Is Florida part of the South?

After the reading the assigned article for today (Wednesday, 3/30/2010), I do believe that Florida is part of the South geographically, but it's development and it's current nature would not fit the typical "Southern" description. Florida did start out as an agrarian state much like the rest of the South. However, industrial and infrastructural developments helped modernize Florida. In addition, World War 2 and the aftermath of WW2 further boosted Florida's economy, doing away with the formerly agrarian-based economy. Industries and tourism developed quickly, and along with these, mass immigration and urbanization. Florida is very different from the other Southern states since, I believe, it is more developed and urbanized. Unlike Georgia or Alabama, majority of the population of Florida live in the urban and suburban areas, not the rural areas. In effect, Florida is part of the South geographically, but in everything else, Florida differs from its southern counterparts.

Atlanta Woman's Club

One interesting thing that I have found in my research is that the Atlanta Woman's Club and the Atlanta League of Women voters promoted the economic responsibility of women, especially during war times. In one newspaper article from 1931 during the Great Depression, Mrs. Roosevelt, then a governor's wife and not yet First Lady, stated that women should pay more attention to the goings on in the government. She believed that in this way, women would be more involved in U.S. micro-economics. With women in control of economics, Mrs. Roosevelt hinted, war would not occur.
“Governor’s Wife Asks Women to End War,” The New York Times, 22 November 1931, p. 21.

Atlanta Transportation 1950-2000

The most interesting part of research I have found is the way freeways have allowed Atlanta to grow and attract more people. In 1952 the city added numerous freeways from federal funding to accommodate the rapidly increasing population. These freeways intersected with major interstate highways, connecting Atlanta with the southern region of the United States. The freeway system connected Atlanta with the rest of the nation and helped change the city from a small southern city to a major center of trade and growth in America.

Atlanta Public Housing 1950-2000

The most intriguing thing that I have learned about Atlanta since beginning my research project is how much the 1996 Atlanta Olympics impacted public housing in Atlanta. Atlanta was one of the first major cities in America to develop public housing and shortly before the Olympics a large portion of public housing was torn down to make Atlanta appear less "dangerous" to the world. Since then Atlanta has created new public housing that does not appear as threatening as pervious housing.

Atlanta City Planning 1950-2000

One thing that I have learned in researching Atlanta is the difference in the population when looking at the census in Atlanta City versus the County. The city population in the year 2000 was 416,474 which almost doubles to 726,709. The majority of the population, 255,689 is black with only 138,352 white and 8,046 Asian. Interestingly the census considers everyone to be Hispanic. Geographically Atlanta is 131 square miles and statistics show that it is still one of the most segregated cities in the south, and even in the country. Atlanta is known as the horizontal city because it does not have barriers like other cities. It does not have to expand by building skyscrapers, but just spreading outwards. Having visited Atlanta last summer, I drove around the city proper and knew that it was a large city, but after researching it, I realized that I did not drive through even half of the city.

Atlanta Education System 1950-2000

One of my findings is about how the goal of integration affected the make-up of public schools, in perhaps an unexpected way. Integration was a huge goal of many African American interest groups in Atlanta from the 1954 Brown vs Topeka Board of Education ruling through 1973. During this period the NAACP fought hard for integration, both in and out of court.

These efforts, however, had unintended results. It caused to a huge movement of white students out of the public school system and into private education. By 1963, Blacks had become a majority in public schools. Instead of integrating the schools, the schools were becoming all black.

The changing makeup of the public schools led to the Atlanta Compromise of 1973. Instead of demanding full integration, there would be a smaller-scale busing program. A stipulation of this Compromise was that the school system would be staffed equally by white and black administrators.

Atlanta's Woman's Club membership

Clubwomen in Atlanta tended to be well-educated, middle class ladies. They were typically good Christian women who were very concerned about helping out in their society. The majority either attended finishing school or colleges throughout the South.
The social status of members of the Atlanta Woman’s Club changed between 1900 and 1950. Clubwomen were always very common, yet they became more accepted over the decades. However, as the number of active members dropped, their social importance did too. This reduction in numbers was mostly due to the two World Wars and the Great Depression. During these times, many people did not have the extra money needed to pay the membership dues. Any extra money that a family did have usually went to buying food or other necessary items. Also, the lower number of active members was partly due to the shift towards the progressive movements that were becoming increasingly popular during this time.

Atlanta Politics 1950-2000

The recent findings I've gotten included more information about Maynard Jackson, Atlanta's first black mayor, and the policies he enforced as soon as he stepped into office in 1973. It is amazing how much social changes occurred while Jackson was mayor. What's even more amazing was that everything happened amidst criticism and controversy. Jackson's first term made affirmative action the main priority. He hires more minorities and women, and allows more minority businesses to start up by awarding them contracts. Naturally, a minority in office would be in favor of implementing policies that included and benefited everyone, regardless of race or color, and that ended discrimination practices. This can be seen in the construction of Atlanta's airport. Jackson hires a black woman to oversee the project, which stirred up a lot of controversy (i.e. whites were arguing that it was reverse discrimination). But despite all this, Jackson still managed to get re-elected for a second term, proving that his vision of the new South and his policies were not as rejected as they were thought to have been.

Atlanta City Planning, 1900-1950 Finding

One important finding from my Atlanta research was the impact that the campaign "Forward Atlanta" had on city planning. This campaign was launched by City Hall and the Chamber of Commerce to attract businesses to Atlanta. They were successful in luring important businesses such as Davison-Paxon department store, Sears-Roebuck, and General Motors, which made Atlanta their regional headquarters. This tremendous growth in commerce demanded office space and buildings that Atlanta did not have, and so the city constructed office buildings to fulfill the demand. For instance, Auburn Avenue became the commercial center for African Americans and new buildings were built along this street for the increasing number of African American professionals and businesses.

Atlanta Woman's Club-Traveling Libraries!

One contribution that the Atlanta Woman's Club made to society was the creation of public libraries that traveled from county to county. These libraries were part of their mission to improve the educations of both children and adults. Women's clubs throughout the nation promoted traveling libraries, but the Atlanta Woman's Club is unique. The state legislature of Georgia made no provision for libraries, and thus the Club was almost solely responsible for the thousands of volumes of books they had circulating in rural areas of Atlanta's county. As a book nerd, I think that is really cool.

Atlanta City Planning 1900-1950

This primary source article titled “The cities of America: Atlanta” by, George Pessions Perry provides images of Atlanta during the 1940’s. I found this article very helpful because of its wide range of information. It describes the general population at this time, the “cow paths” and newly forming roads, upcoming education and the colleges in the area, and much more. There are also advertisements mixed into the article that show a lot about the culture at this time. For example, there is a cigarette ad promoting new, healthier cigarettes, a “Hammermill Bond” advertisement, and even one called “Are you reporting back for civilian duty?” As much as the article itself tells us information on the city of Atlanta at the time, the advertisements can tell us information as well.

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=5&hid=7&sid=ebe19840-49f0-433c-aadf-f75691ac78be%40sessionmgr10

Atlanta Education System 1950-2000

This is a photo taken in 1972 at Highland Elementary School. They are protesting forced busing in Atlanta. There was huge protest by the White community in Atlanta against busing children between schools. As this photo shows, much of this anger was aimed against the NAACP, who were the main group working to enforce integration through methods such as busing.

The Atlanta Woman's Club: 1900-1950

The Atlanta Woman’s Club’s first chapter house was a church that they purchased in 1908. The club occupied this residence until 1920 at which time they moved to ‘Wimbish Mansion’ on Peachtree Street. This amazing example of early twentieth century architecture and infrastructure was designed by Walter T. Downing. Currently known as the “Grand Old Lady of Peachtree”, is still owned by the Atlanta Woman’s Club today. Much work was done to the chapter house, which was built in 1906 as a private residence for the Wimbish family. It still features the original 1920s ballroom which was constructed by the Atlanta Woman’s Club. This image shows the outside appearance of this impressive structure.

Atlanta City Planning 1950-2000

This image of downtown Atlanta displays the 1996 Summer Olympics and how Atlanta became an international city. Never before had the Olympics been to a southern city and Atlanta wanted to make sure that they did not disappoint. Centennial Park displays just how much Atlanta wanted to show just how much they had changed. With the backdrop of the city, the park creates a jeux du position not only in the larger context of Atlanta and the South, but also in a global context.

Atlanta City Planning, 1900-1950 Artifact

This image shows the construction of Atlanta's sewer and water systems which took place in the 1900s. As the city underwent urbanization and its population grew, the sewer and water systems had to be improved in order to maintain the growing population. Atlanta's municipal services had a hard time keeping up with the increase in population and the extension of its borders. In 1910 Atlanta's streets still lacked water mains or sewer lines, and sewage disposal was overall inadequate. This period of urbanization and population growth demanded changes in the infrastructure of the city such as the important sewer system which had to be improved.

Atlanta City Planning, 1950-2000

This picture is an aerial view of metropolitan Atlanta and depicts the cities main highways. Evident in the picture is the impact that these main roads have upon urban sprawl. the highways surround the city and have allowed small residential communities to spring up outside the metro area.