The New Georgia Encyclopedia is supported by funding from A More Perfect Union, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Tyler Perry, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, is an Atlanta-based filmmaker, playwright, and performer. His Tyler Perry Studios, established in Atlanta in 2008, is the first major film studio in the nation to be solely owned by an African American.
Photograph from AMFM STUDIOS LLC
The television film Andersonville (1996), directed by John Frankenheimer, portrays the experiences of Union soldiers held at Andersonville Prison, the notorious Civil War prison located in Sumter County. The miniseries, starring Carmen Argenziano, Jarrod Emick, Frederic Forrest, and Ted Marcoux, was filmed partially in Coweta County.
A sketch of the Andersonville prison, by John B. Walker (1864). The set of Andersonville, a 1996 television film directed by John Frankenheimer, was modeled on the buildings of the original prison.
Courtesy of Georgia Historical Society, Georgia Historical Society Collection of Photographs, 1870-1960, #GHS 1361PH-21-13-4296.
Dancers in the Atlanta Ballet perform Sinfonietta Giocosa, scored by Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu in 1940 and written by British choreographer Christopher Hampson. Commissioned by the Atlanta Ballet, the work premiered at the Fox Theatre in 2005.
Photograph by Charlie McCullers. Courtesy of Atlanta Ballet
In 1929 Dorothy Alexander founded the Dorothy Alexander Dance Art Group, the first regional ballet company in the nation, in Atlanta. Known since 1967 as the Atlanta Ballet, the company is the longest continuously running ballet organization in the United States.
Courtesy of Atlanta Ballet
Members of the Atlanta Ballet perform Peter Pan in Atlanta. The ballet was choreographed by John McFall, who became the company's artistic director in 1994, and was performed in London, England, during the 1999 Royal Festival Hall's Christmas season.
Photograph by Kim Kenney. Courtesy of Atlanta Ballet
Kenny Leon, the artistic director of the Alliance Theatre from 1990 until 2001, performs the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the company's 2002 production of A Christmas Carol.
Photograph by Eric Richardson
The Snoogle-Fleejer, played by Bart Hansard, befriends Jeremy, played by Zachary Solomon, in the Alliance Children's Theatre's production of The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer in 2005. The play is based on a children's book written by Jimmy Carter and his daughter, Amy.
Photograph by Christopher Oquendo
Actors Phylicia Rashad and Mark Young portray the characters Angel and Guy in the Alliance Theatre's 1995 production of Blues for an Alabama Sky, written by Georgia playwright Pearl Cleage.
Photograph by Jennifer Lester
In 2004 Smyth and Helwys Publishing in Macon produced a four-volume set of Clarence Jordan's "Cotton Patch" translations of New Testament books. Through his translations of the Greek text, Jordan attempted to write a more accessible version of the scriptures.
Margaret Edson, a kindergarten teacher in Atlanta, began writing her Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Wit, in 1991. The play focuses on Vivian Bearing, a literature professor who is struggling with cancer.
Photograph by Dave Smiley
The French actress Sarah Bernhardt poses in costume for her role in the play Camille, by Alexandre Dumas (fils), in 1880. Bernhardt performed the play twice in Atlanta, once in 1881 and again in 1906.
Courtesy of Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin
The historic Morton Theatre was built by Monroe B. "Pink" Morton in 1910 at "Hot Corner" (Hull and Washington streets) in Athens as a cultural center for the Black community. It was the first vaudeville theater in the country to be built, owned, and operated by an African American.
Photograph by Melinda Smith Mullikin, New Georgia Encyclopedia
This illustration of Lulu Hurst's chair act appeared in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper on July 26, 1884. Word of her demonstrations quickly spread beyond Georgia, as Hurst toured much of the country with her parents from 1884-85.
The young Lulu Hurst made holding onto a cane nearly impossible for grown men in one of her most famous demonstrations.
"Georgia Phenomenon" Annie Abbott, born Dixie Annie Jarratt in 1861, was among the most popular and controversial variety performers in America and Europe. Abbott's success was in part due to her creation of new and remarkable effects, including the apparent physics-defying ability to resist being lifted from the floor by male strength (hence her nickname, the “Georgia Magnet”).
From the State Library of Victoria
Alan Ball at work on the set of the HBO series Six Feet Under, for which he wrote, produced, and directed. The series received the Peabody Award in 2002. Ball also wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for the 1999 film American Beauty.
Photograph from Corbis
An award-winning writer, Pearl Cleage is known for exploring difficult or controversial subjects in her fiction and nonfiction works, including Deals with the Devil and Other Reasons to Riot (1993) and What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day (1997).
In her novel I Wish I Had a Red Dress (2001), Pearl Cleage addresses the challenges modern-day Black women face.
The Fox Theatre auditorium with curtain and proscenium.
Courtesy of Fox Theatre. Photograph by Michael Portman
The Fox Theatre marquee at night. The Fox has dominated the performing arts scene in Atlanta.
Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.
Exterior photograph of the Fox Theatre, showing the different parts of the theater building.
Courtesy of Fox Theatre. Photograph by Michael Portman
The Fox Theatre's Moller Deluxe forty-two-rank pipe organ console is known as "Mighty Mo." The Moller has many sound effects, including songbirds and sirens.
Photograph by Michael Portman. Courtesy of Fox Theatre
Fox Theatre ushers, circa 1930s.
Photograph by Edgar Orr. Copyright Fox Theatre
Crowds line up along two blocks for the grand opening of the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on December 25, 1929. The structure, designed by the architecture firm of Marye, Alger, and Vinour, was originally intended to serve as the city's Yaarab Temple but was redesigned as a theater before its completion.
Photograph by Edgar Orr. Copyright Fox Theatre
A "Save the Fox" poster from 1976 advertises "An Evening at the Fox" fund-raising event held by Delta Zeta sorority. During the 1970s, the theater was threatened with demolition, but efforts by Atlanta historic preservation groups prevented its destruction.
Courtesy of Fox Theatre. Copyright Delta Zeta Sorority
Atlanta's Fox Theatre has seen more than $20 million in restoration projects since coming under the ownership of the nonprofit organization, Atlanta Landmarks, in 1975. The Fox was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
Poet, dramatist, and novelist Frank Manley received two Georgia Author of the Year awards (one for fiction and one for short stories/anthologies), a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, and first prize at the 1985 Humana Festival of New American Plays.
Courtesy of Emory University
Since its opening in 1992, the play's impact has been felt around the nation as cast members share their art-based community revitalization experiences in other towns and states.
Courtesy of Swamp Gravy
Performed in pantomime, the play Heaven Bound depicts the conflict between the pilgrims and Satan, who is the main character. Churchgoers make up the cast, which includes thirty-four players and ten pilgrims.
Courtesy of Gregory Coleman
