March 21, 1734

1734 At a meeting of the Trustees in London, a report was read indicating that including both settlers sent on charity and those who had paid their own way, the colony of Georgia now had over 600 total residents.

March 21, 1775

1775 Voters of St. John’s Parish elected Lyman Hall to represent them at the Second Continental Congress -- an action taken because the delegates elected by Georgia’s provincial congress felt they should not attend because of the divided loyalties of Georgia residents.

March 21, 1794

1794 Philanthropist Emily Thomas Tubman was born in Ashland, Va. In 1818, she married Richard Tubman, a highly successful and respected member of ante-bellum society in Augusta, Ga. In 1836, Richard died of illness, and his will left most of his considerable estate to his wife (who was also designated sole administrator of the will). She spent much of the rest of her life supporting worthy causes -- but the one she is best remembered for is her role in implementing Richard’s wish (supported by $10,000 in his will) that 42 family slaves be freed. This goal, however, was complicated by Georgia law, which at the time prohibited allowing freed slaves to remain in Georgia. After looking at several alternatives, Emily used the $10,000 in 1837 to send the 42 slaves to a new home for freed American slaves in Liberia on the coast of West Africa. Here, the Tubman’s former slaves prospered in a new community named Mount Tubman (with the grandson of one later becoming president of Liberia). Emily died in Augusta on June 9, 1885.

March 21, 1856

1856 African-American U.S. Army officer Henry Ossian Flipper was born into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia. After his father purchase the family’s freedom in 1865, they moved to Atlanta, where Henry attended private schools and Atlanta University. In 1872, Henry enrolled in the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he became the first African-American graduate in 1877. Upon graduation, Flipper was assigned to the Tenth Cavalry Regiment, popularly known as the Buffalo Soldiers. Flipper became post engineer and succeeded in draining some stagnant pools where all other efforts had failed. Serving next at Fort Davis in Texas, Flipper was accused by his commanding officer of embezzlement and conduct unbecoming an officer. Although acquitted of the allegation, he was convicted of the second charge and dismissed from the Army with a court-martial. Flipper insisted the dismissal was due to prejudice and tried throughout his life to have his record cleaned. He went on to a very successful career in civilian life; his special knowledge of Mexican law and engineering led to a position with the Department of Justice from 1893-1910. He later served as assistant to to the Secretary of the Interior under President Harding. Flipper continued his efforts to clear his name, having his court-martial reviewed in 1898, and having several hearings before the Committee on Military Affairs in the 1920s. In 1930, Flipper retired and lived with his brother in Atlanta. He died in 1940, never having his name cleared officially. But the fight went on with his family, and finally (through the work of his niece) the case was reviewed by the U.S. Army Board for the Correction of Military Records and his court martial was overturned in 1976 -- granting Flipper an honorable discharge. His vindication was completed on Feb. 19, 1999, when President Clinton granted Flipper a full pardon.

March 21, 1861

1861 In Savannah, Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens gave his famous "Cornerstone" speech in which he proclaimed that the cornerstone of the new Confederacy "rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery -- subordination to the superior race -- is his natural and normal condition."

March 21, 1866

Georgia cities and towns first incorporated by acts approved by the governor on March 21:

1866 Stilesboro (Bartow County)

March 21, 1927

1927 Without fanfare, R. H. Macy opened its new downtown Atlanta store on Peachtree St. to the public.

March 21, 1939

1939 At various times, Georgia has been labeled as the "Empire State of the South," "Goober State," "State of Adventure," and of course "Peach State." Interestingly, Georgia does not have an official nickname. However, the General Assembly came close to officially recognizing "Peach State" on this day in 1939 when Gov. E.D. Rivers signed legislation authorizing the State Revenue Commission to issue automobile license plates that "advertise, popularize, and otherwise promote Georgia as ’The Peach State.’" Consequently, beginning in 1940, Georgia license plates included the phrase "Peach State." During World War II (1942-46), the phrase was omitted, but reappeared from 1947 to 1970. Though "Peach State" has not appeared on plates since that time, since 1990 Georgia license plates have contained a color image of a peach. In 1995, as part of legislation designating the peach as Georgia’s official state fruit, the General Assembly a second time came close to recognizing "Peach State" as the state’s official nickname. In that act, first listed as justification for declaring the peach as the official state fruit is: "WHEREAS, Georgia is known throughout the world as the ’Peach State’. . . ."

March 21, 1941

1941 Gov. Eugene Talmadge signed an act of the General Assembly establishing Eastern Standard Time as the only standard time zone for the entire state of Georgia.

March 21, 1955

1955 Civil rights leader Walter White died in New York City. Born in Atlanta on July 1, 1893, the defining moment in White’s life was the Atlanta race riot of 1906, in which he and his father were forced to take arms to defend their home from an angry mob. From this point White decided to devote his life to bettering the conditions of African-Americans, though he was light-skinned enough to pass for white himself. White held various offices within the NAACP from 1918 until his death. He was instrumental in the founding of Booker T. Washington High School for Atlanta blacks in 1923. He investigated and wrote on lynchings in the 1920s, publishing The Fire in the Flint (1924), Flight (1926), and Rope and Faggot: The Story of Judge Lynch (1929). He often endangered his own life by posing as a white man in the course of these investigations. When the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow famed African-American opera singer Marian Anderson to perform in Constitution Hall in 1939, White organized an open air concert for her in Washington, D.C. White acted as an advisor to Presidents Roosevelt and Truman on civil rights matters, and reported on the conditions for African-American soldiers in Europe during World War II in The Rising Wind: A Report on the Negro Soldier in the European Theater (1945). After the war he served as a consultant to the U.S delegation to the United Nations. In 1948 he published A Man Called White, then in 1955 How Far the Promised Land. Both were autobiographical works, the latter published soon before his death.

March 21, 1958

Georgia cities and towns first incorporated by acts approved by the governor on March 21:

1958 Manor (Ware County) and Pineora (Effingham County)

March 21, 1965

1965 Accompanied by more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators, Martin Luther King Jr. led a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. After having been assaulted by Selma police two weeks earlier, Pres. Johnson ordered units of the Alabama National Guard into federal service to protect the civil rights marchers. By the time the marchers reached Montgomery, their ranks had swelled to 25,000 demonstrators.

March 21, 1970

1970 Gov. Lester Maddox signed legislation creating the Georgia Agrirama. Initially created as an adjunct of the Coast Plains Experiment Station in Tifton, the Agrirama eventually would be recreated as a separate state authority with responsibility for constructing and operating a living museum of Georgia agriculture.

March 21, 1994

1994 Augusta dedicated a monument to Emily Tubman on the 200th anniversary of her birth. [See March 21,1794 entry for biographical information.]

March 21, 2002

2002 Former Georgia governor and senator Herman Talmadge died at his home in Hampton, Georgia. [ See August 9, 1913 This Day in Georgia History for biographical information.]