Archive Atlanta

This week, I am sharing an interview with Stan Washington, veteran journalist and editor-at-large of The Atlanta Voice. We discuss his career in PR, radio and how he arrived at The Voice, and his unwavering commitment to the Black press. This is a conversation about journalism and a call to preserve and support the institutions that continue to amplify Black voices and shape the narrative from within the community.

In 1950s Georgia, faced with school desegregation, the governor’s plan was simple: abolish public schools. This episode dives into Atlanta’s tense response to Brown v. Board, the courage of 80 white ministers who spoke out against segregation, and the backlash that followed. rom sermons and manifestos to church bombings and cautious integration, we explore how religion, politics, and protest collided in a city trying to avoid anoth...

In the fall of 1971, a group of volunteers in Atlanta set out to build a radio station by the people, for the people. By 1973, WRFG was on the airwaves, amplifying voices that mainstream media refused to touch: Black activists, women, laborers, LGBTQ, ex-convicts, and musicians from every walk of life.

But just two months after launch, Atlanta police tried to shut it down — accusing the station of spreading radical politics. From 3...

Before it became Atlanta’s most iconic cemetery, Oakland Cemetery was just six acres of farmland owned by the Woodings. But as the city grew, so did its need to bury its dead. From Confederate obelisks to disinterred graves, this is the story of the cemetery that tells Atlanta’s story.

Oakland Cemetery

Oakland Cemetery book

Want to support this podcast? Visit here

Emai...

This week, I am re-sharing an episode from 2021 where I cover the history of Atlanta’s City Hall...not just the Art Deco masterpiece you can see today, but also the places that no longer exist. Where they were, how we got them and what their fate was. Our current City Hall (the 4th one in history), was built in 1930 and brought forth something called the Atlanta Graft Ring - an epic corruption scandal that brought down a mayor and ...

Before Atlanta was crisscrossed with interstates and highways, there was a bold plan—born from the Great Depression, inspired by Germany’s Autobahn, and fueled by fears of another economic collapse. 

In this episode, we rewind to the 1930s to unpack how the U.S. highway system began, why Atlanta jumped in headfirst, and how a single report—the Lochner Report—shaped decades of urban design, displacement, and, yes... gridlock.

From a...

This week, we’re talking about Atlanta’s most famous food franchises. Atlanta has been the birthplace of almost a dozen food franchises, including Chick-fil-A, Huddle House, Mellow Mushroom, Great American Cookies, Applebee's, Flying Biscuit and Moe's Southwest Grill.

Want to support this podcast? Visit here

Email: thevictorialemos@gmail.com

Even though this is a bye week for me, I wanted to share a bonus episode related to a special project that I got to do recently. 

I worked with Canopy fellow Damius Smith on his piece "Built for Legacy". Collier Heights was designed by and for Black people, with the architectural design of every house telling a story. From American Small Houses, to ranch-style, to mid-century, each home focuses on the symbolic power of the neighbor...

This week, we’re talking about the Lakewood Cutting - the story of the murder of Fred Thompson. I’ve said a million times that I’m not a fan of true crime, but centuries-old murders in Atlanta’s past seem to have worked their way into my heart.  But this week’s story isn’t just a murder story, this is a story of an abduction, self defense, secret orders, ransom notes and the far and wide reach of the Ku Klux Klan.

This week, I am SO excited to share a conversation that I had with Marty Padgett about this new book, The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS. Sodomy laws had been used to discriminate against queer people for centuries, but in 1986, the US Supreme Court ruled that the constitution did not guarantee a person the right to engage in homosexual conduct, even in the privacy of their own home....

This week, I am bringing you a short bonus story about the Bagby Family, mainly brothers William and Hubert, who were known throughout the Bolton area of Atlanta for living along the banks of the Chattahoochee River while evading arrest. In April of 1957, brothers Hubert and William - the “The Ghost” and “Cobb County Roosting Man” - were arrested. Police found them hiding in the chifforobes at their family home and they were charge...

This week, we’re talking about one of Atlanta’s most well-known attractions - it’s strip clubs. But why and how and when did we get this claim to fame? Why is Atlanta one of the few places that allows full nudity and alcohol? Why are the wings so good? Today we’re going to cover all of this and more; from the legislation battles to some of the iconic strip clubs from our history.

Lustful Appetites book

This week, I am so excited to share an interview episode with Mike Ayling, who is the writer and researcher behind Birds of Kirkwood. We talked about the story of how he moved into his home Kirkwood, Robert Windsor Smith, Atlanta first amateur ornithologist and we talked about birding and the natural environment of Kirkwood 122 years ago. 

Birds of Georgia

Bird Fest

Want to support this podcast? Visi...

This week, we’re talking about Druid Hills - one of the most iconic Atlanta neighborhoods known for its housing stock and connection to the Olmsted landscape architecture firm. From Joel Hurt's idea through the most recent annexation; we are talking about historic houses, prominent residents and schools and churches.

Want to support this podcast? Visit here

Email: th...

This week, we are celebrating Women’s History Month by learning the history of three more women from Atlanta’s past; Eva Lovett, Emily Norman and Alexa Stirling. One who founded a well-known private school, another a prominent real estate firm and a pioneer in golf. 

Want to support this podcast? Visit here

Email: thevictorialemos@gmail.com

This week, we’re talking about “We Charge Genocide”, a 1951 petition accusing the United States government of genocide based on the newly adopted UN Genocide Convention. A strong content warning that this is going to be a heavy topic about racialized violence and murder across the US and specifically in Atlanta.

Burnham-Nobles Archive

Life Magazine Photos of the Stone Mountain Klan Initiation 

Want...

This week, we’re talking about WEB DuBois’ time in Atlanta, which spans two different periods and a total of 24 years. Arriving first in 1897, he lived here during the death of his son, the lynching of Sam Hose, the 1906 Race Massacre and the publishing of several books and magazines. His second arrival was in 1934, where is once again taught at Atlanta University and published several more books.

...