Robert Woodruff’s Impact on the Future of Atlanta

Andrew, Land. “The Social and Civic Impacts of Robert Winship Woodruff in the City of Atlanta During the 1960s.” Thesis, Clemson, 2007.http://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/103/.

Robert Woodruff Source: Woodruff.org

Andrew Land, who received an MFA in History at Clemson University, discusses in his article, “The Social and Civic Impacts of Robert Winship Woodruff in the City of Atlanta During the 1960s”, Robert Woodruff’s efforts “to combat poverty, make slum areas more livable, and provide cultural and art venues for Atlanta’s citizens.” He notes Woodruff’s extensive wealth and addresses how “Woodruff’s power, such as it was, was not wasted.  Rather, it was expended on issues close to his ideals and close to him personally” (49).  In particular, Woodruff sympathized with black residents in Atlanta communities and “Woodruff’s sense of civic obligation was tremendous; he had equally grand plans for the future of Atlanta” (56). Land’s purpose is to raise awareness about the contributions Woodruff made to Atlanta by building infrastructure, making it  one of the greatest cities in the South. This article provides the reader with an overview of the history of Atlanta’s conception and the actions leaders like Robert Woodruff and Ivan Allen took to build our future.

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