By Ann Taylor Boutwell
June 2, 1929: Honoring Asa Griggs Candler, Sr., Emory University Trustees in Atlanta’s Druid Hills issued a memorial resolution recognizing public service as the greatest achievement of its chief benefactor. Three months after his March burial in Westview Cemetery, Atlanta continued to laud him. After 83 years, a trail of stories still surrounds the Coca-Cola mogul’s life as an entrepreneur, prominent banker, realtor, philanthropist, civil servant, mayor, husband and father. A new book by Atlanta author Ann Uhry Abrams titled Formula for Fortune tells the story of how Asa Candler discovered Coca-Cola and turned it into the wealth his children enjoyed. Read more at annabrams.com.
June10, 1905: The first issue of the German newspaper, Georgia Deutsche Zeitung, was published in Atlanta by Max Oppenheim. The editor had recently moved to Atlanta from Birmingham. The paper came out every Saturday and Oppenheim’s office was at 116 Central Avenue.
June 23, 1924: Contractor A.V. Gude excavated the dirt and prepared the foundation for the 12-story Wynne Claughton Building, located on the southwest corner of Ellis Street and Carnegie Way. Atlanta architect G. Lloyd Preacher designed the structure’s curved corners as a solution to the site’s triangular-shape. When the million dollar development opened—ahead of schedule— on April 12, 1925, the contractor, the architect, and the building’s namesakes—Morgan T. Wynne and Ed N. Claughton, president and vice president of the Wynne Realty Company—were among the building’s first tenants. The exterior remains much as it did when completed in 1925. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places this past March, the building is now a Courtyard Marriott hotel.
June 13, 1915: Eugene and Maybelle Stephens Mitchell, along with 14-year-old daughter Margaret, attended the University of Georgia’s commencement exercises in Athens. Their 19-year-old son, Stephens Alexander Mitchell, was a member of the senior class. Like his father, Stephens became a well-known and respected attorney and historian in Atlanta. He was the editor of the Atlanta Historical Journal from 1930 to 1966.
June 17, 1924: Mary Rice Malone married Robert Tyre Jones, known in the golfing world as Bobby Jones. The wedding took place at 8:30 p.m. in the Druid Hills home of the bride’s parents Mamie Rice and John N. Malone. Father James Horton of Sacred Heart Catholic Church performed the ceremony. The maid-of-honor was Katherine Haverty and the best man, Richard Garlington. Miss Malone, a member of Junior League, graduated from Washington Seminary and made her debut in 1921-1922. Jones graduated from Tech High, Georgia Tech and Harvard University. At Harvard he was a member of the Owl Club and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He is associated in business with Adair Realty Company. After honeymooning in Asheville, the couple resided in Druid Hills in the home of his parents Clara Thomas and Robert Purdemus Jones. The couple’s gravesite is Oakland Cemetery. Take a peek and experience more about Oakland’s residents in the new 224-page history and guide Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery by Ren and Helen Davis Cemetery out now from UGA Press.
June 30, 1974: Alberta Williams King, the mother of Martin Luther King, Jr. known as “Mama King,” died after being shot by a deranged gunman while playing “The Lord’s Prayer” on the organ at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. She rests in Southview Cemetery.
