Augusta National, Masters Week, a celebration of spring in the South. Over the course of the last 89 years, the tournament has evolved into one of the greatest sporting events in the world.
The Masters Tournament was conceptualized and created by the forever cool Atlantan, the incomparable Bobby Jones. Mr. Jones died in 1971, but never seems far away, his footsteps are everywhere around here, those who knew the celebrated attorney with Georgia Tech, Emory roots are still with us.
“My office has the largest archive of Macon memorabilia outside the Washington County Library,” said Atlanta Intellectual Property/ Internet attorney Pete Wellborn with a smile, “the 1897 city phone book, the Macon Peaches baseball cards, ancient Coca Cola bottles, and photos of my grandfather’s restaurant, all here.”
It is the ultimate signal of a new day dawning for downtown Atlanta. The four Teilhaber brothers, purveyors of Friedman Shoes, a local Mitchell Street staple for a century, will be on the move for the first time since 1929.
"The interstates changed America," Jeff Hullinger writes. "Rural and urban, reshaped for all times." And while it's been a while since U.S. Route 301 was relevant for cross-country travel, Jeff pays a visit there; finding what remains "a hub of traveler activity."
As a boy, Charles Rice delivered the newspaper to "Gone With The Wind's" Margaret Mitchell in Ansley Park. ("The famous author would pay her bill with dad," his daughter Jane said. "And wave from the window when his bicycle pulled up.") As a man, he played tennis with the legendary Atlanta ace Bitsy Grant. And as of Monday, the Atlanta native is 104 years old. He is, perhaps, the oldest living man in the state capital.
As the nation's 39th president approaches his 100th birthday in a few weeks (October 1), GPB's Jeff Hullinger spoke with former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn - one of the increasingly few Carter contemporaries still with us in 2024. Senator Nunn was raised in Perry, population 10,000. President Carter in Plains, population 573. "Georgia hamlets separated by only 49 miles of asphalt," Hullinger writes. "Giant lives spawned from these very small, nearby communities."
“Music plays a significant role in breaking down racial separation in the United States," declared Dr. Kevin Johnson - musician, composer and Choral Director at Spelman College. “It’s all about the love. The world needs music and we will deliver it in a powerful way, together.”
The vision, power, and ability of Tom Cousins - now curated by Larry Gellerstedt III - is making a difference for so many Atlantans. The evidence can be seen beyond the gates of the lush fairways of East Lake Golf. It’s all around.
On stage, Former Governor Nathan Deal has been delighting statewide audiences using an assortment of voices representing the characters in "Veto, the Governor's Cat." GPB's Jeff Hullinger got to experience them all, up close.
When Robert Shaw arrived 57 years ago, Atlanta had few cultural institutions. He changed everything with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. “I could argue that Robert Shaw was our calling card," its longtime archivist contends. Now that calling card is complete.
Sports legends are like sunflowers in retirement. They grow tall and reach toward the sky with water, sunshine and loving attention. Jeff Hullinger asked Cy Bell’s son if anyone inquires about his late father’s Atlanta football prowess almost 100 years after the fact. “No, not really,” he replied.
Two late-summer, nonpolitical stories caught Jeff Hullinger's attention this week: The near century-old Cheshire Bridge Road restaurant the Colonnade is up for sale; and the 79th anniversary of the Enola Gay nuclear bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.
It's National Hot Dog Month in America, and Jeff Hullinger celebrates with a trip to Macon to visit one of the oldest hot dog establishments in the country.
Jeff Galloway is one of those Atlantans that changed things. His impact is beyond measure, among the most influential sporting stars ever here, going back to the 1970’s.
The Tour Championship rolls through Atlanta in late August, with a new look and an old course—-but not as old as Charlie Harrison’s 1856 home, known as Meadow Nook. Now it serves as a visual backdrop to a local life as great as the Harrison golf swing.
Angel LaMadrid Cuesta was born in Asturias, Spain in 1858. He came to Atlanta with a dream and some pocket money. His business concept? Rolling premium cigars at a small factory off Ponce de Leon in Midtown. And it wasn't long before he was rolling in American dollars.
Jeff Hullinger explores the Mary Willis Library in Washington, Ga. Opened in 1889, it was the state’s first free library and continues to serve in that role today, housing a collection of books dating back to 1800. But its most astonishing feature is a beautiful Tiffany glass window featuring an image of the library’s namesake. (No wonder couples have gotten married in front of it!)
On June 3, 1962, Atlanta’s civic and cultural leaders were returning from a museum tour of Europe sponsored by the Atlanta Art Association when their chartered Boeing 707 crashed upon takeoff at Orly Field near Paris, France. A lifetime later, a life of triumph rises from unspeakable tragedy.
