The Atlanta transit strike of 1950 was a lengthy transit strike that lasted from May 18, 1950, to November 16, 1950, in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
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* Related to the ...
.
A month after author
Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel, published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel '' Gone with the Wind'', for which she wo ...
was struck and killed by a
taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...
during a year when trolleys had killed five, there was a call in the city to increase safety on city streets.
The city council passed an ordinance which required all cab and trolley drivers to apply for a permit.
It required a $5 fee and a fingerprint which was the only method at the time to trace criminal records.
The fingerprinting in particular was fought by
Jesse Walton, president of
Amalgamated Street Car Local 732, first in court cases which losses he appealed up to the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
(who declined to hear).
Still not willing to comply, Walton called for a strike which began on May 18, 1950.
Police Chief
Herbert Jenkins suspended all force vacations to staff downtown intersections all day long to handle the great increase in automobile traffic.
Mayor
William Hartsfield
William Berry Hartsfield Sr. (March 1, 1890 – February 22, 1971), was an American politician who served as the 49th and 51st Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. His tenure extended from 1937 to 1941 and again from 1942 to 1962, making him the longest-s ...
called for legalized
jitneys (which required a similar permit) to help reduce some of the traffic.
The strike was to last 37 days and as Hartsfield's law was written, jitney permits were immediately revoked.
The union voted to get permits on November 16, 1950, and found themselves working for a new company, the
Atlanta Transit Company
The Atlanta Transit Company (ATC) was a public transport operator based in Atlanta, Georgia, which existed from 1950 to 1972. It was the immediate predecessor of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA).
History
Since the 1920s, ...
, as the former transit operator in Atlanta,
Georgia Power
Georgia Power is an electric utility headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was established as the Georgia Railway and Power Company and began operations in 1902 running streetcars in Atlanta as a successor to the Atlanta Consoli ...
, used this opportunity to get out of the transit business.
1950 labor disputes and strikes
History of Atlanta
Labor disputes in Georgia (U.S. state)
Transportation labor disputes in the United States
Streetcar strikes in the United States
Georgia Power
1950 in Georgia (U.S. state)
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