{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1", "title": "OldATL Stories", "home_page_url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/", "feed_url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/feed.json", "description": "OldATL history, culture, people, places, archives, and source-backed memory.", "language": "en-US", "items": [ { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/werd-black-radio-atlanta.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/werd-black-radio-atlanta.html", "title": "The station that put Black Atlanta on the air", "summary": "Before “Black radio” became a national industry, WERD proved that ownership could turn a local signal into cultural power.", "content_text": "In 1949, Atlanta woke up to a different kind of radio station. WERD already existed as a small station, but its new owner, Jesse B. Blayton Sr., changed who controlled the microphone, who worked behind it and whose daily life counted as news.\n\nBlayton was an accountant, Atlanta University professor and bank president. He paid $50,000 for the 1,000-watt station and placed it in the Prince Hall Masons Grand Lodge on Auburn Avenue. Other stations had already experimented with programming for Black audiences. WERD’s breakthrough was ownership: it became the first American radio station owned by an African American.\n\nThat distinction changed the institution from the inside. Blayton hired his son Jesse Jr. as station manager. The younger Blayton brought in veteran announcer Jack Gibson and replaced the remaining all-white announcing staff with Black professionals. WERD’s celebrated “Four Horsemen”—Gibson, Joe Howard, Roosevelt Johnson and Jimmy Winnington—mixed music with church services, public affairs, education and community information.\n\nBlayton also hired Ken Knight as program director, building a team that could decide how Black Atlanta sounded instead of simply performing inside somebody else’s format. That control mattered. A station schedule is a map of whose work, worship, politics and pleasure deserve public attention. At WERD, local voices could move from the margins into the normal rhythm of the broadcast day. The station did not have to treat Black life as an occasional special program; it could make the community the organizing principle of the entire service.\n\nGibson, known first as “Jockey Jack” and later as “Jack the Rapper,” understood that a disc jockey could be more than a voice between records. His personality helped make WERD commercially viable while giving Atlanta listeners a sound shaped for them rather than merely sold to them. He became one of the city’s leading radio personalities.\n\nThe address amplified the station’s influence. Prince Hall’s building stood in the heart of Sweet Auburn, surrounded by Black banks, newspapers, insurance companies, churches and professional offices. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference later worked in the same building. One often-told story says Martin Luther King Jr. signaled the studio from below when he needed airtime and a microphone was lowered from an upstairs window. Whether every detail of that story can be documented or not, the larger relationship is clear: WERD carried civil-rights information and placed movement voices directly before Black listeners.\n\nThe station was also a business lesson. Black performers gained airplay; Black-owned businesses could advertise to customers who had often been ignored by mainstream media; and Black announcers gained a professional platform. WERD treated the audience as citizens, consumers and makers of culture all at once.\n\nBlayton sold the station in 1968, and the original WERD era ended soon afterward. Its influence did not. Gibson helped build the Black radio and music-business networks that followed, while the Prince Hall building remained a physical reminder of how tightly Atlanta’s business, cultural and political institutions were connected. WERD’s signal was modest. Its idea was enormous: Black Atlanta should not merely appear on the air—it should own the station.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/backgrounds/oldatl-header-newsprint-skyline-v1-20260914.jpg", "tags": [ "History & Facts", "Sweet Auburn", "Black Business", "Atlanta Hip Hop" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/prince-hall-werd-sclc.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/prince-hall-werd-sclc.html", "title": "The station upstairs, the movement downstairs", "summary": "On Auburn Avenue, a single building connected culture, enterprise and the civil-rights movement.", "content_text": "Prince Hall’s lodge was more than WERD’s address. The building gave Black organizations secure, centrally located rooms in a segregated city. Its tenants included a Madam C. J. Walker beauty school, WERD and, during the 1960s, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.\n\nThat proximity collapsed the distance between organizing and broadcasting. Announcements could move from a meeting room to the air, while music and community news brought listeners back throughout the day. The building itself became communications infrastructure.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/backgrounds/oldatl-header-newsprint-skyline-v1-20260914.jpg", "tags": [ "Business & Institutions", "Sweet Auburn", "Black Business", "Politics" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/dubois-atlanta-paris-1900.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/dubois-atlanta-paris-1900.html", "title": "Atlanta made data beautiful before dashboards", "summary": "Du Bois and Atlanta University students used design to challenge racist claims at the 1900 Paris Exposition.", "content_text": "In 1900, W. E. B. Du Bois and Atlanta University students prepared photographs, maps and boldly colored statistical charts for the Paris Exposition. Their evidence challenged racist claims by documenting Black education, work, property and social progress three decades after emancipation.\n\nThe designs feel startlingly modern—circles, bars and fields of color used to make social facts visible at a glance. Atlanta was not simply the subject of the research; its university community helped invent a visual language for presenting Black life to the world.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/old-atlanta-weekly/2026/issue-03/dubois_atlanta_university_paris_chart_1900.jpg", "tags": [ "Archives & Artifacts", "Archive Scan", "Photo Story" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/atlanta-washerwomen-strike-1881.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/atlanta-washerwomen-strike-1881.html", "title": "When washerwomen used a world's fair as leverage", "summary": "In 1881, Black laundresses organized for better pay as Atlanta prepared to welcome the world.", "content_text": "In July 1881, twenty Black laundresses organized Atlanta’s Washing Society and demanded a uniform rate of one dollar per twelve pounds of laundry. Within weeks, the movement counted roughly 3,000 members and threatened to disrupt the city just as leaders prepared for the International Cotton Exposition.\n\nOfficials answered with arrests, fines and a proposed license fee. The women countered that they would pay the fee if it protected their right to control the trade. Their campaign revealed how much Atlanta’s celebrated “New South” depended on Black women’s labor—and how collective action could make that dependence visible.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/old-atlanta-weekly/2026/issue-03/atlanta_international_cotton_exposition_1881.jpg", "tags": [ "History & Facts", "Black Business", "Timeline" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/what-atlanta-heard-on-werd.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/what-atlanta-heard-on-werd.html", "title": "What might you have heard on WERD?", "summary": "Music, worship, public affairs and neighborhood news shared the airwaves.", "content_text": "Rhythm and blues, jazz and gospel shared the schedule with church services, educational programs, public affairs and neighborhood news. The mix made WERD useful as well as entertaining: listeners could hear artists ignored elsewhere, learn what was happening around Auburn Avenue and receive information from institutions they trusted.\n\nThat blend became a template for Black-oriented radio around the country. The format recognized that a community was not a niche genre—it was an audience with a full civic and cultural life.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/backgrounds/oldatl-header-newsprint-skyline-v1-20260914.jpg", "tags": [ "Music & Culture", "Sweet Auburn", "Black Business" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/sweet-auburn-memory.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/sweet-auburn-memory.html", "title": "Sweet Auburn: A City's Voice", "summary": "Black business, faith and culture meet on Auburn Avenue.", "content_text": "Auburn Avenue connects Atlanta's business, cultural and civil-rights history. WERD, Prince Hall's lodge and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference are part of that story.\n\nRead the WERD and Prince Hall stories in Old Atlanta Weekly, then explore the National Park Service's account of the neighborhood.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/backgrounds/oldatl-header-newsprint-skyline-v1-20260914.jpg", "tags": [ "History & Facts", "Sweet Auburn", "Timeline", "Map Point", "Black Business", "Churches" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/bo-legs-civic-legacy.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/bo-legs-civic-legacy.html", "title": "Bo Legs and Atlanta Civic Legacy", "summary": "Marvin Arrington, Sr., An Atlanta Story.", "content_text": "Bo Legs brings Marvin Arrington, Sr.'s story into a portrait of Atlanta. The documentary and its soundtrack connect public life, personal memory and the city's music.\n\nExplore the film, listen to Old Atlanta, or contact the team about a screening.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/brand/bo-legs-poster.jpg", "tags": [ "Bo Legs Civic Legacy", "Marvin Arrington Sr", "Bo Legs", "Documentary Note", "Politics", "Film" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/old-atlanta-megamix-context.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/old-atlanta-megamix-context.html", "title": "The Old Atlanta Megamix", "summary": "A city of voices, together on one record.", "content_text": "The Old Atlanta Megamix brings Lil Will together with Atlanta artists including Young Dro, Pastor Troy and Backbone.\n\nThe release page connects the recording, artwork and credited artists. Follow an artist from the roll call to their other Old Atlanta appearances.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/covers/megamix.jpg", "tags": [ "Music & Culture", "Release Context", "SWATS Nation", "Atlanta Hip Hop", "Documentary Note" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/swats-and-the-city-map.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/swats-and-the-city-map.html", "title": "SWATS and the City", "summary": "Southwest Atlanta, music and neighborhood memory.", "content_text": "A place can stay with you through a song, a school, a street or a family photograph. What does southwest Atlanta bring back for you?\n\nShare the name of the place and when you knew it. A photograph, flyer or recording can help tell the story.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/backgrounds/oldatl-artist-live-wall-v1-20260914.jpg", "tags": [ "Neighborhoods & Places", "SWATS", "Map Point", "Oral History", "Family History" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/maynard-jackson-atlanta-era.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/maynard-jackson-atlanta-era.html", "title": "Maynard Jackson and an Atlanta Era", "summary": "A connection to Atlanta's civic history.", "content_text": "Explore Maynard Jackson's life and Atlanta's civic history through the National Park Service's biographical account linked below.\n\nHave a photograph or personal memory from that era? Share the people, place and approximate date with Old Atlanta.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/backgrounds/oldatl-header-newsprint-skyline-v1-20260914.jpg", "tags": [ "History & Facts", "Politics", "Timeline", "Downtown Atlanta", "1970s", "1980s" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/atlanta-1996-and-downtown-memory.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/atlanta-1996-and-downtown-memory.html", "title": "Atlanta 1996 and Downtown Memory", "summary": "Where were you when the world came to Atlanta?", "content_text": "Atlanta hosted the Centennial Olympic Games in 1996. The Atlanta History Center explores the Games and the city's Olympic story.\n\nWhat do you remember: a workplace, a journey downtown, an event or a gathering? Share the moment and any photographs or keepsakes that belong with it.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/backgrounds/oldatl-header-newsprint-skyline-v1-20260914.jpg", "tags": [ "History & Facts", "1990s", "Downtown Atlanta", "Timeline", "Map Point" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/churches-businesses-and-block-memory.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/churches-businesses-and-block-memory.html", "title": "Churches, Businesses and Block Memory", "summary": "The places that made a neighborhood feel like home.", "content_text": "A church, restaurant, barber shop or family business can hold generations of memories.\n\nTell us the name, neighborhood and years you remember. Menus, photographs, programs and newspaper clippings can bring the place back into view.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/backgrounds/oldatl-header-newsprint-skyline-v1-20260914.jpg", "tags": [ "Business & Institutions", "Black Business", "Churches", "Restaurants", "Family History", "Sweet Auburn" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/old-atlanta-artist-roll-call.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/old-atlanta-artist-roll-call.html", "title": "Old Atlanta Artist Roll Call", "summary": "Meet the voices behind the records.", "content_text": "The Old Atlanta artist directory connects the people on the records to their release appearances.\n\nBrowse the roll call, open an artist profile and follow the music.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/artists/fabo.jpg", "tags": [ "People & Voices", "Atlanta Hip Hop", "Interview", "Release Context", "SWATS Nation" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/share-your-old-atlanta-memory.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/share-your-old-atlanta-memory.html", "title": "Share Your Old Atlanta Memory", "summary": "A photograph, a place, a voice. Your part of the city's story.", "content_text": "Tell us what you remember, where it happened and who was there. Include an approximate date when you can.\n\nUse the memory form to describe photographs, flyers, recordings or other keepsakes. The team will follow up about your contribution.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/backgrounds/oldatl-header-newsprint-skyline-v1-20260914.jpg", "tags": [ "Community Memory", "Oral History", "Family History", "Photo Story", "Map Point" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/archive-flyers-photos-records.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/archive-flyers-photos-records.html", "title": "Flyers, Photos and Records", "summary": "The things we kept tell stories of their own.", "content_text": "A concert flyer, family photograph, record sleeve or newspaper clipping can bring an Atlanta moment into focus.\n\nHave something to share? Tell us what it is, who made it, when it dates from and how it came to you.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/covers/404-remix-all-artists.jpg", "tags": [ "Archives & Artifacts", "Archive Scan", "Photo Story", "Release Context", "Clubs" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/screening-night-playbook.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/screening-night-playbook.html", "title": "Bring Bo Legs to Your Community", "summary": "Film, music and conversation.", "content_text": "Explore Bo Legs: Marvin Arrington, Sr., An Atlanta Story and its connection to Old Atlanta.\n\nFor a screening inquiry, send the venue, proposed date and audience details through the contact page.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/brand/bo-legs-poster.jpg", "tags": [ "Events & Screenings", "Film", "Documentary Note", "Bo Legs", "2020s" ] }, { "id": "https://oldatl.com/stories/corrections-and-context-desk.html", "url": "https://oldatl.com/stories/corrections-and-context-desk.html", "title": "Corrections and Context", "summary": "Help us get the names, dates and details right.", "content_text": "Send the article link, the detail you are questioning and any source or firsthand context that can help.\n\nCorrections about a name, date, location or credit can be sent through the Old Atlanta contact page.", "date_published": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "image": "https://oldatl.com/assets/img/backgrounds/oldatl-header-newsprint-skyline-v1-20260914.jpg", "tags": [ "Corrections & Context", "Fact Check", "Documentary Note" ] } ] }