Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events, 1880s-1930s

Chapter 99: The Nineteen-Thirties (1930)

Section XIV Recent Years CHAPTER 99 THE NINETEEN-THIRTIES (1930) T CAN almost be said that modern Atlanta emerged from the decade of the 1920's. For sheer volume of building, public and private, business and residential , no peace-time decade in the city's history approached it. Only the war-time 1940's were on a par. In marked contrast to the booming 20's were the early 30's, when Atlanta, along with the entire country, felt keenly, the effects of the depression. Unemployment, which had presented no serious problem except for a brief period following the first World War, became acute. Indeed, in 1932, a mass demonstration of a thousand unemployed blacks and whites marched on the courthouse, protesting the inadequacy of relief measures. Federal aid was soon to partially alleviate these conditions, and a period of intensive development in public housing followed.1 When Uncle Sam's census takers completed their rounds in 1930, and the results were tabulated, Atlanta proper had a population of 270,035, compared to 200,616 in 1920. The figures for Greater Atlanta, however, ranked it as the second city in the South, exceeded only by New Orleans, and twenty-second in the nation, with a total of 359,668. The breakdown follows: Atlanta Borough 270,035 Decatur Borough 13,281 East Point Borough 9,517 College Park Borough 6,251 Hapeville Borough 4,220 Avondale Borough 536 East Point District 1,462 Hapeville District 2,588 South Bend District 9,826 Buckhead District 10,005 Center Hill District 8,454 Collins District 5,802 Druid Hills District 4,868 Cook's District 3,559 Blackball District 2,992 Peachtree District 2,222 Bryant's District 1,424 Adamsville District 1,176 Poole's District 1,048 Edgewood District 297 Kirkwood District 105 Total 359,6682 I THE NINETEEN-THIRTIES 867 For many years it was the boast of the people of Atlanta that there had never been any corruption in the city government, but for some time prior to 1930 there had been rumors of graft. By the fall of 1929 something of an odor was emanating from the old city hall on Marietta Street. The matter came to an issue at that time when Fourth Ward Alderman Ben T. Huiet stated on the floor of city council that he heard an official had been paid $3500 to put through a certain measure. (Courtesy Atlanta Historical Society) Atlanta City Hall, 1910-1930. Photo taken during March of the latter year just before the present million dollar city hall was occupied. The building pictured above stood on the northwest corner of Marietta and Forsyth Streets, used as Federal Building before occupancy as City Hall The daily papers published the statement and the Constitution in a ringing editorial demanded that the grand jury take up the matter and go to the bottom of it.3 Wrote W7 alter G. Cooper, anent the investigation:4 "Thomas J. Lyon, foreman of the grand jury then in session immediately called on the editor of the Constitution and asked for any information he had concerning Huiet's statement. He was advised to see Mr. Huiet and Mayor Ragsdale about it. Mr. Lyon did so and the grand jury immediately began to summon a large number of witnesses. "The matter was so hard to get at that it took a long time and the examination of hundreds of witnesses to discover the facts. It is said that the jury 868 ATLANTA AND ITS ENVIRONS then in session and the succeeding one of which Rawson Collier was foreman, examined fully a thousand witnesses and that Solicitor General John A. Boykin and his assistants examined as many more. William Schley Howard was a special assistant to Mr. Boykin in these cases. "Members of those grand juries almost deserted their own business and worked day and night for four months in going to the bottom of the matter and the number of indictments found by them and succeeding grand juries astonished the people of the city. "A statement furnished by the solicitor general shows that twenty-six persons were indicted by the two grand juries in this investigation but eleven of them were either acquitted or had their cases nol pressed. Fifteen were convicted or pleaded guilty." They were: Walter C. Taylor, clerk, bribery and other misdemeanors in connection with his official position; fines and prison sentence. Harry...