Born in 1908, Dr. Irene Dobbs Jackson was the first of six daughters born to Irene and John Wesley Dobbs. In her early years, Irene, known as “Renie,” and her family resided in Auburn Avenue, a thriving neighborhood in Atlanta known as an epicenter of Black culture and excellence in the South. She was a brilliant academic, graduating valedictorian of her high school and 1929 Spelman College classes, and a talented pianist, a skill that ultimately led her to her future husband.

In 1932, while playing piano at a party in her Auburn Avenue neighborhood, Renie met Maynard Jackson Sr., her husband-to-be. Before tying the knot, she moved to France to study for a Master’s degree in French at the University of Toulouse.

During this same time, her father John Wesley Dobbs embarked on a mission to secure voting rights for Black Americans. Believing that enfranchisement was the key to overcoming segregation, Dobbs started a voter registration drive in 1936 with a goal of registering 10,000 Black voters in Georgia. That year, Dobbs founded the Atlanta Civic and Political League, and over the next decade more than 20,000 Black citizens were registered to vote. In 1946, following this decade of success, Dobbs founded the Atlanta Negro Voters League and, using his found influence and leadership, convinced then-Mayor Hartsfield Jackson to integrate the Atlanta Police force.

By then, Renie had returned from France and married Jackson Sr., a preacher at Friendship Baptist Church. In 1949, the couple built and moved into their new home at 220 Sunset Avenue in the Vine City neighborhood on the Westside. They chose the location for their family’s home because of the neighborhood’s reputation as a nice, middle-class Black neighborhood. The couple and their six children lived in apartment three on the second floor. Maynard used the third floor apartment as his office and they rented out the two first-floor units to generate additional income.

During this time, Jackson Sr. became increasingly involved in the local push for civil rights for Black Atlantans, using his position as a leader in his prominent Black church to encourage increased political involvement in the Black community.

A few years later in 1953, Jackson Sr. passed away and Renie decided to further pursue her education, returning again to the University of Toulouse for a doctorate in French. In 1959, she returned home to both her Sunset Avenue home and alma mater Spelman College, where she assumed a post as a professor.

As a scholar in a constant pursuit of new knowledge, she headed to her local Atlanta Public Library. While in France, she had been free to join any library she chose and check out any books-–but that was not the case at home. Segregation restricted Black people from full participation in the library system. Black Atlantans were permitted to read books, but only in the basement of a segregated branch of the library system. Additionally, they couldn’t hold an official library card to the main branches of the Atlanta Public Library system.

Determined to be the difference, Dr. Jackson walked into the main branch of the Atlanta Public Library and demanded equal treatment, applying for a library card. Within a few days, her application was approved, and Dr. Irene Jackson was the first Black person in the city’s history to be issued a public library card. Today, she’s credited with integrating the Atlanta Public Library system.

Her leadership in the fight for equality went on to inspire her children, including her son Maynard Jackson Jr. From his earliest days on Sunset Avenue into his adulthood, Maynard Jr. was a champion for the Black community. After years of community leadership, he was elected as Atlanta’s first Black mayor in 1973.

The Jackson family sold their home in 1969, but its historical significance grew. In 1970, the home was purchased by Southern Rural Action Incorporated and was used to house visiting scholars who came to see The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, an organization founded by Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In 2020, Westside Future Fund purchased the Sunset Avenue home to restore and apply for historic designation on the National Register of Historic Places. Renovations are currently underway. Once completed, the reimagined property will serve as affordable housing for researchers and graduate students affiliated with the Atlanta University Center, and it will stand as a landmark for years to come.

During #BlackHistoryMonth, Westside Future Fund is highlighting some of the places, people and events that form the rich history of our neighborhoods — English Avenue, Vine City, Ashview Heights and Atlanta University Center.

Vine City

1905: Alonzo Herndon founds the Atlanta Life Insurance Company

Formerly enslaved, Alonzo Herndon (1858-1927) is heralded as “Atlanta’s first Black millionaire.” He was a brilliant businessman who started as a barber, opening several shops across the city including one at 66 Peachtree Street that donned crystal chandeliers, gold fixtures and the reputation of being the largest and best barbershop in the region. He went on to start the Atlanta Life Insurance Company in 1905 with $5,000 in assets — and by 1922, the company’s value had grown to over $400,000.

Using the wealth from his barbershops and life insurance company, Herndon purchased more than 100 properties worth more than $325,000. By his death in 1927, it was estimated that he was worth roughly $1 million — roughly $17 million today — making him one of the wealthiest Black people in the nation at the time. Herndon and his wife, Adrienne, designed, purchased and moved into a Beaux Arts home for the family in the southern part of Vine City that was constructed by Black Atlanta craftsmen in 1910. The structure still stands today and sits in close proximity to the Vine City MARTA station.

1923: Dorothy Bolden is born in Vine City

At only nine years old, Dorothy Bolden was already working as a domestic worker in a nearby Atlanta home, and she would continue in that work for the next 49 years. Her experience was tumultuous, and she was once arrested after an incident with her boss for “talking back to a white woman,” and she was submitted to a psychiatric facility for evaluation. These experiences led her to her calling.

A neighbor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Vine City, Bolden utilized their combined network to connect with families all over Atlanta, particularly women working as domestic workers. During the 1960s, domestic workers endured 13-hour workdays and received minimal pay. In 1968, Bolden began the process for the organization of a national union for domestic workers to improve wages and working conditions. She gathered more than 13,000 women from 10 cities to form the National Domestic Workers Union, an organization responsible for tremendous progress for domestic workers. Her work ultimately earned national recognition and earned her advisorships to the administrations of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.

1966: Martin Luther King, Jr. moves to the Westside

Born in Atlanta in 1929, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. moved back in 1960 after years of studying theology in Boston and leading Civil Rights initiatives in Montgomery. His return came as he worked to expand the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and he preached alongside his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

In 1966, a year after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. King and his family purchased the four-bedroom home at 234 Sunset Avenue in Vine City. He would spend the next two years in his Atlanta home, working tirelessly in the fight for equality and justice before being assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968. Following his death, his wife Coretta Scott King remained at the home and founded the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization she led from the basement of their Westside home for years to come.

1967: Helen Howard founds the Vine City Foundation, Inc.

A resident of Vine City, Helen Howard saw a grave need for action to save the community from continued decline. Alongside fellow community members, Howard organized the Vine City Foundation, Inc. to provide urgently needed resources to residents including a free medical clinic, nursery, legal advice and a food cooperative.

1973: Maynard Jackson Jr. forms 1973 mayoral campaign at Pascal’s Restaurant

Facing the challenge of potentially being both the youngest and first Black Mayor of Atlanta, Maynard Jackson, Jr., knew he had to put together a world-class campaign for office. Tucked away in Vine City, Pascal’s was known as the gathering spot for political, religious and activist leaders. In 1973, Jackson gathered a small team to create a strategy to win the race to be Atlanta’s next mayor — their plan worked. Jackson went on to serve three terms (1974-1978, 1978-1982, 1990-1994) as mayor, second to only six-term Mayor William B. Hartsfield. Today, both men are the combined namesake of Atlanta’s airport, the busiest in the world, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

During #BlackHistoryMonth, we are highlighting some of the places, people and events that form the rich history of our neighborhoods — English Avenue, Vine City, Ashview Heights and Atlanta University Center.

English Avenue

1881: Captain James W. English elected Mayor of Atlanta

A revered Civil War Captain, James W. English is the namesake of the English Avenue neighborhood. After his election as mayor in 1881, his efforts as promoter-in-chief of Atlanta as an industrial hub included organizing the 1881 International Cotton Exposition directly adjacent to the railroad on the northeast edge of English Avenue. It aimed at “attracting Northern investment to Atlanta by demonstrating the virtually unlimited potential for economic development and capital growth in the New South.” In 1891 the ex-mayor’s eldest son, James W. English, Jr., purchased a large tract south of the exposition site and began the development of the contemporary area of English Avenue. It was designed for Atlanta’s White working class. Transportation was fundamental to the neighborhood’s early expansion. Many residents in the northern area of the neighborhood, near North Avenue, commuted to the nearby downtown business district along Peachtree Street via the several streetcars that connected the neighborhood to the downtown district until the 1960s. English Avenue School opened in 1910 to serve White, working-class students from the nearby community — but that would change several years later in 1950.

1950: City of Atlanta changes the racial designation of English Avenue School from White to Black

The population of English Avenue saw a significant change in demographics over the course of the first half of the 20th century. A once dominantly White, working class neighborhood, English Avenue had shifted toward a majority Black population by the middle of the century. Quickly, the white population began to migrate out of the community resulting in a gradual decline in the overall population and the disappearance of resources necessary for supporting residents.

1960: English Avenue School is bombed

In the wake of the mobilization of the Atlanta Student Movement, the English Avenue School was victim to a bombing in December of 1960. The act was interpreted as retaliation for the Atlanta University Center students’ desegregation campaign. A Chicago Tribune article reported that two “classrooms and an auditorium were smashed and windows were knocked out in nearby homes. The blast was heard 10 miles away.” Just the day prior, the auditorium had been used for a prayer session ahead of anti-segregation protests.

1995: English Avenue School permanently closes

With the community population having shrunk significantly since the school’s foundation, the City of Atlanta made the decision to close the English Avenue School in1995. Since the school’s closing, the building has remained unoccupied. In 2010, the building was bought by the Greater Vine City Opportunities Program, under the leadership of Mable Thomas, a graduate of the English Avenue School, with the intention of converting the building into a community center. On March 23, 2020, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. To date, Thomas’ ambitions of a community center have not been realized, but the building will remain protected for the foreseeable future.

1998 & 2011: Tom Wolfe publishes A Man in Full; Snow on tha Bluff airs in theaters

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the English Avenue community had fallen into decay. The outward migration from the community over the past 50 years had left vacant, blighted properties scattered throughout the neighborhoods and scarce community resources. As a result, some residents turned to crime and drugs to fund their needs — which in turn led to an outbreak of violence. With robberies, homicides and arrests quickly on the rise in the neighborhood, national media took notice. In 1998, Tom Wolfe would publish A Man in Full, a controversial, best-selling novel highlighting tensions between Atlanta’s wealthy White elites and a Black collegiate athlete and English Avenue resident accused of rape. Over a decade later, Snow on tha Bluff would air in theaters. The movie is a dramatization of the illegal drug trade in the English Avenue community, colloquially known as “Tha Bluff,” and the violence within the community.

2006: 92-year old Kathryn Johnson is murdered by three Atlanta Police officers

The brutal 2006 killing of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston – resident of Neal Street – by three Atlanta Police officers brought the use of excessive force and police brutality against black Atlantans to greater public attention and prompted a reorganization of the City’s drug investigation unit. Further, the killing prompted a renewed push for community mobilization and improvement. The incident sparked the modern movement for a national conversation surrounding police brutality and reform in the law enforcement system that continues to today.

During #BlackHistoryMonth, we are highlighting some of the places, people and events that form the rich history of our neighborhoods — English Avenue, Vine City, Ashview Heights and Atlanta University Center.

Atlanta University Center

1865: Atlanta University founded

Founded by the American Missionary Association and supported by the Freedman’s Bureau, Atlanta University was once the nation’s oldest graduate institution serving a predominantly African-American student body. In the early years of its existence, the university served primarily to educate and train teachers and librarians for Black communities. In the 1920s, the programs expanded and the school began offering graduate programs in liberal arts and social and natural sciences, later further expanding to offer library science, business and social work programs. In 1947, the Atlanta School of Social Work gave up its charter to join the university. One of the leaders of that effort was W.E.B. Dubois who had worked in faculty at the university for a total of 23 years by that time. Dubois would go on to become a world-renowned author, with many of his most influential works being written during his time at the university.

1867: Morehouse College founded

While often viewed as a staple of Atlanta, the city wasn’t always home to Morehouse College — at least not in its original form. Morehouse was originally named the Augusta Institute and was located at Springfield Baptist Church in Augusta. The school was founded by Rev. William Jefferson White alongside Rev. Richard C. Coulter and Rev. Edmund Turney. Just over a decade later in 1879, the institute moved to Atlanta’s Friendship Baptist Church and became Atlanta Baptist Seminary. In 1897, the school again changed its name, this time to Atlanta Baptist College to reflect the expansion of programs within the school beyond theology. At last, it came to its modern name in 1913 being renamed Morehouse College to honor Henry Lyman Morehouse, corresponding secretary of American Baptist Home Mission. Over the next few decades, the school would rise to fame as a result of being the alma mater of national Black icons like Martin Luther King Jr., Julian Bond, Maynard Jackson, and more. In 1975, the school opened the Morehouse School of Medicine, which at the time would be only the third medical school in the state (today there are five) and would go on to be a leading educator of Black doctors in the Nation.

1869: Clark University founded

Having been founded by Freedman’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Clark University shared a close bond with the denomination. Its named after Bishop Davis W. Clark, who was the first president of the Freedmen’s Aid Society and became bishop in 1864. The first class held at the school took place in Clark Chapel, a small Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta. The university was viewed as the flagship school of the denomination, “giving tone” to all other institutions of the Methodist Episcopal Church providing education for Black people according to Bishop Gilbert Haven, Bishop Clark’s successor. Clark University would go on to be renamed Clark College in 1877, and the Methodist Episcopal Church would join with the other branches of Methodists to become the United Methodist Church in 1968. Clark University was one of the first research institutions established in the Nation and today is internationally known for its research contributions.

1881: Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary (later Spelman College) founded

Founded by Sophia B. Packard and Harriet E. Giles, Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary held its first classes in the basement of Friendship Baptist Church. Despite only having four teachers and being housed in a basement, John D. Rockefeller pledged $250 to the school in 1882 after meeting Packard and Giles in just the start of the school’s rise to fame. A year later, the school moved to its current location, occupying nine acres with five frame buildings. In 1884, the school is renamed to Spelman Seminary in honor of Mrs. Laura Spelman Rockefeller and her parents Harvey Buel and Lucy Henry Spelman, longtime activists in the antislavery movement. The name would formally become Spelman College in 1924. Over the next century to the present day, Spelman would expand its extensive liberal arts and sciences programs and become a model university, winning countless awards and being acknowledged as one of the top universities in the country.

1881: Morris Brown College founded

Similar to most of the universities, Morris Brown College was founded with religious roots. Reverend Wesley John Gaines of the African Methodist Episcopal Church saw a need for additional higher education institutions in Atlanta for Black youth. Just 20 years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, over 100 students and 9 teachers walked into a wooden building at the corner of Boulevard and Houston Streets in Atlanta, Georgia, marking the opening of the first educational institution in Georgia under sole African-American patronage. The school was named to honor the memory of the second consecrated Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

1929: Atlanta University Center Consortium, Inc. is formed

Generations after their foundation, five historically Black institutions cemented their partnerships and consolidated into what is today called the Atlanta University Center Consortium, Inc. The consortium is comprised of four institutions today: Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Spelman College. Both Morris Brown College and the Interdenominational Theological Center are former members who are largely significant to the Consortium’s rich legacy.

1960: Morehouse students Lonnie King, Joseph Pierce, and Julian Bond organize the Committee on the Appeal for Human Rights (COAHR)

Inspired by the sit-in movement in other cities, students of the black colleges in Atlanta formed the Committee on Appeal for Human Rights. The group went on to lead protests and sit-ins in Atlanta and nearby areas, and within a short time, inspired the start of the Atlanta Student Movement.

1988: Atlanta University and Clark College merge to form Clark Atlanta University

Having complimentary programs and a need for closer working arrangements between the two universities, a joint committee formed in 1987 by the Boards of Trustees of Atlanta University and Clark College authorized an exploration of the potential of a consolidation of the two universities. After a year, the group delivered a report of the exploration entitled Charting A Bold New Future: Proposed Combination of Clark College and Atlanta University to the Boards for ratification. The report recommended the two schools be combined — and both Boards agreed. That year, the schools merged in a historic moment, forming what is now Clark Atlanta University.

During #BlackHistoryMonth, we are highlighting some of the places, people and events that form the rich history of our neighborhoods — English Avenue, Vine City, Ashview Heights and Atlanta University Center.

Ashview Heights

1910s: Herman Perry begins developing what will become Ashview Heights

With the Atlanta City Street Railway having arrived in the area in an effort to spur suburban development in the city, Herman Perry saw an opportunity for investment in the area adjacent to the Atlanta University Center. At the time, the Sweet Auburn area, long favored by black residents, was surrounded by white neighborhoods, which posed difficulties for the community as segregation practices prevented black residents from expanding into nearby neighborhoods. Perry built houses and made mortgages to new buyers in a time when mortgages were difficult to attain. The placement of the community also opened the doors for Black communities to expand West into largely vacant areas.

1924: Booker T. Washington School opens

In one of the first examples of comprehensive community planning for African Americans in the nation, Herman Perry deeded land to the city for Atlanta’s first black high school, Booker T. Washington. The school had similar features to Atlanta’s white high schools with a combined academic and vocational curriculum. Because Washington was the only black high school in the area, it quickly became overcrowded. The school was built for 2,000 students, and within ten years, almost 6,000 students were attending Washington High School. Highly qualified teachers, some of which came over from the private high schools in the AUC, taught classes of over fifty students often without sufficient books and materials. For this reason, Washington teachers maintained a close relationship with AUC schools and often got the resources they needed through these close partnerships. The school became renowned for the education of dozens of prominent black Americans, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Mattiwilda Dobbs, an opera singer, and State Senator Leroy Johnson, the first black State Senator after the period of Reconstruction.

1958: Dr. Asa G. Yancey becomes the first African-American member of the medical faculty at Emory University

Born and raised in Ashview Heights, Asa G. Yancey led the way for Black medical professionals in Atlanta. Yancey was both the first African-American doctor at Grady Memorial Hospital and Emory University Hospital. He spent years on the staffs of both hospitals, not leaving until his retirement in 1989, and is credited for the development of the Cardiology Center at Emory alongside fellow doctors. In 1972, Yancey was appointed medical director of Grady Memorial Hospital and associate dean at Emory University Medical School. He was appointed full Professor of Surgery at Emory University Medical School in 1975.

1960: Ashview Heights hits peak population

Having become a preferred living area for Black families, Ashview Heights hit its highest population count in 1960 with 4,500 residents. The gradual decline of resources and support in the Westside neighborhoods due to neglect would take its toll over the years, however. Today, only 2,700 people live in the community.

In celebration of Black History Month, community members and business leaders came together at the Westside Future Fund (WFF) Transform Westside Summit on Friday, February 16, to learn about revitalization efforts of Atlanta’s Black Main Street on the historic Westside.

Panelists discussed the importance of Black History Month, the rich history of the Westside and active work to revitalize Martin Luther King Jr. Drive as Atlanta’s Black Main Street – a once bustling gathering spot for Black leaders and visionaries through the 20th century.

Event Highlights

Panelists included: Annette Abernathy, President of Ralph David Abernathy III Foundation; Reverend Dr. Herman “Skip” Mason Jr., Historian and Senior Pastor of Historic West Mitchell Christian Methodist Episcopal Church; and Jay Scott, Founder of Greenrock Partners.

Reverend Leroy Wright of First Thessalonians Missionary Baptist Church led the devotion and moderators Ebony Ford and Benjamin Early invited new members of the crowd to introduce themselves. Dr. Candy Tate, founding president of Culture Center International, moderated the discussion.

Prior to the panelist discussion, attendees took a moment to remember the late Akbar Imhotep who passed away in December 2022. He was a Westside historian and poet who came to the Summits regularly.

Reverend Dr. Herman “Skip” Mason Jr. led off the panelist discussion with a presentation of the many historical landmarks lining Martin Luther King Jr. Drive corridor including Pascal’s restaurant, West Hunter Baptist Street Church and more. Annette Abernathy and Jay Scott then discussed ongoing restoration efforts of West Hunter Baptist Street Church, the place where Civil Rights luminary Ralph David Abernathy preached during his time in Atlanta.

Couldn’t attend the event? Watch the full Transform Westside Summit on YouTube.

[WATCH NOW]

Transforming Our Summits

As a reminder, the Transform Westside Summit now takes place on the third Friday of each month from 7:45 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. The Summit, which began in 2016 as the brainchild of Chick-fil-A Chairman Dan Cathy, was created to foster community fellowship and networking.

“We hope that starting later and hosting fewer meetings each month will help us maintain a high rate of engagement among Westside residents and community supporters,” said Westside Future Fund CEO Ahmann. “More than 10,000 people have attended our Summits over the years, and we hope more people will find value in the information we share. It plays a critical role in connecting business and civic leaders within our community, providing invaluable networking opportunities.”

In December of 2022, Steve Wilson became one of our newest Home on the Westside homeowners when he moved into 850 Proctor Street in the English Avenue neighborhood near Kathyrn Johnson Memorial Park. For Wilson, buying a home in the community where he was raised is special.

“The process for Home on the Westside was surprisingly simple, and it made me feel really at ease. I ended up with a wonderful home in a wonderful neighborhood back where I grew up…and I’m feeling like I’m back home again,” said Wilson.

He joins three Proctor Street Home on the Westside homeowners with two more closing on their new homes in March. Check out his home buying journey: https://youtu.be/ZOKDiAgE8II

Revitalizing our community is a team effort, one that relies heavily on the support of our many incredible volunteers. To thank them for their hard work and dedication, we shine a light on people who actively support our mission.

This month, we honor Nosha Harwell. See what inspires him to give her time as a volunteer for Westside Future Fund.

Q: How did you first hear about the Westside Future Fund?

A: I met John Ahmann while he was jogging on the Beltline near the beginning of the COVID-19 era and I was giving out hand sanitizer via my company Pureneed. He asked me how much my sanitizer was and I told him it was free. Then he asked, “How much will 50 bottles cost?I would like to give them to the homeless.” I was shocked and excited at the same time.

I only had 48 bottles, so Ibottled the last two while he was standing there. He told me all about Westside Future Fund, and the rest is history. Ever since then, I have made it my business to pay it forward by volunteering.

Q: What is your favorite part about serving with the WFF Volunteer Corp?

A: My favorite part about serving with the WFF Volunteer Corps is being a part of something bigger than myself. WFF brings different people together to work as a team. Plus, I enjoy getting out of the house, meeting my neighbors, setting goals, and accomplishing them.

Q: What inspires you about this service opportunity?

A: It’s the feeling I get from helping others that keeps me coming back. Knowing that I have the power to change lives and serve the community means a lot to me. And I’m inspired by the chance to be a part of the rebuilding and development of the historic Westside.

Q: What do you want others to know about the Westside Future Fund and why it’s so important?

A:  WFF puts smiles on many faces. They’re like angels sent from heaven, and they need everyone’s help rebuilding underdeveloped communities like the Westside of Atlanta. Our community can count WFF because they provide us with hope. It’s important that communities have leaders and organizations like this to move toward a brighter future.

While exploring the historic Westside, you’ll find Black history that made American history on nearly every block — including the streets you’re driving on. There are several streets in the community named after nationally prominent Black leaders from Atlanta, each of whom contributed to advancing civil rights and democracy for all Americans. While some names are more well known than others, each of them have made history worth knowing.

In honor of Black History Month, we are taking a trip down some of these iconic streets to learn more about their namesakes.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard

Today, almost every major city in the United States has a street named after the icon of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968). His role guiding the movement cannot be overstated — Dr. King was the face of the fight for equality for Black Americans.

He was a scholar, having first graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Westside Atlanta, and then earning degrees from Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary and Boston University.

Dr. King moved to Alabama after meeting Corretta Scott, a native of Alabama also studying in the city. They got married and moved closer to her family in Alabama in 1953. He first worked as a pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, one of the most influential churches in the local Black community. During the following year, a series of segregated seating incidents on public buses led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956. King was a key leader in the movement, and by the end had gained national recognition.

Over the next decade, Dr. King led marches, sit-ins and protests across the country in the name of civil rights and equality. Alongside fellow luminaries, Dr. King co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a group that led the charge against racial segregation in the South. His leadership in the Civil Rights Movement led to tremendous achievements and pivotal legislative gains including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. On October 14, 1964, Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1968, King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan established Martin Luther King, Jr. Day honoring his pivotal role in securing equal rights for Black Americans — and his legacy continues to inspire people to this day.

In 1976, Hunter Street would be renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Atlanta to honor the Civil Rights legend. The street ran directly through the area where Dr. King lived and learned, being home to landmarks where he ate, learned, prayed and planned his movements including Pascal’s restaurant, West Hunter Street Baptist Church and more.

Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard

Though only three years older, Reverend Ralph David Abernathy (1926-1990) is often referred to as a mentor of Dr. King. More importantly, he was Dr. King’s closest friend.

Abernathy was a Baptist minister at First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, the largest Black church in the city. He collaborated with Dr. King to form the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization that went on to lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Rev. Abernathy later co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) alongside Dr. King and other civil rights leaders. Rev. Abernathy assumed the role of president of the organization following Dr. King’s assassination.

Over the next two decades, Rev. Abernathy served as an advisory committee member of the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE), addressed the United Nations (UN) on the matter of world peace, brokered a deal between the FBI and American Indian Movement protestors during the Wounded Knee incident of 1973, and testified before the U.S. Congress in support of extending the Voting Rights Act in 1982.

Today, West Hunter Street Baptist Church, where Rev. Abernathy preached during his time in Atlanta, is under renovation.

Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard

Known as the “Dean of the Civil Rights Movement,” Reverend Joseph E. Lowery (1921-2020) started as a minister at the Warren Street Methodist Church in Mobile, Alabama, and later joined Dr. King in the fight for equality.

Rev. Lowery spearheaded the Alabama Civic Affairs Association, an organization dedicated to desegregation, and took part in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Lowery, like Rev. Abernathy, was one of the co-founders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Rev. Lowery succeeded Rev. Abernathy as president in 1977. In addition to his involvement with the SCLC, Rev. Lowery also co-founded the Black Leadership Forum, a consortium of Black advocacy groups.

Following the end of the Civil Rights Movement, Rev. Lowery was a leading advocate for the end of apartheid in South Africa and he served as pastor of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta from 1986 through 1992.

Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway

Formerly Bankhead Highway, this thoroughfare is named after famed civil rights attorney and activist Donald Lee Hollowell (1917-2004). Hollowell was pivotal in the effort to desegregate schools throughout the state of Georgia, leading lawsuits that would ultimately integrate Atlanta Public Schools and the state public universities including the University of Georgia in 1961.

Hollowell also acted as one of Dr. King’s personal attorneys, freeing him from prison in 1960. His work in Georgia garnered national recognition, and in 1966, he was appointed regional director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) by President Lyndon B. Johnson, becoming the first Black regional director of a major federal agency.

Joseph E. Boone Boulevard

Reverend Joseph E. Boone (1922-2006) was the head pastor of the Rush Memorial Congregational Church of the Atlanta University Center and a key figure of the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta. Boone is best known for his leadership in launching the Atlanta Student Movement and working to integrate stores, restaurants and schools in the city.

Dr. King named Rev. Boone the chief negotiator of Operation Breadbasket, a program that encouraged businesses to employ Black Americans. Boone led a team of more than 200 ministers in more than 30 cities for the operation. Then-Governor Jimmy Carter appointed Boone to the Governor’s Council on Human Relations in 1971, and Boone would go on to be a leader in the business community with a focus on improving the economic development of Black communities.

James P. Brawley Drive

A brilliant academic, James P. Brawley (1894-1985) served as president of Clark College from 1941 to 1965. Brawley relocated Clark College to its current location in the Atlanta University Center and launched initiatives to advance the school’s programs. Brawley was a founding member of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), an organization that helped raise funds for several new buildings to be added to the campus.

His leadership at Clark College paved the way for the establishment of a development office, a restructured curriculum that included a new pharmacy program that would become nationally renowned, as well as an expansion of the university grounds to include an athletic field and new academic buildings. By the end of Brawley’s tenure, the university was operating on a surplus with zero debt.

Meet Sylvia Russell, WFF’s Governance and Nominating Committee Chair

In 2013, AT&T Georgia President Sylvia Russell decided it was time to retire. Russell came to Atlanta in 1996, and after more than 20 years of hard work and dedication with the telecom corporation, it was time to embark on a new mission. Russell considered having a relaxing, care-free retirement, but when she looked around Atlanta she said to herself ‘there’s still work to be done.’ That’s when she discovered Westside Future Fund (WFF).

Leading the Way

“I made a conscious decision to help make Atlanta a better place,” said Russell. “We have this huge wealth gap that is both troubling and perplexing. The Westside of Atlanta has consistently been left behind, and these neighborhoods have not benefited from the economic growth much of Atlanta has experienced. Rather than stand by, I wanted to be a part of doing something to make a difference, which is what led me to Westside Future Fund.”

Russell sits on the WFF Board of Directors and chairs the Governance and Nominating Committee. She also sits on the Booker T. Washington High School Go Team, an advisory group she describes as the ‘principal’s kitchen cabinet.’

She brings years of experience from a lengthy history of leadership in corporate and philanthropic organizations in Atlanta including service on the Board of Directors of the Technical College System of Georgia, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Corporation for Economic Development, the Woodruff Arts Center and Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE).

Cheering for the Westside

On the WFF Board, Russell’s extensive experience and knowledge help guide decision making on both economic and education initiatives. Among all of the work that she does with the Westside, there’s one role she believes is most important, and it is driven by her passion for the community.

“The most important thing I do is be a big cheerleader,” she said. “When people who know me ask what I’m doing, one of the first things that comes out of my mouth is the work of Westside Future Fund. I just feel so good about the possibilities it brings to the communities we’re serving.”

Russell’s extensive philanthropic involvement experience both personally and with AT&T Georgia has largely centered around education, which she describes as her primary focus.

According to her, bridging the wealth gap and priming members of the community to succeed requires stability in the four impact areas of focus for the Westside Future Fund: safety and security, cradle to career education, community health and wellness, and most importantly access to affordable housing.

Russell says, “When you think about the wealth gap and eradicating poverty, housing is a huge part of that. There is nothing like the stability of having a home. Without it, how can you do anything? How can you educate your kids?”

A Lasting Impact

After working with the organization for several years, she believes the Westside Future Fund is on the right track to make structural change, and she is confident that the mission to revitalize the community is being realized through their collective work.

“We work with the community and we listen to address all of the things that any of us would want for ourselves and for our families,” said Russell. “I think we’re creating a model that can be replicated over time by other communities. We are looking at it holistically and with the intent for this to be a systemic, long-term solution.”

As WFF continues its transformative work revitalizing the community, awareness of the importance of the organization’s mission remains a sticking point for Russell. She encourages people to experience the Westside community firsthand by taking one of the Westside Future Fund monthly tours.

Input from experienced leaders like Russell and the community have guided the tremendous success WFF has had in all of its initiatives – forging pathways for Westside residents to live in a safe, healthy and vibrant community.

“This is an organization that has dug in deep, has a plan, and is executing that plan. The plan is what makes the city better – and that makes all of us better.”