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Oral history interview with Cecil Alexander, 2009 July 8

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@ University of West Georgia. Special Collections

Alexander, Cecil

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Cecil Abraham Alexander Jr. (b. 1918) is a prominent architect and former partner of the Atlanta architectural firm, FABRAP. As Alexander's practice prospered during the 1950s, he was motivated to become active in Atlanta's civic and political scene. Atlanta Mayor William B. Hartsfield appointed him chair of the Citizen's Advisory Committee for Urban Renewal, and Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. chose Alexander to lead a number of programs intended to guide Atlanta toward racial equality. Alexander helped to direct the Committee to Mediate Racial Unrest and, with John Lewis, formed the Atlanta Black Jewish Coalition. In 2001, the Georgia General Assembly approved a new state flag that Alexander designed to replace Georgia's 1956 state flag.; Interviewed by Dr. Mel Steely on July 8, 2009 at Alexander's home in Atlanta, Georgia.; Alexander begins by discussing his background, recounting bits and pieces of his family history from family members who had fought in the Revolutionary War, to his father, who had fought in the Civil War under William Sherman. His father, Cecil A. Alexander, Sr., was in the hardware business by the Great Depression and his mother, Julia, was a principal of a school in Montgomery, AL. He describes his youth as growing up with Atlanta and talks about his education. He attended Georgia Institute of Technology initially intending to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering; he soon turned to architecture, realizing that he had no talent for chemistry. Alexander talks about his time at Yale University where he majored in architecture and...
Type:
Video
Contributors:
Steely, MelUniversity of West Georgia. Georgia Political Papers and Oral History Program
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University of West Georgia. Special Collections

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia

Keywords

  1. Affirmative Action Programs
  2. Alexander, Cecil
  3. Alexander, Doug (Son)
  4. Alexander, Hermione (Wife)
  5. America Civil War
  6. American Institute Of Architects, Atlanta Chapter
  7. American Jewish Committee
  8. American Legion, The
  9. Atlanta Black Jewish Coalition
  10. Atlanta Constitution
  11. Atlanta Fulton County Stadium
  12. Atlanta History Center
  13. Barnes, Roy Eugene
  14. Bass Junior High School, Atlanta, Ga
  15. Bauhaus Architecture
  16. Beck, Joseph (Joe)
  17. Bloomingdale, Louise
  18. Bombing Of The Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple (1958)
  19. Boy's High School, Atlanta, Ga
  20. Bozar Architecture
  21. Breuer, Marcel Lajos
  22. Bundy, Mc George (Mac)
  23. Callaway, Howard Hollis (Bo)
  24. Capital City Club
  25. Carnegie Institute Of Technology
  26. Civil Rights
  27. Civil War
  28. Civilian Pilot Training Program (Cptp)
  29. Clark Atlanta University
  30. Coleman, Norman Bertram, Jr. (Norm)
  31. Commerce Club Atlanta
  32. Confederate States Army
  33. Confederate States Of America
  34. Connolly, Christopher Powell
  35. Cook, Homer E
  36. Coulter, Ann Hart
  37. Cullman, Edgar, Sr
  38. Depressions
  39. Dorsey, Hugh
  40. Episcopal Church
  41. Farrakhan, Louis
  42. Finch, Alexander, Barnes, Rothschild, And Pascal, Fabrap
  43. Finch, James H. (Bill)
  44. Flag Of Georgia
  45. Ford, Gerald Rudolph, Jr. Jerry
  46. Ford, Henry
  47. Forrest, Nathan Bedford
  48. Frank, Leo Max
  49. Franken, Alan Stuart (Al)
  50. Games Of The Xxvi Olympiad
  51. Georgia
  52. Georgia Institute Of Technology
  53. Georgia Power
  54. Glidden, Elmer
  55. Gone With The Wind
  56. Government
  57. Governors
  58. Groover, Denmark, Jr
  59. Gropius, Walter Adolph Georg
  60. Hartsfield, William B
  61. High Museum Of Art, Atlanta, Ga
  62. Jackson, Maynard Holbrook
  63. Jaluit Atoll
  64. Johnson, Conrad A., Jr
  65. King, Coretta Scott, 1927 2006
  66. Kiwanis International
  67. Ku Klux Klan
  68. La Guardia Airport, New York
  69. Lane, Mills Bee, Iii
  70. Legislators
  71. Lewis, John Robert
  72. Lies (And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair And Balanced Look At The Right
  73. Little White House, Warm Springs, Ga
  74. Lovett School, The
  75. Maddox, Lester Garfield
  76. Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
  77. Marist School, Ga
  78. Martial Islands
  79. Marx, David, Rabbi
  80. Massachusetts Institute Of Technology
  81. Massell, Ben
  82. Massell, Sam
  83. Mc Dougall, Duncan C
  84. Midway Atoll
  85. Miller, Zell Bryan
  86. Mitchell, Margaret
  87. Montgomery Fairgrounds, Al
  88. Montgomery, Arthur L
  89. Murphy, Thomas Bailey (Tom)
  90. N3 N 3 Yellow Peril
  91. Neely, Frank H
  92. Nimitz, Chester William
  93. North American B 25 Mitchell
  94. Pan American World Airways
  95. Patterson, Eugene C
  96. Pearl Harbor
  97. Pennsylvania Central Airlines
  98. Perdue, George Ervin, Iii (Sonny)
  99. Pierson College, Yale University
  100. Politics And Government
  101. Rotary International
  102. Rothschild, Rocky
  103. Sherman, William
  104. Smith College
  105. Spanish American War
  106. Sullenberger, Chelsey Burnett, Iii (Sully)
  107. Temple, The, Atlanta, Ga
  108. Toombs, Henry J
  109. Tuskegee Airmen
  110. United Services Automobile Association (Usaa)
  111. Uss Gambier Bay (Cve 73)
  112. Wesleyan College
  113. Whitney M. Young Jr. Award
  114. Williams, Hosea Lorenzo
  115. Williams, Samuel W
  116. Woodruff, Robert Winship
  117. World War I (Wwi)
  118. World War Ii (Wwii)
  119. Wright Brothers
  120. Yale University