Living Atlanta: Atlanta Life from World War 1 through World War 2
Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, @ 4pm from May 31st to September 22nd
In recognition of WRFG’s 50th Anniversary, every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, May 31 through September 22nd, WRFG 89.3 FM will be airing one of our most valuable historical contributions, our award winning series: Living Atlanta: Atlanta Life from World War 1 through World War 2.
In 1977, after receiving a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, WRFG began recording interviews from Atlanta residents, compiling oral history about Atlanta life from those who lived it. Close to two hundred people were interviewed for the series and ranging in ages from 60 to 106, the Living Atlanta respondents represented a broad cross section of Atlanta society.
Topics throughout the series include The Streetcar Workers and the 1916 Strike, Booker T Washington High School, Railroad Workers, Bootlegging, Domestic Workers, Textile Workers and the 1934 strike, as well as many other developments and experiences in race relations, church life, public housing, and education in black and white communities of Atlanta.
Originally recorded on reel to reel and spliced together in a home studio, the series was then transferred to cassette tapes in the 80s, and in some cases to CD’s after that, only to finally be digitized and undergo some audio restoration.
The original broadcast of the Living Atlanta series began on November 15th, 1979. In recognition of historical dates and topics, you may have heard some of the episodes aired.
We ask you to tune into WRFG 89.3 FM every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 4-5pm from May 31 to September 22 to hear Living Atlanta in its entirety. Episodes run between 30-40 minutes in length. Each day is a new episode.
Previously aired episodes and future broadcasts:
Ep 1: “The Etiquette of Race Relations – Part 1”
Ep 2: “The Etiquette of Race Relations – Part 2”
Ep. 3: “The Streetcar Workers and the 1916 Strike”
Ep. 4: “The Great Atlanta Fire of 1917”
Ep. 5: “Public Education in Atlanta – Part 1: The 1920’s. The beginning of progressive education; early white high schools; sex discrimination”
Ep. 6: “Public Education in Atlanta – Part 2: Booker T. Washington High, Atlanta’s First Black Public High School”
Ep. 7: “Public Education in Atlanta – Part 3: The 1930’s”
Ep. 9: “Atlanta’s Blues and Country Musicians – Part 2: Recording and Radio”
Ep. 10: “The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce’s 1926 Forward Atlanta Campaign”
Ep. 11: “Auburn Ave and Atlanta Black Commerce”
Ep. 12: “Sweet Auburn Ave – Center of Black Life”
Ep. 13: “Working On The Railroads – Part 1: The Enginemen”
Ep. 14: “Working On The Railroads – Part 2: The Trainmen”
Ep. 15: “Working On The Railroads – Part 3: The Servicemen”
Ep 16: “Atlanta’s Underside, Part 1 – Bootlegging”
Ep. 18: “The Professional Women of Atlanta”
Ep. 19: “The Domestic Workers of Atlanta”
Ep. 20: “Atlanta’s Underside, Part 2 – Gambling and Prostitution”
Ep. 21: “Atlanta’s Five Black Colleges – Part 1 – An Oasis of Black Intelligentsia in a Segregated City”
Ep. 22 “Atlanta’s Five Black Colleges – Part 2 – Black Student Life”
Ep. 23 “Atlanta’s White Student Life”
Ep. 24: “Health and Medicine – Part 1 – Health Conditions, Epidemics, and Home Remedies”
Ep. 25: “Health and Medicine – Part 2 – Atlanta’s Doctors and Hospitals. Focuses on Racial Discrimination.”
Ep. 26: “Black Baseball – Part 1 – The Black Crackers in the 1920s”
Ep. 27 – “Black Baseball – Part 2 – The Black Crackers Championship Team of 1938”
Ep. 28 – “White Liberals and Atlanta’s Interracial Orgs – Part 1 – The Committee for Interracial Cooperation and the Association of Southern Women fir the Prevention of Lynching”
Ep. 29 – “White Liberals and Atlanta’s Interracial Orgs – Part 2 – The 1930’s and the Rise of the Southern Regional Council”
Ep. 30 – “Black and Red In Atlanta- Fascists and Communists in the Early 1930’s”
Ep. 31 – “The Ku Klux Klan in Atlanta”
Ep. 32 – “Atlanta Entertainment – Part 1 – Grand Opera and Fiddlers’ Convention”
Ep. 33 – “Atlanta Entertainment – Part 2 – Black and White Dance Bands and Clubs”
Ep. 34 – “Atlanta Entertainment – Part 3 – Theaters and Vaudeville”
Ep. 35 – “The Great Depression – Part 1 – Conditions in Atlanta and the NRA”
Ep. 36 – “The Great Depression – Part 2 – Relief and Welfare Efforts”
Ep. 37 – “The Great Depression – Part 3 – Unemployment and New Deal”
Ep. 38 – “The Textile Workers and the 1934 Strike”
Ep. 39 – “The Police on the Job”
Ep. 40 – “The Police and the Black Community”
Ep. 41 – “The Fight to Hire Black Police”
Ep. 42 – Atlanta’s Progressive Mayors: Mayor James Key
Ep. 43 – Atlanta’s Progressive Mayors: Mayor William Hartsfield
Ep. 44 – Black Politics in Atlanta
Ep. 47 – Atlanta’s Black Newspapers
More to be announced as they are digitized.