Asa G. and Carolyn D. Yancey photographs

Collection

Collection number: ahc.VIS482

Scope and Contents

This collection contains portraits of members of the Yancey family and their residence located at 676 Beckwith Street (formerly 92 Beckwith Street) in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as photographs of Carolyn D. Yancey’s swearing-in for her appointment to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. Included also are photographs of Atlanta residences and buildings, photographs of Benjamin Mays (1894-1984), a postcard of Grady Memorial Hospital, and a photograph of the Freedom Train. Images of residences in Southeast Atlanta include captions such as "homes to be served," likely in reference to Daisy Yancey's involvement in the Neighborhood Union. All photographs in this collection were taken in Atlanta, Georgia, unless otherwise noted.

Dates

1912-1991, undated

Creator

Yancey family (Family)
Yancey, Asa, 1916-2013 (Person)
Yancey, Carolyn Dunbar, 1921-2010 (Person)
Yancey, Daisy Sherard, 1881-1970 (Person)

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

Daisy Sherard Yancey (1881-1970) was born in Hartwell, Georgia, to Andrew Sherard (1853-1912) and Mary Sherard (1858-?). By 1900, Daisy Yancey moved to Atlanta, Georgia, by 1900, where she served as the second president of the Neighborhood Union, a women-led social services organization for underprivileged African American families. She married Arthur Henry Yancey (1881-1969), and they had seven children: Bernise A. (1904-1930); Prentiss Q. (1907-1991); Daisy A. (1909-1910); Brenda H. (1913-1994); Asa G. (1916-2013); Orlando W. (1918-1944); and Rodrique L. (1921-1993).

Dr. Asa G. Yancey attended Booker T. Washinton High School and Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, before earning his Doctor of Medicine degree from University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He married Carolyn Dunbar Yancey in 1944, and the couple had four children: Arthur Henry II (1949- ); Caren L. (1950-2005); Carolyn L.; and Asa G. Jr.

Dr. Asa G. Yancey Sr. served as a first lieutenant in the United States Army Medical Corp, as an instructor of surgery at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, and as the Chief of Surgery for the Veterans Administration Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama, from 1948 until 1958. In 1958, the Yanceys moved to Atlanta, where Dr. Asa G. Yancey joined the staff of the Hughes Spalding Pavilion of Grady Memorial Hospital as the first African American doctor. Dr. Yancey later became the first African American faculty member of Emory's School of Medicine. In 1972, he became associate dean of the school and was appointed medical director of Grady Memorial Hospital.

Carolyn Dunbar Yancey (1921-2010) was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Henry Steward Dunbar (1887-1958) and Annie Louise Dunbar (1888-1977). She had a background in education and served on the Gate City Day Nursery Association Board of Directors, the Spelman College Board of Trustees, and the Wesley Community Center Board of Directors before being elected to the Atlanta Board of Education in 1982. Governor Joe Frank Harris appointed Yancey to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia in 1985 as the first African American woman to serve on the Board.

Extent

37 photographic print(s) (29 black and white photographic prints and eight color photographic prints)

Language

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection is arranged alphabetically by titles supplied by staff. Control numbers are intentionally out of order to maintain alphabetical order.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Some of the images in this collection have been digitized and are available at: https://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/digital/collection/p17222coll55

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift, 2013, with subsequent additions.

Related Materials

Asa G. and Carolyn D. Yancey papers, MSS 1293, Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center

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.