Atlanta Black History

06/14/2026

Atlanta’s first African American police officers were vanguards of the civil rights movement!

The city’s first eight African American officers. From left, front: Henry Hooks, Claude Dixon, Ernest H. Lyons; back: Robert McKibbens, Willard Strickland, Willie T. Elkins, Johnnie P. Jones, and John Sanders.

06/13/2026

06/13/2026

I love my hometown of Atlanta. The experiences of living in a large, diverse, urban Black community have always shaped the questions I have about the world.

06/13/2026

William Finch was Born into slavery, William Finch opened a tailor shop in Atlanta and was one of the first two Black men elected to the Atlanta City Council in December 1870. Known as the “Father of Black Public Education in Atlanta,” he fought for equitable schools and jobs after the Civil War.

06/13/2026

Fire Station No. 6 is Located in the Old Fourth Ward, this was Atlanta’s first integrated firehouse. It now operates as a museum chronicling the complex, often-overlooked history of desegregation within the city’s fire department.

The station sits on the former property of Theodore "Tiger" Flowers, the world's first Black middleweight boxing champion.

It is the oldest continuously standing firehouse in Atlanta.

06/13/2026

South-View Cemetery was established in 1886 at 1990 Jonesboro Rd SE, this historic cemetery was created because Black Atlantans were barred from being buried in white-owned cemeteries. It is the final resting place of notable figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (prior to his move to the King Center) and civil rights pioneer Julian Bond.

06/02/2026

05/31/2026

Atlanta Life Insurance Co.