Black History

Author Orice Jenkins tells the full story of Ulysses Goolsby and the Early County massacre more than 100 years later. The Early County Massacre has been known as the Grandison Goolsby War for over a century, focusing on the events of December 30th, 1915, when 46-year-old Grandison used gunfire to defend himself from a lynching mob. Lesser known is that the incident started two days earlier when Grandison’s son was attacked on his way to a wedding, and that it all led to the Supreme Court of Georgia sending that same son to death row five years later.

Join Author and historian Herman Skip Mason Jr. in this unique look at the rich history of the African-American community of East Point, Georgia.

An industrious, spiritual, and neighborly people, the African-American community of East Point, Georgia has a rich and enduring heritage, explored in this volume of vintage photographs. Notable landmarks such as South Fulton High School, Lige Sims Funeral Home, and Union Baptist Church-all long gone but not forgotten-are seen within these pages. The pioneering leaders who have contributed to the town's growth are highlighted as well, including the civic and social organizations they formed for the betterment of the community.

Filled with remarkable vintage photographs, Black America: Augusta, Georgia captures the essence of the African-American heritage in this historic Southern community.

The Garden City has produced a wide variety of intellectual and political pioneers, including a handful of educators who were instrumental in the pivotal Brown versus Board of Education case. Within the pages of this volume, their stories unfold.

Using the heritage area’s archival images and photographs sourced from partners and the community, Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area is a photographic tour through time and place on the nature, culture, and history of southeast Metro Atlanta.

Beginning 20 miles east of Atlanta, the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area encompasses portions of DeKalb, Henry, and Rockdale Counties, with Arabia Mountain and its lunar-like landscape and the historic city of Lithonia at its heart. Dominated by two granite mountains, Arabia and Panola, the area once contained the nation’s biggest rock quarrying and chicken grit operations. Over time, these businesses, along with agrarian industries, would weave a uniquely diverse cultural tapestry that centered on family, faith, and fortitude. Some of these stories include civil rights heroes from Lithonia like Lucious Sanders and Marcia Glenn Hunter, Trappist monks in Conyers who marched with Dr. King, quarry workers at Arabia who helped build DeKalb’s first public school for Blacks, and a landscape architect who worked at the White House and helped preserve Panola Mountain.

An Atlanta-based writer and journalist, Jeff Dingler has written for New York Magazine, the Washington Post, Newsweek, Atlanta Magazine, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and more. Brigette Jones is a historian, speaker, writer, and thought leader whose work has been recognized by the Smithsonian Institute, National Public Radio, the Tennessean, and the New York Times best-selling The Moth Presents: A Point of Beauty.

But it is not only this tragedy that has given Walton County a sense of identity. Indeed, other lesser-known events and accomplishments have contributed to its history. Whether boasting Atlanta's first black millionaire, a member of the U.S. Olympic basketball team, or a high school state football championship, Walton County has thrived both in and out of the national spotlight.

June Bug's Grocery and the Cornfield Jook: A South Albany Oral History 

The vibrant South Georgia scene was pure Americana—a picturesque, old-fashioned grocery store next to a thriving jook joint in the heart of a South Albany African-American community. Originally more secluded, this nucleus of the neighborhood became a familiar sight to all Albany residents with the opening in the 1980s of a roadway that passed by the scene and across a new bridge over the nearby Flint River. The waters of the Flint proved to be much too near in 1994, when a catastrophic flood damaged beyond repair the grocery, jook, and hundreds of homes along the river.

Deeply touched by that enormous community loss, Mary Sterner Lawson used her own 1987 photographs to paint a watercolor of the once-flourishing South Albany scene. She never imagined how overwhelming the public response would be when the painting was exhibited in the main lobby of a busy local hospital in 1996. A veritable flood of reminiscences came her way—tales of childhood memories, community gatherings, friendships, brotherhood, families, prostitution, moonshine, and murder. Inspired by the community members who encouraged and aided her efforts, Lawson began recording the rich recollections. June Bug’s Grocery and the Cornfield Jook registers these voices of the community, the voices behind the painting.

Mary Sterner Lawson has taught humanities, literature, and composition at Albany State University since 1973. A natural extension of her longtime involvement with people, art, oral history, and community development, this volume will find a treasured place on Albany bookshelves and will be embraced by young and old, black and white, for generations to come.

From Elbert Colored High School to Blackwell Memorial Cultural Center, this book brings to life Elbert County's African American history.

Elbert County, the granite capital of the world, is nestled in the northeast corner of Georgia, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The educational and political journey of many African Americans in this county began at Elbert Colored High School. African Americans in Elbert County helped shape their community and their country through sheer determination and faith, in the face of slavery and laws biased against them.

Long before it came to prominence as the model city of the New South, Atlanta was a hotbed of entertainment, business, and civic life for African Americans.

At the same time that Harlem was undergoing its acclaimed renaissance, Atlanta could boast of excellent colleges, a thriving social environment, and an entertainment scene that could rival those of much larger cities, eventually earning the title "the new Motown. '? From Auburn Avenue, the hub of the city's African American activity, a spirit of vibrant change and excitement radiated out to reach people across America, and draw them into the Hollywood of the South.

Within these pages, discover little-known facts about the county's past residents, including Bukumbo, the young girl who was brought from Africa to Decatur to serve as a nurse, who quickly became a beloved member of the family and died only a short while later.

Learn about the great impact that the Clark and Oliver families had on Decatur, and view famous sections and landmarks of the county, including Lithonia, Ellenwood, Stone Mountain, Doraville, Tucker, Chamblee, Clarkston, Lynwood Park, Scottdale, and South DeKalb. Whether one is well acquainted with the county's rich heritage or a newcomer just becoming familiar with the people and places that make up the county's history, African-American Life in DeKalb County: 1823-1970 offers something for everyone.

Georgia and the Power of the Vote traces the history of Georgia’s enfranchisement and its influence on American politics from 1865 to 2023.

Since Reconstruction, Georgia’s enfranchisement history has captured the nation’s attention. During multiple waves, massive voter registration, mobilization, and suppression efforts were influenced by the pull-pull forces of those wanting to sustain power and those untiringly committed to acquiring it; those hoping to maintain the status quo and those steadfastly determined to disrupt it; and those trying to exercise their right to vote and those trying to suppress it. This historical tug-of-war amongst Georgians has consistently had national implications. The outcome, nevertheless, has shaped national policy, influenced landmark court decisions, ignited social movements, and produced national leaders.

The Golden Isles are home to a long and proud African American and Gullah Geechee heritage.

Ibo Landing was the site of a mass suicide in protest of slavery, the slave ship Wanderer landed on Jekyll Island and, thanks to preservation efforts, the Historic Harrington School still stands on St. Simons Island. From the Selden Normal and Industrial Institute to the tabby cabins of Hamilton Plantation, authors Amy Roberts and Patrick Holladay explore the rich history of the region’s islands and their people, including such local notables as Deaconess Alexander, Jim Brown, Neptune Small, Hazel Floyd and the Georgia Sea Island Singers.

The rich African-American heritage of Columbus, Georgia, comes alive in this engaging collection of images and stories.

From the town's early days when pioneers settled along the Chattahoochee River to its present status as a thriving metropolitan community, Columbus boasts an eventful history, one that would not be complete without the hard work and extraordinary achievements of its African-American community. Within these pages, the reader will discover such legendary figures as Eugene Bullard, the first black Aviator; Dr. Thomas Brewer, a champion of the Civil Rights movement; and Alma Thomas, a celebrated and accomplished visual artist.

In this volume discover the educational professionals and teaching strategies that shaped the lives of African Americans in DeKalb County, Georgia

A selfless and tireless educator, Narvie J. Harris has dedicated numerous years to the students and teachers of the DeKalb County School System. The impact she has made on this Georgia community is far-reaching--she has touched the lives of thousands through her words, her wit, and her example. In this unprecedented salute to her life and times, discover the incredible strides made in equal-opportunity education through a collection of images and memoirs, including the early Jeanes Supervisors who persevered in turbulent times to improve the quality of African-American education and the triumphant achievements of Mrs. Harris and others who dedicated countless hours to the betterment of the DeKalb County Schools.