Archive Atlanta

Before Atlanta was crisscrossed with interstates and highways, there was a bold plan—born from the Great Depression, inspired by Germany’s Autobahn, and fueled by fears of another economic collapse. 

In this episode, we rewind to the 1930s to unpack how the U.S. highway system began, why Atlanta jumped in headfirst, and how a single report—the Lochner Report—shaped decades of urban design, displacement, and, yes... gridlock.

From a...

This week, we’re talking about Atlanta’s most famous food franchises. Atlanta has been the birthplace of almost a dozen food franchises, including Chick-fil-A, Huddle House, Mellow Mushroom, Great American Cookies, Applebee's, Flying Biscuit and Moe's Southwest Grill.

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Email: thevictorialemos@gmail.com

Even though this is a bye week for me, I wanted to share a bonus episode related to a special project that I got to do recently. 

I worked with Canopy fellow Damius Smith on his piece "Built for Legacy". Collier Heights was designed by and for Black people, with the architectural design of every house telling a story. From American Small Houses, to ranch-style, to mid-century, each home focuses on the symbolic power of the neighbor...

This week, we’re talking about the Lakewood Cutting - the story of the murder of Fred Thompson. I’ve said a million times that I’m not a fan of true crime, but centuries-old murders in Atlanta’s past seem to have worked their way into my heart.  But this week’s story isn’t just a murder story, this is a story of an abduction, self defense, secret orders, ransom notes and the far and wide reach of the Ku Klux Klan.

This week, I am SO excited to share a conversation that I had with Marty Padgett about this new book, The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS. Sodomy laws had been used to discriminate against queer people for centuries, but in 1986, the US Supreme Court ruled that the constitution did not guarantee a person the right to engage in homosexual conduct, even in the privacy of their own home....

This week, I am bringing you a short bonus story about the Bagby Family, mainly brothers William and Hubert, who were known throughout the Bolton area of Atlanta for living along the banks of the Chattahoochee River while evading arrest. In April of 1957, brothers Hubert and William - the “The Ghost” and “Cobb County Roosting Man” - were arrested. Police found them hiding in the chifforobes at their family home and they were charge...

This week, we’re talking about one of Atlanta’s most well-known attractions - it’s strip clubs. But why and how and when did we get this claim to fame? Why is Atlanta one of the few places that allows full nudity and alcohol? Why are the wings so good? Today we’re going to cover all of this and more; from the legislation battles to some of the iconic strip clubs from our history.

Lustful Appetites book

This week, I am so excited to share an interview episode with Mike Ayling, who is the writer and researcher behind Birds of Kirkwood. We talked about the story of how he moved into his home Kirkwood, Robert Windsor Smith, Atlanta first amateur ornithologist and we talked about birding and the natural environment of Kirkwood 122 years ago. 

Birds of Georgia

Bird Fest

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This week, we’re talking about Druid Hills - one of the most iconic Atlanta neighborhoods known for its housing stock and connection to the Olmsted landscape architecture firm. From Joel Hurt's idea through the most recent annexation; we are talking about historic houses, prominent residents and schools and churches.

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This week, we are celebrating Women’s History Month by learning the history of three more women from Atlanta’s past; Eva Lovett, Emily Norman and Alexa Stirling. One who founded a well-known private school, another a prominent real estate firm and a pioneer in golf. 

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Email: thevictorialemos@gmail.com

This week, we’re talking about “We Charge Genocide”, a 1951 petition accusing the United States government of genocide based on the newly adopted UN Genocide Convention. A strong content warning that this is going to be a heavy topic about racialized violence and murder across the US and specifically in Atlanta.

Burnham-Nobles Archive

Life Magazine Photos of the Stone Mountain Klan Initiation 

Want...

This week, we’re talking about WEB DuBois’ time in Atlanta, which spans two different periods and a total of 24 years. Arriving first in 1897, he lived here during the death of his son, the lynching of Sam Hose, the 1906 Race Massacre and the publishing of several books and magazines. His second arrival was in 1934, where is once again taught at Atlanta University and published several more books.

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With my new bi-weekly format, there are two ways you can do this; a rolling schedule or what I did, which is say that the podcast will be out every first and third Friday. That means that a few times a year, we have months with 5 weeks. January is one of them! 

So I thought I’d bring you a shorter, but fascinating topic to cover this bonus week. Today, we’re talking about Sevananda, the natural foods co-op in Little Five Points tha...

This week, we’re talking about Atlanta’s Veterans Hospitals. When I first put this topic on my list, I thought I’d be covering the 1960s-era hospital that is still operating over on Clairmont Road, but I was surprised to learn we had several other variations and the history of caring for veterans in Atlanta is over 130 years old.

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This week, we’re talking about Lustron Houses - prefabricated enameled steel houses developed in the post-World War II era in response to the shortage of homes for returning GIs. I’m going to cover the inventor, the Lustron Company, and more importantly, Lustrons in Atlanta - how many were built, who lived in them and how many remain?

https://lustronresearch.com/

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Happy 2025! I started this podcast in September of 2018 and if you told me then I would be here recording in 2025, I would never have believed it. Over six years and over 250 episodes later, I am finally making a material change to Archive Atlanta - and that’s format. 

We’re starting off 2025 with a new, bi-weekly format - that means twice a month - the first and third Fridays. So much has changed in 6 years that I also thought it’...

My last episode of 2024 is a conversation I had inside Constellations, with the incomparable Gene Kansas, who just wrote a book called Civil Sights: Sweet Auburn, a Journey through Atlanta's National Treasure, which is being released in February of 2025.

Every time we get together, our shared love of historic preservation, Auburn Avenue and Atlanta come out and this is no different.

University of Georgia Press 50% off coupon code:...