University of Georgia Press, 2009
During the hot summer of 1906, anger simmered in Atlanta, a city that outwardly savored its reputation as the Gate City of the New South, a place where the races lived peacefully, if apart, and everyone focused more on prosperity than prejudice. But racial hatred came to the forefront during a heated political campaign, and the city’s newspapers fanned its flames with sensational reports alleging assaults on white women by black men. The rage erupted in late September, and, during one of the most brutal race riots in the history of America, roving groups of whites attacked and killed at least twenty-five blacks. After four days of violence, black and white civic leaders came together in unprecedented meetings that can be viewed as either concerted public relations efforts to downplay the events, or as setting the stage for Atlanta’s Civil Rights leadership half a century later.
Rage in the Gate City focuses on the events of August and September 1906, offering a tightly woven narrative account of those eventful days and their impact on the future of Atlanta.
First published in 2006, Rage in the Gate City was a finalist in the 2007 Georgia Author of the Year awards and was the selection for the 2008 P.E.N./Faulkner books in schools program for Atlanta Public Schools. It was published in a second edition by University of Georgia Press in 2009.
What people have said about the book
“Perhaps if more Americans read Rage in the Gate City—the story of this important, but often overlooked, chapter in Atlanta’s history—it might save our nation from the painful repetition of these acts of hatred and violence.”
—Congressman John Lewis
“[a] detailed and riveting account.”
—Booklist
“… a fast-paced, exquisitely detailed account of this moment in Atlanta’s history.”
—Metro Spirit, Augusta, Georgia
” …a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how Atlanta has become the city that it is today.”
—Alexis Scott, Publisher, Atlanta Daily World
“… a meticulously researched and absorbing primer on this grisly chapter in our past.”
—The Sunday Paper, Atlanta
“… brings one of the city’s most critical pieces of history to vivid and concise life.”
—Steve Oney, author of And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank