- When you think about Atlanta, what pops into your head?

Its airport?

Its history?

It's businesses.

Maybe one of its many sports teams.

Whatever comes to mind, the city we know today didn't always look like this.

Much of Atlanta's growth into an economic powerhouse can be traced back to the leadership of two mayors, William B. Hartsfield and Ivan Allen, Jr.

Their decisions helped transform Georgia's capital into a center for transportation, business, and culture.

And their leadership would help guide the city through one of the most challenging periods in American history, the Civil Rights Movement.

(gentle music) William B. Hartsfield first became mayor of Atlanta in 1937, but his impact on the city started much earlier.

In the 1920s, as a City Council member, Hartsfield pushed for the development of Atlanta's first airport.

He believed airplanes would play a major role in the city's future.

At the time, that idea sounded a little risky because commercial air travel was brand new.

Still, Hartsfield advocated for the city to build the Atlanta Municipal Airport.

This airport would later be renamed William B. Hartsfield Atlanta Airport in the mayor's honor.

As air travel became more popular, the airport helped establish the city as a regional transportation hub.

It connected Georgia to cities across the country, and eventually, to the world.

The growth of Atlanta's airport would attract new businesses, residents, and opportunities for years to come.

For his support, Hartsfield became known as the "Father of Atlanta Aviation."

After serving on the city council, and later in the Georgia General Assembly as a state representative, William Hartsfield was elected mayor of Atlanta in 1936.

When he took office in January 1937, the city was in rough financial shape due to the damaging effects of the Great Depression.

So during his first term as mayor, Hartsfield worked to help Atlanta recover from these hardships.

Despite these efforts, he lost his reelection in 1940 to Roy LeCraw.

When LeCraw was called to serve in World War II, Hartsfield returned to City Hall in 1942.

Now back as mayor, he had new focuses for the city: progress and expansion.

In 1948, Hartsfield helped desegregate the Atlanta Police Department, allowing eight Black officers to join the force.

By 1952, Hartsfield turned his attention to expanding the city itself.

To accomplish this, Atlanta added, or annexed, nearby land.

The annexed areas made Atlanta's footprint nearly three times larger and significantly increased its population.

With more residents came a larger tax base, helping fund roads, parks, and public services.

- [Newscaster] This is Atlanta, where the grace and charm of the old South are mingled with the bustle of modern industry.

- Annexing land was a positive move in many ways, but it had more complicated motivations.

In a private letter, Hartsfield wrote about changes happening in Atlanta.

The city's Black population was growing, while many White residents were moving to the suburbs.

He noticed that Black citizens were becoming more involved in government and public life, and he believed their political influence would continue to grow.

But instead of trying to stop these changes, Hartsfield encouraged people of different races to work together.

And this brings us to another claim to fame for William Hartsfield.

While he was mayor, Atlanta was given the nickname "The City Too Busy to Hate."

During the Civil Rights Movement, Atlanta, like many Southern cities, experienced unrest sparked by racial turmoil.

As mayor, Hartsfield guided Georgia's capital toward a different approach to this changing society.

Instead of resisting progress, he built bridges with Black communities and supported their appeal for civil rights.

Hartsfield backed the court-ordered integration of Atlanta's public schools.

In the fall of 1961, he helped four schools desegregate peacefully, a rare achievement in the South at the time.

While it would take time for the city to fully desegregate, Atlanta made important progress under Hartsfield's leadership.

As the city's longest-serving mayor, he guided Atlanta through years of major growth and change.

- In my opinion, he was a very aggressive individual who loved the city of Atlanta, and it was an obsession with him.

Everything for the city of Atlanta had to go forward, and he was one who pushed it, not only aviation, but the city as a whole.

- By the time William Hartsfield retired in 1962, Atlanta had become stronger, larger, and more connected than ever before, but its transformation wasn't over.

Next, Atlanta would be led by a new mayor, Ivan Allen, Jr.

After defeating Lester Maddox in the 1961 general election, Allen built on Hartsfield's work and pushed integration in the city even further.

As Mayor, Ivan Allen, Jr.

didn't just negotiate for peaceful integration, he demanded it.

On his first day in office, Mayor Allen removed all of the segregation signs from City Hall.

He also worked closely with civil rights leaders, including Dr.

Martin Luther King, Jr., to help Atlanta desegregate peacefully.

Mayor Allen championed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 despite its lack of local support and he even helped make funeral arrangements for Dr.

King after he was assassinated.

Mayor Allen's leadership strengthened Atlanta's national reputation as a city that looked toward the future, and part of that feature included improved transportation.

(bus honking) Allen supported the development of Interstate 285, which still helps people travel around Atlanta today.

He was also an early backer of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, or MARTA.

He believed public transit was important for a growing city and wanted to connect communities across Metro Atlanta by bus and rail.

Mayor Allen helped initiate its planning and built support for MARTA, even though it wasn't officially approved until after he left office.

But Ivan Allen, Jr.

didn't stop there.

Next, he set his sights on bringing something entirely new to Georgia: professional sports.

He believed having major league teams would help the city grow and gain national attention.

In 1965, Mayor Allen championed the construction of the Atlanta Fulton County Stadium.

The following year, Atlanta welcomed its first professional teams, the Braves in baseball and the Falcons in football.

Soon after, other teams joined the city, including the Hawks in basketball and the Chiefs in soccer.

These teams brought jobs, growth, and national attention and helped set the stage for Atlanta to host the 1996 Olympic Games and other major sporting events.

Under the leadership of Mayor William B. Hartsfield and Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr., Atlanta transformed.

It was no longer just important in the South.

It was becoming a major American city.

The city's airport connected Georgia to the world and its highways moved people and goods faster than ever.

New businesses created jobs, and the arrival of professional sports brought even more attention, economic growth, and excitement to the city.

Atlanta had always had potential, but these mayors helped turn it into a powerhouse.

So no matter what you picture when you think of Atlanta, much of its rise into a modern influential city began with the bold vision and leadership of mayors William B. Hartsfield and Ivan Allen, Jr.

(gentle music) (dramatic music)