The Unsolved Atlanta Ripper Case
In 1911, Atlanta, Georgia was considered the gateway to the “New South,” at least by Atlanta itself. Less than four decades after Sherman burned Atlanta in a bid to destroy the morale of southerners and cripple the ability of major cities, like Atlanta, to transport goods from place to place, nearly a dozen railroads were now passing through Georgia’s capital city. There was a major boom in business, leading to Inman Park and Peachtree Street being much sought after as residences for the wealthy.
Atlanta wanted to project itself as being racially tolerant, touting Morris Brown, Atlanta University and Atlanta Baptist as some of the best “black” schools in the nation. Black-owned businesses were also cropping up, lending credence to the idea of a New South.
However, the majority of the city’s minority residents, rather than having their own business, worked long hours in menial jobs, doing manual labor, and living in the less-desirable areas of Reynoldstown and Pittsburg.
Five years earlier, in 1906, 40 black men had died as a result of a rampage in which a mob of white men had run rampant through the city after unsubstantiated reports of four white women being assaulted by black men. The tension, and the ugliness of the riot, was still very much alive in Atlanta.
Segregation was law at the time. Blacks could not walk through “white” parks; they could not eat in “white” restaurants; they could not drink…