“Sweet Auburn” and “The Avenue” were the affectionate names given to the one-mile-long, two-block-wide corridor near the heart of downtown Atlanta. These days it’s lost some of its luster, but during its heyday it was a Mecca for Black Atlantans. While Harlem was experiencing its “renaissance” in the 1920’s, Auburn Avenue became the commercial center of Black Atlanta, boasting the first Black-owned life insurance company (Atlanta Life), the first Black daily newspaper (Atlanta Daily World), and the first Black-owned radio station (WERD) in the United States. In fact, by 1956 (some sources say 1957) Fortune Magazine named Auburn Avenue “the richest Negro street in America.”
Auburn was originally called “Wheat Street” until 1823 when White residents changed its name. But eventually Whites moved out, and Blacks moved in. The phrase “Sweet Auburn” was coined by John Wesley Dobbs, maternal grandfather of Atlanta’s first African-American mayor, Maynard Jackson. According to legend, he said that unlike other Black streets, Auburn Avenue was not on the wrong side of the tracks. The Avenue was off of Peachtree Street, the White commercial district of Atlanta, an ideal location. In fact, another one of its nicknames was “Black Peachtree.”
Dobbs, the “Grand Master” of the Prince Hall Masons, was considered the “Godfather of Black business” in Atlanta. He formed the Atlanta Negro Voters league and helped increase the number of Black voters from less than 2,000 in 1940 to more than 22,000 in the early 1950’s. Equally important, he was an advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr., who was born and preached on the avenue alongside his father, Martin Luther King, Sr.
During Dobbs’ reign as the “Unofficial Mayor of Sweet Auburn” doctors, dentists, craftsmen, drug stores, flower shops, groceries, barbershops, beauty shops, dry cleaners, banks, insurance companies, restaurants, photography studios, churches, fraternal orders, hotels, and nightclubs like The Royal Peacock all flourished on The Avenue. Famous acts as Gladys Knight, B.B. King, The Four Tops, Little Richard, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles performed at the Peacock Lounge. The nightlife sparkled so much that folks dressed up just to walk down Sweet Auburn.
In the 1950s and the 1960s, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ebenezer Baptist, Wheat Street Baptist, Big Bethel AME and Butler CME churches kept Auburn Avenue as a locus of social activity and the Civil Rights Movement. Dr King was co-pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church. The powerful influence of Atlanta’s churches and Civil rights leadership was proven just after the assassination of Dr. King, (see Dr King’s Last Days in Memphis). The church leaders, SCLC, and King Family were unified and vocal in their statements to maintain calm around the city. Unlike most other cities in America with large Black populations, Atlanta did not have riots. That calmness would pay dividends later, as Atlanta’s white leadership realized it was time to share political power in the mayor’s office and city council.
Atlanta avoided race riots that plagued many other cities in the late 1960’s, enabling Maynard Jackson, who became the first Black Mayor of Atlanta in 1970, to accomplish more once he arrived in office. Even though white migration to the suburbs threatened the vitality of Auburn Avenue, at least he did not have to deal with burned our buildings and added joblessness caused by riots. Then, I-85/75 Freeway construction bisected Sweet Auburn. Ironically and , the movers and shakers of Sweet Auburn who helped end segregation, unintentionally helped end the vibrant prosperity of Sweet Auburn as African Americans moved into once Whites-only neighborhoods. The nearby urban renewal efforts only warehoused poor people around Auburn Avenue, thereby providing more incentive for the Black middleclass to leave.
Things began to change in the 1990s, when Sweet Auburn was designated a National Historic District and amplified in the media. Atlanta Life Insurance Company rebuilt its headquarters on Auburn Avenue and Citizens Trust Bank maintains its co-anchor presence in Sweet Auburn. Though only handfuls of small businesses contribute to the daily life-blood, Sweet Auburn has become a stronger cultural anchor than ever. Atlanta Daily World still prints newspapers to the faithful. 100 Black Men of America established headquarters here. Martin Luther King, Jr. visitor Center was built across from the Center for Non-violent Social change.
The big churches draw even more congregants. APEX Museum offers a glimpse of the history of Auburn Avenue and African American life. Auburn Avenue Research Library, one of only 4 nationwide, is a wealth of information on Black history in America and is well patronized. Last but not least, the Martin Luther King. Jr. birth home, freedom center, gravesite, visitor center and Old Ebenezer Baptist Church attract more than one million tourists each year. Momentum for even more visitors is increasing, see http://www.sweetauburn.com.
