A number of significant historical events have occurred in Georgia during the month of August.
1700-1749
1786
Revolutionary War veteran Austin Dabney became the only African American to be granted land by the state of Georgia in recognition of his war service.
1800-1849
1829
The first documented evidence of gold in north Georgia was reported in the August 1 issue of the Milledgeville newspaper Georgia Journal.
1850-1899
1864
During the Civil War, Union general William T. Sherman’s artillery bombarded Atlanta in the last month of the Atlanta campaign, showering 3,000 rounds on the city on August 9. Union general Ulysses S. Grant issued Circular No. 31, which rewarded Confederate deserters with monetary incentives and transport home, while Confederate general Robert E. Lee attempted to sustain his fighting force by issuing General Orders No. 64, offering amnesty to any deserter who returned to Confederate service.
1887
In one of the nineteenth century’s most infamous crimes, nine members of the Woolfolk family were murdered in their Bibb County home by Thomas G. Woolfolk.
1893
One of the deadliest hurricanes in American history made landfall south of Tybee Island on August 27.
1900-1949
1900
On the night of August 14, residents in Elberton dismantled “Dutchy,” a granite statue of a Confederate soldier that was described as looking like a “strange monster. . . a cross between a Pennsylvania Dutchman and a hippopotamus.”
1910
The Atlanta Colored Music Festival Association presented its debut concert of classical music.
1914
A funeral procession for first lady Ellen Axson Wilson, wife of U.S. president Woodrow Wilson, was held in Rome on August 11.
1915
Accused murderer Leo Frank was taken from a prison in Milledgeville and lynched by a mob in Marietta.
1919
Trust Company of Georgia (later SunTrust Bank) purchased the Candler family’s controlling interests in the Coca-Cola Company for $25 million.
1921
Citizens Trust Bank, founded to serve African American clients, opened on Auburn Avenue.
1928
The inaugural issue of the Atlanta Daily World, based on Sweet Auburn, was published.
1931
The University System of Georgia was created under the State Reorganization Act of 1931.
1936
Benjamin Mays became president of Morehouse College in Atlanta on August 1, his forty-first birthday. He was responsible for tremendous growth in the school’s size and stature.
Courtesy of Morehouse College
1945
Voters approved a new Georgia Constitution.
1950-1999
1955
Lightweight boxing champion Beau Jack fought his last match on August 12.
Photograph from Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia
1957
Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. launched the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta.
1958
A caravan of seven mule-drawn covered wagons left Dahlonega with gold to gild the dome of the state capitol in Atlanta.
1958
The first Gulfstream aircraft, produced by Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation in Savannah, had its maiden flight.
1961
Atlanta peacefully integrated its public schools under the leadership of Mayor William B. Hartsfield.
1962
During the Albany Movement, Martin Luther King Jr. invited Jackie Robinson to Albany to help raise money for the rebuilding of two burned churches.
1962
Mary Frances Early became the first African American to graduate from the University of Georgia.
1963
On August 28, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
1963
Marietta-based Lockheed Aircraft Corporation introduced the first production model of the C-141 Starlifter aircraft.
Courtesy of Robins Air Force Base
1965
Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders returned to Washington, D.C., to witness the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
1968
On August 28, Brazilian soccer club Santos, featuring the world-famous player Pelé, played the Atlanta Chiefs at the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium before 26,713 spectators.
1968
Historic Westville, a living history museum in west Georgia, was formally founded on August 31.
Courtesy of Historic Westville
1969
The Macon-based Allman Brothers Band recorded its first album.
1970
The Georgia Poetry Society was founded in Atlanta.
1972
On August 6, Atlanta Braves player Hank Aaron hit his 661st home run, setting the major league record for home runs hit by a player for a single franchise.
1981
Dr. Betty L. Siegel became the first woman president in the University System of Georgia when she was chosen to head Kennesaw State University.
1990
The Coca-Cola Company opened the World of Coca-Cola in downtown Atlanta.
1996
The closing ceremonies for the Atlanta Olympic Games were held on August 4.
1997
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was demolished by implosion on August 2.
1999
In ceremonies at the Carter Center on August 9, U.S. president Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, each received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. president Bill Clinton.
Courtesy of the Carter Center
2000-Present
2005
Lena Baker, the first and only woman to be executed in Georgia’s electric chair, was pardoned posthumously by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles.
August Birthdays
- August 24, 1706 Daniel Marshall, religious leader
- August [?], 1721 Henry Ellis, Georgia governor
- August 27, 1724 John J. Zubly, religious leader
- August [?], 1739 George Mathews, Georgia governor
- August 30, 1740 David Bushnell, submarine inventor
- August [?], 1742 Nathanael Greene, military leader
- August 15, 1754 Benjamin Hawkins, Indian affairs agent
- August 23, 1781 John Macpherson Berrien, politician
- August 25, 1787 Daniel Appling, military leader
- August 16, 1798 Mirabeau B. Lamar, politician
- August 31, 1812 William Tappan Thompson, journalist
- August 10, 1840 Eliza Frances Andrews, writer
- August 8, 1842 John Morgan, Mormon missionary to Georgia
- August 6, 1848 Susie King Taylor, educator
- August 14, 1851 John Henry “Doc” Holliday, gunman and gambler
- August 2, 1854 Alfredo Barili, musician
- August 11, 1860 Gari Melchers, artist
- August 31, 1865 Charles E. Choate, architect
- August 24, 1871 Steadman V. Sanford, educator
- August 23, 1887 J. M. Henson, musician
- August 5, 1889 Conrad Aiken, writer
- August 1, 1894 Benjamin Mays, educator
- August 21, 1898 Hugh Peterson Sr., politician
- August 26, 1900 Hale Woodruff, artist
- August 19, 1902 William Bootle, judge
- August 26, 1903 Caroline Miller, writer
- August 18, 1907 Howard Swanson, musician
- August 4, 1911 Jacob Rothschild, religious leader
- August 8, 1913 Cecil Travis, baseball player
- August 9, 1913 Herman Talmadge, Georgia governor
- August 13, 1913 Lee Roy Abernathy, musician
- August 17, 1913 Rudy York, baseball player
- August 15, 1921 Donald Bryan, “Mighty Eighth” member
- August 25, 1923 Mac Hyman, writer
- August 8, 1926 Mike Egan, politician
- August 7, 1927 George Busbee, Georgia governor
- August 18, 1927 Rosalynn Carter, first lady
- August 16, 1933 Bill Shipp, journalist
- August 15, 1935 Vernon Jordan, politician
- August 1, 1937 Walter Griffin, writer
- August 20, 1942 Isaac Hayes, musician
- August 24, 1942 Max Cleland, politician
- August 14, 1943 Alfred Corn, writer
- August 29, 1945 Wyomia Tyus, Olympic runner
- August 30, 1948 Stephen Corey, writer
- August 31, 1955 Edwin Moses, Olympian
- August 8, 1958 Deborah Norville, journalist
- August 15, 1869 Moina Belle Michael, remembrance advocate
- August 12, 1948 Sue Monk Kidd, writer
