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A More Perfect Union

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

Gus Whalen

Gus Whalen

Gus Whalen, the fourth-generation president and CEO of the Warren Featherbone Company, was a major employer in Gainesville and a noted philanthropist. His advocacy of "intergenerational community learning" brought him national attention in the 2000s. 

©Billy Howard

Robert Woodruff and Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans

Robert Woodruff and Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans

Robert Woodruff, the president of the Coca-Cola Company, is pictured with Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans at the Stork Club in New York City, during the 1940s. Evans owned the Atlanta Coca-Cola Bottling Company, founded by her husband Joseph Whitehead, for several decades before selling it to Woodruff in 1932.

Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans

Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans

Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans, a Virginia native, was a prominent businesswoman and philanthropist in Atlanta during the first half of the twentieth century. In 1932 she joined the board of directors for the Coca-Cola Company, becoming one of the first women in the country to serve on the board of a major corporation.

Habitat for Humanity Quilt

Habitat for Humanity Quilt

A quilt depicting the building activities of Habitat for Humanity International hangs at the organization's headquarters in Americus. Since 1976 volunteers with Habitat have built affordable housing for families in need throughout the United States and around the world.

Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

Former Georgia governor and U.S. president Jimmy Carter works with Habitat for Humanity volunteers to construct a home. Carter, who became involved with the organization at the invitation of founder Millard Fuller in 1984, has served as both spokesperson and work crew leader for Habitat.

Courtesy of Gregg Pachkowski and Habitat for Humanity International

Teacher Workshop

Teacher Workshop

Middle school teachers gather at a workshop sponsored by the Georgia Council on Economic Education. Each year the council provides more than 100 workshops to help teachers develop strategies for teaching economics in their classrooms.

Courtesy of Georgia Council on Economic Education

Mills B. Lane

Mills B. Lane

Mills B. Lane, chief executive officer of the Citizens and Southern National Bank, founded the Georgia Council on Economic Education in 1972. The council exists to support economic education in the state's elementary and secondary schools.

Courtesy of Georgia Council on Economic Education

Atkinson Hall

Atkinson Hall

The Center for Economic Education, housed in Atkinson Hall at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, supports economics teachers in the community by assisting with curriculum development and providing instructional materials. It is one of twelve such centers located on university campuses throughout the state.

Courtesy of Georgia Council on Economic Education

HealthVoices

HealthVoices

HealthVoices is a publication of the Healthcare Georgia Foundation that focuses on public health policy in the state and covers topics ranging from health insurance to taxes on tobacco.

Literacy Action, Inc.

Literacy Action, Inc.

Literacy Action, Inc. was founded in Atlanta in 1968 and today is one of the largest private adult literacy providers in the state. Its work is supported in part by the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.

Photograph by Dana Sanabria, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

Beacon of Hope

Beacon of Hope

One of the many organizations supported by the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta is Beacon of Hope, a program that offers educational opportunities for children as part of a comprehensive community revitalization effort.

Photograph by Dana Sanabria, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

Atlanta Youth Initiative

Atlanta Youth Initiative

The Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Opportunities Initiative is administered by the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta. The program seeks to aid children raised in foster homes with the transition to adult life.

Courtesy of Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Opportunities Initiative

Alicia Philipp

Alicia Philipp

Alicia Philipp became the executive director of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta in 1977. During her tenure the foundation established a number of new initiatives and substantially increased the organization's financial assets.

Photograph by Dana Sanabria, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

Bradley Center

Bradley Center

The Bradley Center, a psychiatric hospital in Columbus, was established by the Bradley-Turner Foundation in 1955. Today the hospital is affiliated with St. Francis Hospital in Columbus and offers outpatient counseling and social services to the public.

Photograph by Kate Howard, New Georgia Encyclopedia

RiverCenter for the Performing Arts

RiverCenter for the Performing Arts

The RiverCenter for the Performing Arts in Columbus was built with a $20 million gift from the Bradley-Turner Foundation and matching gifts from other arts agencies in Columbus.

Image from Visit Columbus GA

Elena Diaz-Verson Amos

Elena Diaz-Verson Amos

Elena Diaz-Verson Amos poses with her husband, Aflac cofounder John Amos, in the 1980s. Born in Havana, Cuba, Amos studied as an exchange student at the University of Miami in Florida and remained active in Cuban advocacy and humanitarian causes throughout her life. In 1955 she and her husband moved to Columbus, where she became active in a variety of philanthropic causes.

Courtesy of Aflac

Frederic Ozanam

Frederic Ozanam

At the age of nineteen, Frederic Ozanam organized the Conference of Charity in Paris, France, to provide assistance to the poor of the city. He chose the sixteenth-century cleric St. Vincent de Paul as patron of the organization, which later adopted its current name, the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

From Famille Vincentienne Internationale Web site

Callaway Community Foundation

Callaway Community Foundation

The trustees of the Callaway Community Foundation, founded by Fuller E. Callaway Jr., meet in 1956. From left: Arthur B. Edge Jr., Callaway, Hatton Lovejoy, Mrs. Fuller E. Callaway Jr., William H. Turner, Glenn Simpson.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
trp021.

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Fuller E. Callaway Jr.

Fuller E. Callaway Jr.

Fuller E. Callaway Jr. founded the Callaway Community Foundation, which offered charitable assistance to the employees of the Callaway Mills, in 1943. Today the Callaway Foundation offers grants for a variety of projects around Georgia, particularly in the LaGrange area.

Courtesy of Troup County Archives, LaGrange, Callaway Educational Association Photo Collection.

Callaway Mills Picnic

Callaway Mills Picnic

After Fuller E. Callaway died, employees of Callaway Mills gathered each year on his birthday, July 15, for a company-sponsored picnic. Fuller E. Callaway Jr. (second from left) is shown enjoying watermelon with other workers of Callaway Mills.

Courtesy of Troup County Archives, LaGrange, Callaway Educational Association Collection.

UPS Foundation

UPS Foundation

The UPS Foundation headquarters are located in Atlanta at the UPS corporate office building, designed by the architectural firm Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback, and Associates. The foundation, which was established in 1951, provides grant money to organizations working to combat hunger and illiteracy, and also encourages volunteerism among UPS employees.

Courtesy of UPS

Ted Turner

Ted Turner

CNN founder Ted Turner became vice chair of Time Warner after the media giant bought Turner Broadcasting System in 1995. In 2001 Time Warner merged with the Internet service provider America Online, creating the world's largest media conglomerate.

Goizueta Foundation Center for Research and Doctoral Education

Goizueta Foundation Center for Research and Doctoral Education

The Goizueta Business School at Emory University began construction on the Goizueta Foundation Center for Research and Doctoral Education, a $33.4 million addition, in 2004.

Courtesy of Kallmann McKinnell and Wood Architects, Inc.

Dixie Coca-Cola Bottling Company

Dixie Coca-Cola Bottling Company

In 1900, the year after acquiring the rights to bottle Coca-Cola throughout most of the country, Joseph Brown Whitehead established the Dixie Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Atlanta. The Whitehead family founded three philanthropies in Georgia and donated generously to social service, religious, and educational organizations.

Courtesy of National Register of Historic Places

Asa Griggs Candler

Asa Griggs Candler

Asa Griggs Candler, founder of the Coca-Cola Company, was also a banker and real estate developer and was noted for his philanthropy. His best-known philanthropy was in the form of a personal check for $1 million, donated to defray the costs of establishing Emory University in Atlanta as a Southern Methodist institution.

Robert W. Woodruff

Robert W. Woodruff

Robert W. Woodruff became president of both the Trust Company of Georgia and the Coca-Cola Company in 1923 and eventually became the architect of Coke's worldwide expansion. In later years Woodruff was also Emory University's greatest benefactor. In 1937 he established the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, a charitable organization.

Image from oaktree_b

Coca-Cola Headquarters

Coca-Cola Headquarters

Coca-Cola's headquarters in Atlanta, designed by the architectural firm FABRAP, house the corporate offices as well as the offices for the Coca-Cola Foundation.

Photograph by David A. Pike

Joseph M. Tull

Joseph M. Tull

Joseph M. Tull, who grew up in North Carolina, attended college after finishing grammar school because his area had no high school. He went on to become a successful businessman and entrepreneur in Atlanta, where he established the J. M. Tull Foundation, known today as the Tull Charitable Foundation.

From J. M. Tull: The Man, the Company, by F. M. Garrett

Rankin Foundation Founders

Rankin Foundation Founders

The founders of the Jeannette Rankin Foundation present the organization's first grant to Barbara Dixon, a student at Athens Technical College, in 1978. Standing, from left: Gail Dendy, Heather Kleiner, Margaret Holt, Reita Rivers. Seated, from left: Fred Friedricks (of Athens Technical College), Barbara Dixon, and Sue Bailey.

Courtesy of Jeannette Rankin Foundation

Jeannette Rankin

Jeannette Rankin

Jeannette Rankin, a native of Montana, became the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1916 and later purchased property in Georgia, first in Bogart and then in Watksinsville. After her death in 1973, proceeds from the sale of her Watkinsville land were used in 1976 to found the Jeannette Rankin Foundation, which is headquartered in Athens.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, George Grantham Bain Collection, #LC-DIG-ggbain-23835.

Pitts Theology Library

Pitts Theology Library

With the aid of monetary donations from Margaret Adger Pitts, the Pitts Theology Library has grown to contain more than 520,000 volumes in several languages. The library, located at Emory University, also subscribes to more than 1,500 periodicals.

Courtesy of Emory University Photo

William I. H. Pitts

William I. H. Pitts

William Irby Hudson Pitts established the William I. H. and Lula E. Pitts Foundation, which funds various efforts of the United Methodist Church, in 1941. Large donations from the foundation have supported Andrew College, Candler School of Theology, Epworth by the Sea, LaGrange College, Magnolia Manor, and Young Harris College.

Courtesy of SunTrust Bank, Endowment and Foundation Services

Fishing for Trash

Fishing for Trash

Employees of Georgia Power participate in a "fishing for trash" tournament on the Coosa River in Floyd County. About 13 percent of Georgia Power Foundation's grants are made in the area of environmental causes.

Courtesy of Georgia Power

Georgia Power Building

Georgia Power Building

The Georgia Power Building in downtown Atlanta, designed by Heery Architects and Engineers, houses the headquarters for both the Georgia Power Company and the Georgia Power Foundation. In 2004 the Georgia Power Foundation awarded $5 million in grants to organizations primarily in the state of Georgia.

Image from Counse

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity

A crew from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, headquarted in Atlanta, drives nails during a Habitat for Humanity house-raising. Arthur Blank, center, cofounded The Home Depot in 1979 and established the foundation in 1995.

Courtesy of Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation

Blank Foundation Trustees, 2004

Blank Foundation Trustees, 2004

The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation was established by Arthur Blank, cofounder of the Home Depot, in 1995. Standing, from left: Arthur Blank, Stephanie Blank, Penelope McPhee (foundation president), Kenny Blank, Nancy Blank, and Michael Blank. Seated, from left: Danielle Blank and Dena Blank.

Courtesy of Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation

Junior Achievement

Junior Achievement

Junior Achievement volunteers inspire children to learn the economics of life through free enterprise education. This year, Junior Achievement of Georgia will reach more than 84,000 students statewide.

Courtesy of Junior Achievement

John Bulow Campbell

John Bulow Campbell

John Bulow Campbell, whose estate allowed for the creation of the J. Bulow Campbell Foundation after his death, believed that humility, charity, and service were necessary elements of a Christian life. His philanthropy flowed from this conviction.

Courtesy of the J. Bulow Campbell Foundation

Central Presbyterian Church

Central Presbyterian Church

Many consider the English Gothic–style Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta (1885) to be architect Edmund G. Lind's greatest building.

Image from Warren LeMay

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Hurt Building

Hurt Building

The Hurt Building, named for Atlanta developer Joel Hurt and completed in 1926, was the seventeenth-largest office building in the world; still standing, it remains a distinctive Atlanta landmark.

Photograph by Ganeshk

Foundation Center

Foundation Center

The Foundation Center distributes information about philanthropic organizations throughout the United States. The center's regional office opened in Atlanta in 1994 and serves the approximately 1,200 foundations within the state.

Courtesy of Georgia Humanities, Photograph by Jamil Zainaldin.

Abrahams Home

Abrahams Home

The Abrahams Home for Indigent Females, designed by architect John Norris, opened in 1858 and served for more than 100 years as a home for elderly and disabled women. The facility, pictured in 1974, was run by the Savannah Widows Society, which was established in 1822 and is, to date, the oldest operating foundation in Georgia.

Courtesy of Georgia Historical Society, Georgia Historical Society Collection of Photographs, 1870-1960, #GHS 1361PH-09-01-1711.

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Relay for Life

Relay for Life

The American Cancer Society's nationwide annual fund-raiser, Relay for Life, is held in various locations around Georgia. A voluntary health organization, the society is dedicated to eliminating cancer through research, education, advocacy, and service.

Foundation Center

Foundation Center

Originally established in New York City in 1956, the Foundation Center exists to provide information about philanthropy in the United States. In 1994 the center opened its regional office in Atlanta to serve local foundations and nonprofit organizations, as well as the media and general public.

Courtesy of Georgia Humanities.

High School Media Project

High School Media Project

Teachers at Rome High School confer with students about their project for a National History Day in Georgia state contest, sponsored by Georgia Humanities. Georgia Humanities works closely with educators in the humanities around the state by hosting teacher workshops and providing resource materials.

Courtesy of Georgia Humanities.

Peyton Anderson with Lyndon Johnson

Peyton Anderson with Lyndon Johnson

Peyton Anderson, publisher of the Macon Telegraph and active community member, campaigns with Lady Bird and Lyndon Johnson in Macon in 1964. The man to the far right with crossed arms is U.S. representative Carl Vinson.

Courtesy Peyton Anderson Foundation

Centennial Olympic Park

Centennial Olympic Park

The Robert Woodruff Foundation was instrumental in the development of Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Georgia Research Alliance

Georgia Research Alliance

An expert in animal cloning, Steven Stice is a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar at the University of Georgia. The alliance and its university partners work to find those areas of research and development that have the greatest potential for building a technology-rich economy for Georgia.

Courtesy of University of Georgia Photographic Services

Georgia Research Alliance

Georgia Research Alliance

The Caterpillar company's Hydraulic Hammer is an example of a successful collaborative effort between a Georgia business and a Technology Transfer program of the Georgia Research Alliance.

Image from Virgina Department of Transportation

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Lockheed Martin Employees

Lockheed Martin Employees

Workers at the Lockheed Martin plant in Marietta, pictured in 2003, paint a Lockheed C-130J. In 2000 the Intellectual Capital Partnership Program (or ICAPP), a program of the University System of Georgia, partnered with the plant to train eighty new Lockheed employees at Southern Polytechnic State University (later Kennesaw State University).

Thomas E. Watson House

Thomas E. Watson House

Georgia politician Thomas E. Watson purchased a home in Thomson in 1881 and lived there until 1904. The home is now a National Historic Landmark and serves as the administrative headquarters for the Watson-Brown Foundation.

Courtesy of Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc.