Robert E. Laxson photographs of Robert W. Woodruff funeral
Scope and Contents
This collection contains color slides taken by Robert E. Laxson during Robert W. Woodruff's funeral at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. The images include many government and civic officals that attended the funeral such as former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson (1938-2003), former Senator Herman Talmadge (1913-2002), former Atlanta Police Chief Herbert Jenkins (1907-1990), former Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. (1911-2003), and former Georgia Governor Carl Sanders (1925-2014).
Dates
- 1985 March 10
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing 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.
Biographical / Historical
Robert Earl Laxson (1922-2013) was born to Wiltshire Laxson (1876-1936) and Elizabeth DeNeice Laxson (1889-1966) in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1940, he graduated from Tech High School. In 1942, he joined the United States Army to serve in the Signal Corps and was awarded a Bronze Star for valor in Europe. After the war, Laxson attended Georgia State College (later Georgia State University) to study finance. He worked at Rich's department store and married Ruth Knight (1924-2019) in 1953, and they had no children. Shortly after his departure from Rich's, he cofounded a commercial real estate business called Central Properties. In the years leading up to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, he played a major role in acquiring land for Olympic Centennial Park in Atlanta.
Robert Winship Woodruff (1889-1985) was born to Ernest Woodruff (1863-1944) and Emily Caroline Winship Woodruff (1867-1939) in Columbus, Georgia. Woodruff was an Atlanta businessman and philanthropist who served as the president of the Coca-Cola Company from 1923 to 1955. Throughout his life, he gave awarded money to several cultural and education organizations, including to Emory University.
Extent
28 color slide(s)
Language
English
Arrangement
This collection is arranged alphabetically by titles supplied by staff.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift, 1985
Bias in Description
As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information. We choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, and bias is reflected in our descriptions, which may not accurately convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materials. Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment. In working with this collection, we often re-use language used by the former owners of the material. This language provides context but often includes bias and prejudices reflective of the time in which it was created. The Kenan Research Center’s work is ongoing to implement reparative language where Library of Congress subject terms are inaccurate and obsolete.
Kenan Research Center welcomes feedback and questions regarding our archival descriptions. If you encounter harmful, offensive, or insensitive terminology or descriptions, please let us know by emailing reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Your comments are essential to our work to create inclusive and thoughtful description.
Processing Information
This collection was processed in 2026.
- Title
- Robert Laxson photographs of Robert W. Woodruff funeral
- Subtitle
- ahc.VIS539
- Author
- Caitlin Marshall
- Date
- January 2026
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center Repository