William Berry Hartsfield

Book excerpt: From the time he became mayor in 1937 until he retired in 1961, William Hartsfield dedicated himself to the problems and promise of the city of Atlanta. In the twenty-five years he served as mayor, Atlanta grew from a depression-haunted city to the third most populous capital city in the nation, as well as the leading cultural, commercial, and financial center of the south. During his administration, potentially explosive race relations and controversial annexation issues were handled, laying the foundation for modern Atlanta. Published in 1978, Harold H. Martin's biography is a chronicle of how Hartsfield strove to fulfill the destiny of Atlanta, and in doing so, left his mark on the city forever.