June 26, 1794

1794 Having traveled to the U.S. capital city of Philadelphia, Cherokee Indians signed the Treaty of Philadelphia, which affirmed the boundaries set forth by cessions in the 1791 Treaty of Holston.

June 26, 1840

1840 At Fort Gibson in the Cherokee Indian Territory, members of the faction of Cherokees that had voluntarily migrated west in the years prior to the Trail of Tears ratified the Sept. 6, 1839 act reuniting the two groups.

June 26, 1858

1858 Alonzo Herndon, the first major black entrepreneur in Atlanta history, was born into slavery in Walton County, Georgia. After the Civil War, he moved to Jonesboro, where he opened a barber shop. Within a few months, he moved to Atlanta and began working in a downtown barber shop for blacks. Before long, Herndon owned several Atlanta barbershops , though the most famous was the "A. F. Herndon’s Tonsorial Palace" which opened in 1902 on 66 Peachtree St. With mirror-lined walls, this glamorous facility was the most famous barber shop in the South -- and some would say the world. Its all-black staff served an all-white clientele that included Atlanta’s leading citizens. Herndon’s real success, however, came in insurance. By the time of his death in 1927, his Atlanta Life Insurance Company served the black community in eight states. Eventually it would become the largest black-owned insurance company in the U.S.

June 26, 1891

1891 Sidney Howard was born. Though he has no direct Georgia connection, we remember him as the playwright who wrote the screenplay for the movie version of Margaret Mitchell’s epic novel, Gone with the Wind.

June 26, 1918

1918 The Georgia General Assembly ratified the 18th Amendment establishing national prohibition. Gov. Hugh Dorsey signed the joint resolution on July 1, but the U.S. Secretary of State considers the date the second house of a legislature approves an amendment as the official date of its ratification -- regardless of whether the governor signs the resolution.

June 26, 1934

1934 Former Atlanta University professor W.E.B. Du Bois resigned his position with the NAACP as a result of a dispute over policy.

June 26, 1938

1938 Noted African-American poet and Atlanta University graduate James Weldon Johnson died during a thunderstorm in Wiscasset, Maine, when the car he was riding in was hit be a train. [For a brief biographical profile, see the June 17 entry.]

June 26, 1944

1944 Albany-born trumpet great Harry James and his band reached the top of the music charts with their recording of "I’ll Get By."

June 26, 1962

1962 Ray Charles topped the music charts with his version of the country music hit, "I Can’t Stop Loving You."

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Today in History

1894 Former Confederate general Philip Cook died in Atlanta (some sources incorrectly say May 24). Born July 31, 1817 in Twiggs County, Ga., he became a lawyer. With the outbreak … read more