The New Georgia Encyclopedia is supported by funding from A More Perfect Union, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Sidney Root, a prominent Atlanta businessman, was an integral part of the Confederate war effort during the Civil War. He later served as the director of the International Cotton Exposition of 1881 in Atlanta and, as park commissioner for the city, was instrumental in the building of Grant Park.
Workers at the Brumby Chair Company in Marietta pause for their noon break in the summer of 1903. Under the leadership of Thomas Brumby, who helmed the company from 1888 to 1923, the Brumby Chair Company became one of the largest employers in Marietta and one of the largest chair factories in the Southeast.
Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
cob106.
A Brumby Chair Company delivery truck is pictured, circa 1928. The Brumby Chair Company, based in Marietta, was incorporated in 1884 by brothers Jim and Thomas Brumby. The company, which the family continues to operate, is best known for its iconic rocking chair.
Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
cob299.
Marietta leaders gather in the law office of Rip Blair (seated right) to honor Niles Trammel (seated left), circa 1940. Otis Brumby Sr. (standing far left) was the vice president of Brumby Chair Company. Also standing, from left: Stanton Read, Ed Massey, Jake Northcutt, Eugene McNeel Sr., unknown, Ryburn Clay, J. J. Daniell, Morgan McNeel.
Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
cob498.
In 2003 a new version of Priscilla the Pink Pig, a children's train ride, was installed at Rich's Department Store in Lenox Square Mall in Buckhead. The ride, which operated from 1953 until 1991 at Rich's downtown Atlanta store, is popular with Christmas shoppers and their families.
Photograph by Kate Howard, New Georgia Encyclopedia
In 1924 Rich's Department Store opened its flagship store in downtown Atlanta, where it remained until 1991. The building was remodeled during the late 1990s and became part of the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center.
Nathalie Dupree (left) works with a student at her cooking school, which opened at Rich's Department Store in 1975. The school ran for almost ten years and enrolled more than 10,000 students.
Courtesy of Nathalie Dupree
Bernie Marcus's charitable efforts included the founding of the Marcus Institute (later the Marcus Autism Center) in 1991 and the donation of $3.9 million to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2002.
Courtesy of Georgia Aquarium and Marcus Foundation
Bernie Marcus, a cofounder of the Home Depot, opened the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta in 2005. The facility, one of the largest aquariums in the world, holds more than 8 million gallons of water and 100,000 animals.
Courtesy of Georgia Aquarium
Arthur Blank, pictured here in 2004, has twice been voted the most respected chief executive officer in the state by Georgia Trend magazine. Cofounder of the Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons football team, Blank also established the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation in 1995.
Courtesy of Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
This 2012 photograph shows the Home Depot corporate offices in Atlanta. The company opened its first three stores in Atlanta in 1979 and by 2004 had spread to every state in the nation, as well as to Canada, Chile, and Mexico.
Photograph by Eric Kennedy
A crew from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, headquarted in Atlanta, drives nails during a Habitat for Humanity house-raising. Arthur Blank, center, cofounded The Home Depot in 1979 and established the foundation in 1995.
Courtesy of Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
Cabbage Patch Kids await "adoption" at Babyland General Hospital, which is located in Cleveland and offers tours to the public. Each doll is given a unique appearance, personality description, name, and birthday.
Courtesy of Babyland General Hospital, Cleveland
Cabbage Patch Kids were created by Xavier Roberts, an art student at Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland. After producing his first soft-sculpture doll in 1977, Roberts joined forces with the toy company Coleco in 1983 to market the dolls. By 1990 around 65 million Cabbage Patch Kids had been sold.
Courtesy of Georgia Department of Economic Development.
In 1978 Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus created a business plan for the enterprise that would become the Home Depot. They envisioned a one-stop shopping facility, staffed by professionals, that would be geared toward people working on home improvement projects.
Courtesy of Special Collections & Archives, Georgia State University Library, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archive.
