Herbert Jenkins photographs

Collection

Collection number: ahc.VIS43

Scope and Content

The bulk of this collection consists of photographs of Police Chief Herbert Jenkins and Atlanta Police Department personnel throughout Jenkins' career. Noteworthy images of Jenkins include photographs of him as a child, a portrait taken on his first day as a police officer, and a photograph of him being sworn in by Mayor William B. Hartsfield. Other images of note include a series of photographs of the Summerhill riot of 1966, pictures of the first African American patrolmen, and portraits of Atlanta Police Department officials in the 1890s and early 1900s. Also included are images of celebrities and politicians, some of whom are meeting with Jenkins. Among these are images of President Jimmy Carter, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, President Richard M. Nixon, Reverend Billy Graham, comedian Bob Hope, and entertainers Amos and Andy and the Three Stooges.

Dates

1890s-1975, undated

Creator

Jenkins, Herbert Turner (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

This material is protected by copyright law. (Title 17, U.S. Code) Permission for use must be cleared through the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Licensing agreement may be required.

Administrative/Biographical History

Herbert Turner Jenkins (20 March 1907 - 20 July 1990) was born in Lithonia, Georgia, and moved with his family to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1924. From 1924-1931, he worked at the West End Ford Shop, where he also taught new car owners how to drive. Jenkins, the son and grandson of police officers, joined the Atlanta Police Department in 1931 at the age of 24. His early years on the police force included stints as the official driver of Mayor James L. Key and as a member of the police motorcycle squad. He rose to the rank of captain in 1945, and Mayor William B. Hartsfield appointed him chief of police on 2 February 1947. During his tenure, the Atlanta Police Department hired its first African American officers in 1948 and its first women officers in 1957. In 1967, Jenkins was the only southerner named by President Lyndon Johnson to the National Advisory Council on Civil Disorders. Jenkins retired from the Atlanta Police Department in 1972 and was named police chief emeritus for life. He went on to help organize the Fulton County Police Department in 1975 and to serve as a senior research associate of the Center for Research in Social Change at Emory University (1973-1983). Jenkins was married to Margie Mason Jenkins, with whom he had two sons, James Sage and Herbert T. Jenkins, Jr. Jenkins passed away in his home in Atlanta in 1990.