After four whirlwind days in Atlanta, I’m back and ready to see what useful sources might be in the thousands of photos I took at the Spelman Archives, American Baptist Historical Society Archives, Georgia State Archives, Atlanta History Center and Auburn Avenue Research Library. Over the next few days, I’ll be organizing these photos in useful ways and starting to pick out the blue chip sources that are particularly relevant to my topic. Although I haven’t been able to read through them all yet, I’m really encouraged by what I’ve seen so far and I think that there are some sources that will prove key to my future work.
Until I figure out how to manage the material itself, here are two of the major historical sites I saw on my way to the Auburn Avenue Research Library:
Big Bethel AME Church – the oldest African American church in the Sweet Auburn Neighborhood – and the site of the Cotton Exhibition’s Colored Woman’s Congress (December 27-28, 1895). Pictured with a mural honoring civil rights leader John Lewis.
The First Congregational Church, the second oldest African American Congregational Church in the US – best known for catering to Atlanta’s black elite and Rev. Henry H. Proctor. This building was erected in 1908 after Proctor channelled the political will following the Race Riot of 1906 into funding for the construction project.