Democracy Initiative

The experiences of soldiers during wartime are frequently chronicled in newspapers, books, television, documentaries, movies and exhibits. What is less visible and often harder to uncover are the untold stories of the women and children who remain at home during a major war, and the loss, pain, and challenges they endure.

In September 1906, a white mob brutalized and terrorized Atlanta’s Black residents, resulting in the deaths of 25 Black Atlantans, the wounding of hundreds of Blacks, and the destruction of many Black businesses and homes. This period of racial violence has been passed down in history as a race “riot,” but “massacre” may be a more apt term.

The Birth of a Nation’s success and wide distribution increased national interest in the post-Civil War Klan. In Atlanta, the film served as an inspiration and a guide for the leaders of two early 20th-century Atlanta organizations with close connections to Stone Mountain—the modern Ku Klux Klan and the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

How did the world’s largest Confederate monument end up outside of Atlanta? What should be done, if anything, with it? With these questions in mind, Atlanta History Center explores the controversial history through online resources and an upcoming documentary.