A number of significant historical events have occurred in Georgia during the month of September.

1700-1749

1736

Yamacraw Indian chief Tomochichi, with the help of Benjamin Ingham, a friend of brothers John Wesley and Charles Wesley, secured a school at Irene, outside Savannah.


1750-1799

1780

During the Revolutionary War (1775-83), Lieutenant Colonel Elijah Clarke, with 600 men who had taken an oath of allegiance to the king of England, attacked Augusta on September 14.


1850-1899

1855

The first class of the Atlanta Medical College (later Emory University School of Medicine) graduated.


1863

The Battle of Chickamauga, the largest battle ever fought in Georgia, occurred on September 18-20, during the Civil War (1861-65).


1864

On  September 1, at the end of Union general William T. Sherman’s Atlanta campaign, the Confederate army was forced out of the city. The mayor surrendered Atlanta to Union soldiers the next day.

Union Officers in Rome
Union Officers in Rome

Courtesy of Georgia Archives.


1865

The First National Bank of Atlanta (later Wachovia Bank, and then Wells Fargo) was chartered.


1868

The Camilla Massacre, one of the more violent episodes during Reconstruction in Georgia, took place on September 19.


1885

The marble cornerstone for Georgia’s current state capitol was laid on September 2.


1895

On  September 18, the opening day of the Cotton States and International Exposition, Booker T. Washington gave his famous Atlanta Compromise speech.

Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington

From 'The Succesful Training of the Negro' (1903), by B. T. Washington.


1900-1949

1906

In late September, a race massacre occurred in Atlanta. It lasted for three days and resulted in the deaths of dozens of Black citizens.


1927

The first issue of the Atlanta Historical Bulletin (later Atlanta History journal) was published.


1928

Ty Cobb set the National League record for career hits with his last (4,191th) major league baseball hit on September 3.


1930

Golfer Bobby Jones became the first player ever to win the sport’s “Grand Slam,” clinching all four major titles with his win in the U.S. Amateur championship on September 27.


1934

The General Textile Strike of 1934 resulted in skirmishes across the state between textile industry laborers and authorities, who also launched raids to apprehend suspected Communists.


1934

The groundbreaking for Techwood Homes, the first public housing project built in the United States, took place in Atlanta.


1941

On September 1, the official groundbreaking ceremony for Robins Air Force Base occurred in Warner Robins.


1948

WSB-TV broadcast the first live commercial television program in Georgia on September 29.


1949

On September 25, Louise Suggs won the U.S. Women’s Gold Championship in golf.


1950-1999

1955

Waffle House opened  its first restaurant in Avondale Estates, an Atlanta suburb.

Waffle House
Waffle House

Courtesy of Waffle House


1955

Little Richard recorded his hit song “Tutti Frutti.”


1957

The film adaptation of the book The Three Faces of Eve, which chronicles the treatment of a schizophrenic woman in Augusta, premiered in that city’s Miller Theater.


1961

On September 27, Georgia Tech became the first institution of higher education in the Deep South to integrate peacefully and without a court order.


1963

Gene Patterson, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution, wrote a column denouncing the bombing on September 15 of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, in which four African American children were killed. Entitled “A Flower for the Graves,” the column received national attention.


1985

Georgia Trend magazine was launched.


1985

Boxer   Larry Holmes lost the world heavyweight championship title, which he had held since 1978.

Larry Holmes
Larry Holmes

Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution.


1990

The International Olympic Committee named Atlanta as the host city for the 1996 Olympic Games.


1995

The Georgia International Horse Park, the equestrian venue for the Olympics, opened in Conyers.


1995

GALILEO, Georgia’s virtual library, debuted on September 21.


1996

The Georgia Music Hall of Fame opened.


1997

Atlanta media mogul Ted Turner announced that he would donate $1 billion to United Nations charities.

Mei Lan
Mei Lan

Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution.


2000-Present

2006

Panda bear Mei Lan (“Atlanta Beauty”) was born at Zoo Atlanta.

2008

The Naturalist Center at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta opened.


September Birthdays

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The New Georgia Encyclopedia is supported by funding from A More Perfect Union, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington in his office at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama.

From 'The Succesful Training of the Negro' (1903), by B. T. Washington.

Union Officers in Rome

Union Officers in Rome

Union officers assemble in Rome during the 1864 Atlanta Campaign.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #flo075.

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Waffle House

Waffle House

The first Waffle House opened in 1955 in Avondale Estates, an eastern suburb of Atlanta. Since its founding, the company has expanded to occupy more than 1,400 locations, most of which are located in the Southeast.

Courtesy of Waffle House

Larry Holmes

Larry Holmes

Heavyweight boxing champion Larry Holmes trains at the Larry Holmes Training Center in Easton, Pennsylvania, for his September 21, 1985, title fight against Michael Spinks.

Mei Lan

Mei Lan

Baby giant panda Mei Lan ("Atlanta Beauty"), pictured in 2007, was born at Zoo Atlanta in September 2006. Her parents, female Lun Lun and male Yang Yang, were on loan to the zoo from Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China.