September 5, 1752

1752 Officially, this day did not exist in Georgia. See Sept. 3 entry for the reason.

September 5, 1774

1774 Of all the American colonies, only Georgia was not represented at the meeting of the first Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Delegates at the meeting adopted a declaration which included a boycott all British goods.

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September 5, 1774

1774 Of all the American colonies, only Georgia was not represented at the meeting of the first Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Delegates at the meeting adopted a declaration which included a boycott all British goods.

September 5, 1856

1856 Populist politician, lawyer, writer, and editor Tom Watson was born near Thomson, Georgia. Attending Mercer University for two years, he was read law and was admitted to the bar in 1875. In 1882, Watson was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. Resigning after a year, he returned to the practice of law. In 1890, based on his support of the Farmers’ Alliance, he was elected to Congress, where he continued trying to work on behalf of distressed farmers. His main accomplishment in Congress was helping to launch a trial program in rural free delivery of mail. In 1891, Watson joined the Populist Party and launched publication of an an Atlanta weekly, the People’s Party Paper. In his 1892 reelection campaign, Watson urged both white and black farmers to unite behind him. Losing that bid, he ran as the Populist Party’s 1896 vice presidential candidate. After losing that election, Watson temporarily retired from politics, returning to the practice of law and taking up a new avocation--writing novels, histories, and biographies. He also again became an editor, establishing Watson’s Jeffersonian Magazine in 1907. In 1904 and 1908, he agreed to run as the Populist Party’s presidential candidate, but by now the party only attracted marginal voter interest. Despite his earlier efforts to court black voters, Watson by now was openly racist, calling for black disfranchisement and even expressing support for lynching. Catholics and Jews also received his disdain. In 1920, Watson mounted one last campaign--this time a successful effort in the race for the U.S. Senate on a platform to keep the U.S. out of the League of Nations. Two years later, he died leaving a complex legacy of populist reformer on one hand and bitter racist plagued by deep emotional problems on the other.

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September 5, 1883

Georgia cities and towns incorporated by acts approved on Sept. 5:1883 Bremen (Haralson County) and Ward (Randolph County)

September 5, 1887

Georgia cities and towns incorporated by acts approved on Sept. 5: 1887 Woodbury (Meriwether County)

September 5, 1916

1916 Famous African-American author Frank Yerby was born in Augusta, Georgia. Noted for his popular works of historical fiction, Yerby moved to Spain in 1955 because of the racial discrimination he saw in the U.S. He died in Madrid on Nov. 29, 1991.

September 5, 1942

1942 The U.S. War Department gave the Georgia Air Depot in Houston County its first official designation--the Wellston Air Depot. Six weeks later, the War Department changed the name again--this time to the Warner Robins Army Air Depot.

September 5, 1944

1944 Fifty-one Georgians were wounded in European fighting as General George Patton’s Third Army approached the French-German border.

September 5, 1944

1944 W.F. Barker, a field representative of the CIO, was arrested for trying to organize workers at a Newnan cotton mill. The arrest was a deliberate attempt to challenge a Newnan ordinance levying a $5000 annual fee on union organizers.

September 5, 1956

1956 The first units of the Heart of Atlanta Motel opened. The 120-room complex covered a square block and was advertised as the finest motor hotel between New York and Miami. In less than a decade, the motel was at the heart of a major court challenge to the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Refusal of the motel to accept black customers led federal prosecutors to sue that the motel was violating provisions of the 1964 statute. In the case of Heart of Atlanta Motel v. U.S., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce includes the power to prohibit segregation in places of public accommodation if those places affect the flow of goods and people from one state to another.

September 5, 1975

1975 Nine years after the Braves began playing in Atlanta, pitcher Phil Niekro was recognized in pre-game ceremonies as the last member of the premier 1966 Atlanta Braves still active on the team.