In 2001, during my first attempt at college, I was contacted by a friend from high school who was transferring to Georgia State. He and two other friends were looking at houses near campus and wanted to know if I would like to be the fourth roommate. I asked him to send me the address so that I could go check the house out myself and see if it would make sense. The address he sent me was familiar, and at the time I was unable to figure out exactly why that particular combination of numbers and letters was so memorable. A quick google maps search later and I immediately knew the exact house they were looking at.
Continue readingthe histories of our streets
Georgia State University students map Atlanta's past
Author: Blake L.
Built in 1869, Summerhill School was once the oldest operating school in Atlanta. Though the title would eventually be taken from Summerhill to be shared with three other White schools in 1872 when the Atlanta Public School System purchased the school (for whatever reason the three years it operated before its purchase no longer mattered). It served an almost entirely African-American community in the South Atlanta neighborhood of Summerhill. While parts of Summerhill would be mixed throughout history the school was entirely for the Black children in the communinty.1 Though a segregated, all Black school, it would not be until after 1887 when Black educators and administrators would be able to work at the school and serve their community as well. This was attributed to the continued success of the Black university system the had developed in Atlanta after the Civil War by such people as W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington and their many contemporaries.2
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Alonzo Herndon was Atlanta’s first African American millionaire and was an affluent businessman during the late 1800’s into the early 1900’s. He owned and operated multiple businesses including his barber shop: the Crystal Palace located at 66 Peachtree Street in the city’s business district.
I chose this location for my journal entry because I have walked past this shop front for many years, starting in 2009. However, it was not until recently that I began to think more deeply about the buildings and the people that once visited and lived inside of them.
When I was first exposed to the story of Alonzo Herndon, his business and affluence, did my fascination with this property and Herndon grow.
Born into slavery Herndon was the son of his mother’s enslaver. After the Civil war was over he moved away with his mother and siblings where they would make a living sharecropping. Herndon had a knack for business and earned secondary income as a peddler of small goods including peanuts and axel grease.1 After saving enough money Herndon would eventually move to Atlanta where he would become business partners with other affluent black Atlantans. It was those partnerships that led Herndon to have the opportunity to open up his Crystal Palace.
Unfortunately, Herndon’s business was a victim of the 1906 riot and eventual massacre. He was fortunate enough to have been home that night however, his business was targeted and vandalized. After the massacre and destruction of the Crystal Palace, Herndon decided to stay and continue to build his business enterprise. While the torching of his barbershop was a major setback, in regards to race relations, Herndon was more concerned about the success of his insurance company and other ventures.
It is important to remember however, that despite his ability to survive and grow, Herndon’s existence was never easily or mutually accepted. By existence, it is meant: a black man in the early 1900’s who is successful, socially rejected, yet economically accepted.
- Henderson, Alexa. “Alonzo Herndon.” New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Jul 14, 2020. (Accessed Feb 20, 2024.) https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/alonzo-herndon-1858-1927/ ↩︎
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