New women's history exhibit at DeKalb History Center

I stopped by DeKalb History Center, located in the old DeKalb County courthouse on the square of Decatur to see the latest DHC exhibit, Lipstick & Fire. There were several other Saturday visitors and Decatur was hopping with big crowds for the annual Decatur book festival.

The exhibit included some general women’s history and the stories of local women who followed groundbreaking paths, setting up success stories for women in the future. This post will include a few highlights, because I recommend you visit the exhibit and spend time reading each story.

Here are a few of the subjects and women that are part of the Lipstick & Fire Exhibit, “a celebration of women-from DeKalb County and beyond.”.

Missouri Stokes and and Mrs. Alfred H. Colquitt of DeKalb County held leadership roles in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.

Women served their country in many ways during WWII.

The Women’s Suffrage movement had its beginnings in 1848. The annual meeting of the group in Atlanta in 1895 did not permit Black women to participate.

Women filled many roles during World War II, including filling jobs after men went to war and joining the various service corps for women. Read about and see photos of Fletcher Pearson Crown, a resident of Decatur who held gardening classes and gave valuable assistance for people establishing victory gardens during WWII.

1965 was the year Black students from Bruce Street School in Lithonia first integrated Lithonia High School, eleven years after Brown v. Board of Education ruled segregation in schools unconstitutional. Read and see photos that tell the stories of two of those students, Olithia McGuire Reid and Teresa Kelly Shy.

Meet the first women to serve as DeKalb County Firefighters and women who sought after and won political positions in the county.

Liane Levetan was DeKalb County's first female commissioner. She was elected in 1974. She was elected CEO of the county in 1993.

The DeKalb History Center is open Monday through Friday from 10 am until 4 pm and Saturdays from 10 am until 2 pm. There are other exhibits available for viewing on the main floor of the courthouse, including the Methodist Children’s Home Exhibit. The museum exhibits are free to visit.

1950s style scammer Margaret Gray lived off Happy Hollow Road

The Cassidy Lamb House on W. Fontainebleau Court was home to Clara Cassidy, Baxter and Midge Maddox, Harold and Charlotte Ebersole before it became the home of Janet Gray, aka Mrs. Gray. Gray both charmed and deceived the people she came into contact with.

Margaret Burton aka Janet Gray. Photo courtesy of DeKalb History Center

Thanks to the DeKalb History Center, I learned the surprising story of Margaret Burton aka Janet Gray, often referred to as Mrs. Gray. Marissa Howard, Programs and Membership Coordinator at DeKalb History Center, made the connection that the house Gray lived in on Happy Hollow Road and the Happy Hollow summer home I have written about were the same. The story of Gray and her crimes in Decatur, Georgia are included in a 2019 blog post at dekalbhistory.org titled, “True Crime-Margaret Burton aka Mrs. Gray,”

Gray had at least 21 aliases during her years as a criminal across the United States and in Europe. When she arrived in Decatur, she applied for a job as office manager for a group of doctors. Her appearance, manner and stories led people to believe she was a wealthy socialite. She was 51 years old, described with long silver hair and youthful skin. She claimed her father was president of Panama, that she owned mining interests in Colorado, and that her husband was a Colonel who had died. Her husband was a hotel night manager in Athens, Georgia.

Gray impressed the doctors and was given the job at a salary of $400 per month. A University of Georgia student working in the office reported that Gray usually came in to work in the morning, left about 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., and returned much later in the afternoon. She may have been out shopping because information surfaced later about charge account balances owed at several retail stores. Gray owed $1,600 at the Leon Frohsin store in Atlanta, where she had bought over 50 hats. She owed $300 and $400 at two other stores and $30 to a photographer.

She bought a $6,000 pink Lincoln and four other cars. The Lincoln later was used for the getaway of Gray and her daughter Shelia Joy. Shelia Joy was known by neighbors on Happy Hollow Road as Candy Laine or Candace Victoria Lane, Gray’s niece.

Gray kept 40 show dogs at the Happy Hollow property. One dog was a cocker spaniel that won awards at the Westminster Dog Show in 1956. Another went by the name Capital Gains. Gray entered her dogs in the Columbus, Georgia Kennel Club’s annual dog show for two years. Those who met her in Columbus were shocked when they learned she was a thief. (The Sunday Ledger-Enquirer, Columbus, GA, August 18, 1957, “Mrs. Gray Owed Everybody”)

In the 1950s, many people paid cash for their doctor visits. Gray was pocketing all the cash paid by patients at the Decatur office. This went unnoticed for a long time, until an accountant was called in for an audit and discovered her thievery. When Gray heard an audit was planned on July 19, 1957, she fled Decatur and Georgia. She arranged for the dogs to travel by moving van and sadly they did not all survive the trip.

She made the mistake of securing a bookkeeper job in a doctor’s office in Tulsa, Oklahoma, thinking she could get away with it again. An office employee saw the Decatur story in the Tulsa newspapers and informed the doctors. Mother and daughter were captured by the FBI in Tulsa, Oklahoma and charged with transporting stolen property across state lines. (Atlanta Constitution, August 22, 1957, “Mrs. Gray seized in Tulsa at job in doctor’s office”)

Janet Gray’s first trial ended in a mistrial. In February of 1958 Janet Gray appeared for her second trial at DeKalb Superior Court for embezzling $186,757 from the clinic where she worked. “Mrs. Burton admitted she bought three houses, expensive automobiles, show dogs, furniture and a swimming pool, she said she used the rest of the money for lavish living for herself and her daughter.” (Macon News, Feb. 5, 1958, “Mrs. Burton’s Statement Admits Theft of $50,000)

Gray was indicted on February 8, 1958, with two counts of larceny. When she heard that she could serve two to five years at Reidsville State Prison, she fainted.

Sheila Joy Gray left Atlanta in September of 1957 and went to live with an uncle. Janet Gray served eighteen months before being extradited to California to face additional charges. She spent 240 days in jail in California. Then she was deported for “failure to keep the Government informed of her address and conviction of two crimes involving moral turpitude and criminal misconduct.” She eventually returned to California to live the remainder of her life.

Sams Crossing, story behind the name

I am often curious about the history behind road names. Sams Crossing and Sams Street in Decatur are along one of my regular routes and I presumed there was a family named Sams, but wanted to know more about them. At the end of this article you will see that I communicated with a Sams family member back in 2006, but just recently made the connection.

Marion Washington Sams came to Georgia from Greenville, South Carolina in 1870. Sams and his wife Mary Lucia Duncan Sams lived temporarily with his uncle J. H. Nash on Church Street. (DeKalb News Sun, Vivian Price, 7/22/1981)

Sams then purchased property along with a three- or four-bedroom home from Thomas Little. The property was located where Railroad Avenue (today’s College Avenue), Covington Road and Sycamore Street met.

Augustine Sams, grandson of Marion and Mary Sams, was an attorney and later a member of the Georgia general assembly representing DeKalb County. During WWI, Augustine Sams was stationed at Camp Gordon. He is buried at Decatur Cemetery with a marker that indicates he was born in 1893 and died 1978. The marker also recognizes his WWI service as a Captain in the U. S. Army.

When Vivian Price wrote about the Sams family in 1981 a marker had recently been placed by MARTA, naming the overhead crossing Sams Crossing, dedicated to the memory of Marion Washington Sams.

The Sams Crossing marker at MARTA’s Avondale Station reads, "This construction is located near the original 1870 home site of Marion Washington Sams, who settled in this area with his wife, Mary Lucia Duncan, and children, Hansford Dade Duncan, Lewis Reeve, Marion Washington, Jr., Mary Lucia, Joseph Augustine and Miles Stanhope. The rail crossing at this road junction immediately became known as ‘Sams Crossing’.”

Over on the east side of E. College Avenue, a stones throw from Sams Crossing, is Sams Street, named for the same family.

What became Sams Crossing was called Covington Road Crossing back then. The home of the Sams family was called Violet Cottage. There was a large bed of violets planted around a giant magnolia tree in the yard.

Price says “The only thing that is left of the Sams settlement area in 1981 is the plaque in the MARTA Station. Marion Sams at the dedication ceremony, said “So we see now that the first generation traveled by horse and buggy, the second generation primarily by train, the third generation by the old south Decatur Trolley and now the fourth generation will travel primarily by MARTA.”

Back in 2006, I wrote an article about WWI Camp Gordon in Chamblee for the Dunwoody Crier Newspaper. I received emails from a few readers, including one from Joseph Augustine Sams Bond. He shared the followed recollections with me.

This photograph of the J. A. Sams home on College Avenue from 3/4/1927 is from the archives of the DeKalb History Center and appears to be the home that Joseph Augustine Sams Bond describes as his mother’s childhood home.

“My Mother's childhood home was the large Victorian structure that stood where the Sams Crossing MARTA Station south parking lot is today. She was a Sams. Many times I heard my Mother and/or her sister or brother discuss the long, bumpy and dusty wagon rides that they endured traveling from Decatur to Camp Gordon for a dance or other function. Often just to see a friend in the service. My family and friends occasionally enjoy eating at Downwind (restaurant) while the grandchildren watch the runway activity. As I sit there, I often remember the many buildings that once stood on that site and those that served at Camp Gordon as well as Naval Air Station Atlanta.”

Sams went on to tell me that his Uncle Augustine Sams had been at Camp Gordon and his cousins Marion A. Sams and Richard H. Sams were at Naval Air Station Atlanta in the early 1950s. Joseph Augustine Sams Bond died in 2020.

Swanton House and New Hope Cemetery in need of preservation assistance

As we approach the end of 2023, I want to share with you two local historic sites that are fund raising to assist with ongoing preservation. They are two very different places. One is Swanton House, a circa 1825 home in Decatur. The other is a historic cemetery in Dunwoody. Below is information about each of these efforts, links to read more about the history, and links to donate.

The following information comes from Marissa Howard, Programs and Membership Coordinator of DeKalb History Center. You can read more about the history of Swanton House here.

For this year’s End of Year fundraiser, the DeKalb History Center is focusing on the Swanton House, one of the oldest remaining structures in Decatur.

Early in the year, a massive tree smashed through the Swanton House’s roof causing extensive damage. This uprooted tree presented an opportunity to see what else we could do to preserve this cornerstone piece of DeKalb’s history. We were able to repair the damage, but now we need your help! Not only to replenish our reserves but also to help us keep the lights on and maintain the structure for future generations!

The average annual cost of maintaining the Swanton House, Biffle Cabin, and Thomas Barber Cabin is $20,400. This includes landscaping, utilities (at commercial – not home prices), maintenance, and services such as pest, rodent, and termite control.

As stewards of the Swanton House, we have maintained it since 1970 when it was moved to 720 West Trinity in Decatur to ensure its preservation for Decatur and DeKalb. Over the past 53 years, we have worked diligently to provide necessary maintenance to keep the Swanton House healthy and usable for future generations. The cost of maintaining it is expensive and we would appreciate any help you can provide in preserving this cornerstone piece of DeKalb’s history. Tap the link below to donate.

https://dekalb-history-center.square.site/

Dunwoody Preservation Trust is working to raise money to maintain and restore three historic cemeteries in Dunwoody. New Hope Cemetery, located on Chamblee Dunwoody Road behind KinderCare; Stephen Martin Cemetery, behind the Perimeter Expo shopping center; and Woodall Cemetery, barely accessible and between two Dunwoody neighborhoods. They have already begun restoration of fallen and broken headstones at New Hope Cemetery with the help of experts from Oakland Cemetery. This is an ongoing effort with many challenges.

Fallen headstones at New Hope Cemetery.

A repaired and restored marker at New Hope Cemetery.

Visit the Dunwoody Preservation Trust website and click on Donate to help with this effort.

Read more about New Hope Cemetery and the work of Dunwoody Preservation Trust to preserve Dunwoody’s historic cemeteries in an article I recently wrote for the Dunwoody Crier newspaper, titled “Taking Care of Dunwoody’s Historic Cemeteries.”

I have volunteered with both of these fantastic organizations and am currently on the Board of DeKalb History Center. I served ten years on the Board of Dunwoody Preservation Trust.

Thank you for reading Past Tense GA and Happy Holidays!

The Moving Pictures in Atlanta

The first moving pictures in Atlanta were shown at the Cotton States and International Exposition of Georgia, held in 1895 at Piedmont Park.  A movie theater was constructed along an area called Midway Heights on 10th Street. The attraction was called “Living Pictures,” where the newly developed vitascope projector was demonstrated. It wasn’t very popular at the exposition so visitors were allowed to enter for free.  People made use of the opportunity to step inside the small theater and rest for a few minutes. It may have been destined to close due to lack of attendance, but never had to because a fire destroyed the theater space. (“Atlanta and Environs Volume II”, by Franklin Garrett)

The first movie house opened in Atlanta in 1904.  It was called The Star and was located at 36 Decatur Street.  It was successful enough for a second movie house called The Eldorado to open soon after at 146 Marietta Street.

By 1907, fourteen theaters were listed in the Atlanta directory.  They were known as “electric” theaters and were usually small store front buildings with chairs nailed together to form a row. The early films lasted about fifteen minutes. 

The Montgomery Theatre at 87 Peachtree Street opened in August of 1911, advertising a small balcony for vocal performers, an organ and an orchestra.  This was the beginning of longer films with an actual story line.  The theatre was later known as Georgian, Odeon and Tudor Theatre.

Talking movies came to Atlanta in 1928 with The Jazz Singer showing at the Metropolitan Theatre.  The Metropolitan first opened in 1911 and was located at the intersection of Luckie Street and Broad Street.  By 1929, several talking movies were shown around Atlanta, including The Virginian, starring Gary Cooper at the Paramount Theatre.  The Paramount, located at 169 Peachtree Street, originally opened as a live theatre in 1920 and was known as Howard Theatre. 

Gone with the Wind premiered at Loews Grand Theatre in 1939 with much fanfare and stars of the film attending.  The building was originally the home of DeGive’s Grand Opera House built in 1893.  In 1972, a fire burned the Loews Grand Theatre.

Other theatres included the Rialto on Forsyth Street, Buckhead Theatre on Roswell Road, Temple Theatre in Grant Park and Center Theatre (later Central) on Whitehall Street.  The old Rhodes Theatre was located on Peachtree Road next to Rhodes Hall. 

It wasn’t necessary to go downtown in the 1930’s and 1940’s to see a movie.  Theaters just outside of Atlanta included Brookhaven Theater opening in 1938, Avondale Theater in Avondale Estates opening in 1938 and Decatur Theater opening in 1940. 

The movies we associate with Christmas now did not necessarily premiere or show during the holiday season. Meet Me in St. Louis played at Rhodes Theatre in 1945, Christmas in Connecticut played at the Buckhead, Temple and Center Theatres in 1945, Miracle on 34th Street was showing at the Brookhaven Theatre in 1947, and White Christmas was featured at the Fox Theatre in 1954.   

Fred Donaldson, who was born at Donaldson-Bannister Farm in Dunwoody, grew up going to the movies in Brookhaven, Buckhead or downtown Atlanta.  He and his friends would either catch a ride or walk to Brookhaven and then if they decided to head to Buckhead or to the Paramount or Fox Theatre downtown, they would catch the trolley from Brookhaven. 

Joe Greear recalls that the first movie he saw was The Fly at Brookhaven Theatre. He describes the location. “Across Peachtree Street from the Building Supply and A & P was another cluster of businesses including a post office and a movie theater. The Brookhaven Theatre was where I saw my first scary movie-the original version of ‘The Fly’ starring Vincent Price. I was about six or seven and I remember being so scared that I couldn’t watch the end and left my seat to wait in the lobby for my brother to emerge. The Brookhaven Theatre was not an elaborate movie house like The Fox, and had only a few embellishments. Despite its simplicity it was a nice place to watch a movie and I always loved the smell of the popcorn in the lobby.” (From “Growing up on the Edges,” by Joe Greear, held in the archives of DeKalb History Center)

1965 Atlanta newspapers advertise the film The Sound of Music at Martin’s Cinerama at 583 Peachtree Street.  This theater was built in 1927 and was originally a live playhouse called Erlanger Theatre.  In the 1950’s it began showing movies and was called Tower Theatre, later becoming Martin’s Cinerama, Atlanta Theatre and then Columbia Theatre.  It was demolished to make way for a parking lot in 1995. 

• Dunwoody 86
• Chamblee 67
• Atlanta 47
• Sandy Springs 35
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• World War II 24
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• Dunwoody Historic Homes 19
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• Doraville 15
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• DeKalb County 12
• Women's history 11
• DeKalb County schools 9
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• Sandy Springs Historic Homes 7
• 1960s 6
• Dairies 5
• Roswell Railroad 5
• Sandy Springs HIstoric Homes 5
• malls 5
• Christmas 4
• Dunwoody historic cemeteries 4
• Dunwoody historic homes 4
• Hightower Trail 4
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• Norcross 4
• Norcross Rifle Range 4
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• Dunwoody summer homes 3
• Oglethorpe University 3
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