By Ann Taylor Boutwell
Nov. 1, 1975: The Broadway musical Man of La Mancha starring Jack Cassidy finished a successful six-week-run. It was the first production to open architect John Portman’s new 500-seat Midnight Sun Dinner Theater. The 230 Peachtree Street venue in the Peachtree Center complex was located between the Atlanta Gas Light and South Towers.
Nov. 2, 1985: Atlanta Toy Museum, owned by Joe Daole and Patsy Powers, closed its doors for the last time. The sited attracted 60,000 visitors per year including many children from public and private schools. It was a Buckhead cultural asset for five years with its collection of historical and antique toys, as well as modern toys like Star Wars action figures and spaceships. The museum opened in a 13-room mansion at 2800 Peachtree owned by St. Phillip’s Cathedral.
Nov. 4, 1874: The first issue of the Sunny South, a literary weekly was published in Atlanta. J.H. and W.B. Seals were the editors and proprietors with Mrs. Mary Edwards Bryan as associate editor. By 1893, the publication was bought by James R. Holliday, Clark Howell and C.C. Nichols and was being run as a supplement to the regular Sunday issue of the Atlanta Constitution. In 1907, the Sunny South was incorporated into the Uncle Remus Magazine, which suspended publication in 1913.
Nov. 4-7, 1907: Atlanta theatergoers at the Grand Theater viewed James M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, and were awed by Maude Adams in the title role. She arrived in the city in her private railroad car christened “The Tinker Bell.” At the pinnacle of her career, Adams was the most popular actress of her generation with more than 1,500 performances in Peter Pan. The four night Atlanta performances plus a Wednesday matinee played to packed audiences.
Nov. 5, 1974: The National Register of Historical Places listed the Staff Row and Old Post Area of Fort McPherson as significant landmarks.
Nov. 13, 1971: Marcel Marceau, the French actor and mime, performed in the Atlanta Civic Center. Marceau was the most famous for his stage persona as “Bip the Clown.” He referred to mime as the “art of silence,” and he performed professionally worldwide for over 60 years. He died in 2007 and is buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Nov. 15, 1864: Gen. William Sherman orders the burning of Atlanta as part of his infamous “March to the Sea” during the Civil War.
Nov. 23, 2005: The Georgia Aquarium, the world’s largest, opened in Downtown Atlanta.
Nov. 30, 1916: The official dedication of Georgia Tech’s Grant Field was held during the Saturday afternoon Tech-Auburn football game. The field was named after Hugh Inman Grant, the son of John W. and Annie Inman Grant, who died at the age of 10 after a bout of appendicitis. He is buried at Oakland Cemetery.
