Bonus Vault Content
“I am satisfied the murderer is a fanatic.”
From the Atlanta Georgian • Nov. 21, 1911
Full text of the Mary Putnam article.
pope motorbike - 1910
Pictured: Fulton Co. Police Chief Zach Rowan in 1910.
Atlanta Police got their first motorcycles in 1910. This is the type of motorcycle officers rode when they arrived at the scene of Mary Putnam’s murder on Nov. 21, 1911.
stewart ave. trolley station
The Stewart Ave. Trolley Station still stands in its current location off Metropolitan Parkway in southwest Atlanta. Police believed Mary Putnam’s killer boarded a trolley at this spot the morning he committed the crime.
Image via Google Earth
Atlanta trolley car - 1900
If the killer of Mary Putnam did, in fact, board a trolley to make his escape, it likely would have looked like this one. Lettering on the side says Atlanta Rapid Transit Co.
ATLANTA SKYLINE
A modern view of Atlanta from the rooftop of the old Fulton Bag & Cotton Mill. In the foreground is Dekalb Ave and the Old Fourth Ward. The elevated track structure is the east/west MARTA line.
Big Bethel a.m.e. church
Founded in 1847, when Atlanta was still called Marthasville, Big Bethel is one of the oldest African American churches in Atlanta. This image shows the church as it looked in the late 19th century.
In November of 1911, Rev. Jackson McHenry presided over a meeting of local black leaders who devised a plan to safeguard their communities from future Ripper attacks.
Big bethel today
“For years the church was used for community gatherings because it was the largest meeting space in the African American community. Big Bethel was known as ‘Sweet Auburn's City Hall.’ In 1911, President William H. Taft spoke from the pulpit of Big Bethel
The edifice itself is an architectural phenomenon. The existing building was rebuilt in 1922, after being destroyed by fire in 1920 and erected with a lighted cross in the steeple with the message, ‘Jesus Saves.’
Bethel A.M.E. has hosted a number of notable speakers, including Booker T. Washington, President William Howard Taft, Mary McLeod Bethune, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, and President Bill Clinton.”
Copy via bigbethelame.org • Photo via OHATL.org
“NEGROES MAKE APPEAL FOR RIPPER’S CAPTURE”
From the Atlanta Georgian • Nov. 29, 1911
After meeting at Rev. Hugh Proctor’s First Congregational Church, local black leaders drafted a series of resolutions on how various parties around the city should respond to the Atlanta Ripper.
70-y/o elmore grant arrested
From the Atlanta Constitution • Nov. 22, 1911
In what can only be presumed as thinly veiled sarcasm, a writer for the Atlanta Constitution makes light of the fact that an elderly man had been arrested on suspicion of killing his housemate, Mary Putnam.
the dragnet expands
From the Atlanta Georgian • Nov 24, 1911
Bud Wise, husband of Ripper victim Minnie Wise, was arrested on suspicion that he killed his wife. This article clarifies the strategy of police, which held that there was no single murderer.
“mark these words…”
The Seattle Republican was a local African American newspaper 2600 miles from Atlanta. It was published from 1894 to 1913. In 1911, the paper ran this short article about the rash of Atlanta killings.
horace cayton, sr.
“Horace was born as a slave in Mississippi in 1859. Later in life he moved to Seattle where he became a reporter for a larger paper, and he eventually started his own African American newspaper called the Seattle Republican.
His paper covered the local African American community in Seattle but they also weighed in on national stories that would come in from the east coast papers.” - E6
Dr. Broughton’s tabernacle / then & now
What started out as a Baptist church led by a fiery prohibitionist preacher eventually became one of Atlanta’s most storied concert venues.
Back in 1911, Dr. Len G. Broughton used his pulpit to condemn Atlanta’s seedy saloon scene. Today, the building is owned and operated by Live Nation. Click here for a gallery of photos from inside the music venue today. - modern photo via tabernacleatl.com
christmas day, 1911
The Atlanta Georgian ran this illustration on the front page of its morning edition, December 25, 1911. It was featured alongside an article about the paper’s successful fundraiser for the poor.
more christmas news
From the Atlanta Georgian, 1911.
the standard club
The Standard Club was an elite social club catering to Atlanta’s Jewish high society. Various members of the Elsas family attended a Grand Ball in December, 1911. (photo from 1935) - via thebreman.org
STRANGERS WITHIN THE GATE CITY
An excellent history of the Jewish community in Atlanta from 1845 - 1915.