Research in Social Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Lillian Smith, pictured in 1945, refused to join the Southern Regional Council because she believed the organization should make the ending of segregation its top priority. She and Howard W. Odum held opposing views about the approach the council should take to achieve necessary reforms.
Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
rab360.
This tree-lined drive marks the entrance to Beaulieu Plantation, the estate of William Stephens, who came to Savannah in 1737 to serve as secretary of Trustee Georgia. Beaulieu was one of the leading river plantations, and Stephens experimented with grape and cotton cultivation.
Photograph by Carol Ebel
The Tuskegee Airmen (including Charles Dryden) are pictured in late 1943, during World War II. The airmen excelled as bomber escorts, and they flew more than 15,000 combat sorties. Their excellent service led U.S. president Harry S. Truman to desegregate the U.S. military.
Courtesy of Museum of Aviation
One of the famed Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, Charles Dryden flew mostly P-40F Warhawks and P-51 Mustangs. A New York native, Dryden moved to Atlanta later in life.
Image from Dsdugan
The North American P-51 "Mustang" first entered service in the army air force in 1943. It was one of the most advanced fighters of World War II, serving as an escort for heavy bombers and as an attack and strafing aircraft. It also served in the Korean War.
Image from Alan Wilson
One face of the 1733 seal of the Georgia Trustees features two figures resting upon urns. They represent the Savannah and Altamaha rivers, which formed the northwestern and southeastern boundaries of the province. The genius of the colony is seated beside a cornucopia, with a cap of liberty on her head and a spear in one hand. The abbreviated Latin phrase Colonia Georgia Aug means "May the colony of Georgia prosper."
Courtesy of Georgia Historical Society.
The F-22 fighter jet flew for the first time on September 7, 1997, from Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta. At the beginning of this test flight, which lasted more than an hour, the aircraft reached an altitude of 15,000 feet in less than three minutes.
Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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