Subseries I: Bureau of Planning records, 1909-1979, undated
Scope and Contents
Bureau of Planning records document the efforts of the City of Atlanta government and Metropolitan Planning Comnmission (later named Atlanta Regional Commission) to peacefully integrate Atlanta neighborhoods in the 1950s and 1960s as African Americans sought to purchase homes in neighborhoods occupied by white residents. In 1952, Atlanta Mayor William Hartsfield set up the West Side Mutual Development Committee (WSMDC), a bi-racial citizens committee that worked with civic groups, real estate agents and others to mediate racial housing disputes throughout the city. Despite its name, the WSMDC worked in neighborhoods throughout Atlanta, not just those on the west side of the city.
The records include a vast amount of correspondence from Robert C. Stuart (1918-) of the Metropolitan Planning Commission who acted as a technical advisor to the WSMDC. Other correspondents include Mayor Hartsfield, city officials, and residents of Atlanta. Among the records are "neighborhood improvement files" which contain correspondence, reports, news clippings and other materials that document racial transition efforts in Adamsville, Adair Park, Collier Hights, Grove Park, Kirkwood, Moreland Heights and other areas. Of particular interest are dozens of surveys completed by white residents of Kirkwood and Collier Heights on whether they wish to sell their homes to Black families. The records also include subject files on topics related to housing, urban renewal, crime, and school desegregation in the 1950s and 1960s. The records contain maps of the Atlanta neighborhoods of Thomasville, Lightning, and Bedford Pine, as well as maps illustrating a proposed highway for the west side of the city.
Other materials dating from the 1930s through the 1950s document the city's plans for a proposed ampitheater in Piedmont Park, a property extension for Oakland Cemetery, a proposed Veterans Administration hospital, land use studies, post-war growth plans, and transportation and parking plans. Other records produced in the 1970s include Neighborhood Planning Units news (NPU notes) which include updates on happenings in Atlanta neighborhoods, as well as printed materials.
Dates
- 1909-1979, undated
Creator
- From the Collection: Massell, Sam (Person)
- From the Collection: Atlanta (Ga.) (Organization)
- From the Collection: Allen, Ivan, 1911-2003 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Extent
7.1 linear ft. (10 oversize folders, nine document cases, five oversize boxes)
Language
From the Series: English
Arrangement
This series is organized alphabetically according to titles supplied by staff and by the creators. Some folder titles are enclosed in quotation marks to indicate outdated language related to race.
- Adair Park (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Adamsville (Atlanta, Ga.)
- African Americans -- Housing -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Atlanta (Ga.) -- Maps
- Atlanta (Ga.) -- Politics and government
- Atlanta (Ga.) -- Race relations
- Atlanta (Ga.). Bureau of Planning
- Atlanta City Planning Commission
- Atlanta-Fulton County Joint Planning Board
- Bedford Pine (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Cities and towns -- Growth
- City planning -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Collier Heights (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Community development -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Community development -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Community development, Urban -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Discrimination in housing -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Grant Park (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Grove Park (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Hartsfield, William Berry
- Home ownership -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- House selling -- Corrupt practices
- Housing -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Kirkwood (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Land use -- DeKalb County
- Land use -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Lightning (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Moreland Heights (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Mozley Park (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Neighborhood planning -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Neighborhoods -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta, Ga.)
- Race -- Demographic aspects
- Racism -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Real estate agents -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Real estate development -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Segregation -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Stuart, Robert C. (Robert Charles), 1918-
- Transportation -- Planning -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Transportation -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Urban renewal -- Georgia -- Atlanta
Repository Details
Part of the Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center Repository