Newspaper Page Text
‘Birth of Atlanta’ gets new life at Westside Park
Inside the Arts
1
Camille
Russell Love
Camille Russell Love
Love has been
executive director of
the City of Atlanta
Mayor’s Office of
Cultural Affairs
(@atlantaoca) for
more than two
B decades.
Atlanta was not always Atlanta. When
the Georgia General Assembly voted in 1836
to build the Western and Atlantic railroad,
engineers identified the area that is now Five
Points as the location for the zero milepost.
The railroad would serve as a link to railroads
in the north and provide a connecting point
from the port of Savannah to the Midwest.
Within a year, the settlement that
developed would be called Terminus —
more a descriptive moniker than a true
name. Similarly, the eponym Thasherville
gained popularity, as John Thrasher built
the town’s first general store and homes
(more accurately, rough shelters) for the
many laborers he brought in to help build
embankments for the railroad. In 1843,
Marthasville was incorporated (a nod to
then-governor Wilson Lumpkin’s daughter).
Ultimately, the railroad would win. The
Georgia General Assembly voted to name the
city Atlanta (the feminine form of Atlantic)
in 1845, and again in 1847.
What those early residents could not
foresee is that their newly christened city
would be in ruins barely two decades later.
Rumblings of war were audible decades
before the insurgents fired shots on Fort
Sumpter. The enslavement of Blacks, literally,
was tearing families and the country apart.
As the Civil War raged on (1861-1865), the
very industry that built Atlanta and made it a
transportation hub also made it a target. The
Confederacy used Atlanta as a distribution
center to efficiently move munitions
throughout its military theater.
After a summer-long siege on Atlanta
in 1864, General William Tecumseh
Sherman and his troops captured the city
in September. Two months later, November
11, 1864, Sherman instructed his men to
burn Atlanta’s remaining military assets and
began his famous March to the Sea — the
city destroyed and left burning behind them.
None of us alive today can fully imagine how
the city looked — the near-total destruction.
Within months of the war’s end in
1865, all five railroad lines were rebuilt and
operational. By 1867, some 20,000 people
had moved to the city and started to rebuild.
In 1868, the state capitol was moved from
Milledgeville to Atlanta. And by the early
1880s civic and business leaders adopted a
“New South” vision for Atlanta and for the
region. Morehouse and Spelman Colleges
were founded in 1867 and 1881, respectively.
In 1887, the Phoenix replaced the
locomotive as the city symbol. The Georgia
Institute ofTechnology opened its doors in
1888, and Agnes Scott College in 1889.
By the turn of the 20th century, the
population of Atlanta was almost 90,000
strong — 40 percent of whom were African
American. In just over two
decades the city that had been
completely decimated not only
was back bigger and better than
it had been, but also the city
had become a major business,
transportation, and economic
hub in the region.
Most of us who live in
Atlanta, including those born
here, do not fully appreciate the
almost time warp-speed with
which Atlanta recovered from
its post-Civil War destruction.
It is this history, though, that so
binds us to the symbolism of the
Phoenix — that mythical Greek
bird that forever regenerates itself
— rising again, and again from its
ashes.
Moreover, it is this legacy
Atlanta brought to bear on
the 1996 Summer Olympics.
The Corporation for Olympic
Development in Atlanta (CODA)
commissioned artist and architect
Amy Landesberg to create a piece
that commemorated the founding of Atlanta.
CODA asked Ms. Landesberg to design a
piece that would “evoke a mood of dignified
resilience, renewal, and restoration - a
testament to Atlanta’s persistent vitality.” Ms.
Landesberg’s creation, The Birth of Atlanta,
did just that. A design and architectural
masterpiece, The Birth of Atlanta is an
abstract reference to the Phoenix and
measures 32 ft. by 45 ft. It consists of a steel
frame with seven pairs of perforated metal
“feathers and wings” outstretched, as if in
flight.
The Birth of Atlanta was initially installed
above FFeritage Row in Underground
Atlanta. When the City of Atlanta sold the
Underground Atlanta property in 2016, the
sculpture was disassembled for restoration
with plans to reassemble the structure at its
new home, Westside Park. The relocation
was managed by the City of Atlanta
Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs Public
Art Program, and it was accomplished with
funding assistance from Renew Atlanta. The
monument is now prominently displayed at
Westside Park for visitors to enjoy.
In congruence with its “flight” to a new
home, The Birth of Atlanta also received
addressable lighting, further rendering its
focus as a wayfinding landmark by uniting
form and function. This new feature
amplifies the modernity and relevance of
this elegant work of art. The lights can be
programmed to display a full spectrum of
colors, offering limitless possibilities for
environmental customization.
Now a quarter-century old, The Birth of
Atlanta begins a new chapter. Rising from the
ashes of its Olympic heyday, it is poised, once
again, to remind us of our legacy of dignified
resilience, renewal, and restoration. m
I
QzpnmTOpc
FEATURED HOMES
JUST LISTED
688 E. MORNINGSIDE DRIVE
Atlanta, Georgia 30324
OFFERED FOR $1,350,000
2372 DEFOORS FERRY ROAD
Atlanta, Georgia 30318
OFFERED FOR $524,900
WITH OVER 20 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AS A REALTOR®
CALL ME FOR ALL OF YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS.
Atlanta Fine
Homes
Sotheby's
INTERNATIONAL REALTY
CARMEN POPE
c. 404.625.4134 | o. 404.874.0300
carmenpope@atlantafinehomes.com
atlantafinehomes.com | sir.com
Atlanta Fine Homes, LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and
the Equal Opportunity Act. Each franchise is independently owned and operated.
36 SEPTEMBER 2021 | [d
AtlantalntownPaper.com