The Women Road Warriors Who Stopped I-485 - 1970s
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morningside/Lenox_Park#Parks_and_trails
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_freeway_revolts
The Great Speckled Bird, Jam 7, 1974, Vol.7 #1 p10. https://thestripproject.com/i-485-wants-to-consume-atlanta/
The Atlanta Coalition on the Transportation Crisis files, Manuscript Collection No. 1222. https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/resources/3450
Federal Highway Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_planning_organization
National Environmental Policy Act https://www.gsa.gov/real-estate/gsa-nepa-implementation#:~:text=The%20National%20Environmental%20Policy%20Act,of%20their%20actions%20and%20decisions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_to_Preserve_Overton_Park_v._Volpe
Robisch, Charles J President MLPA Interstate 485 Protest: Summary of Previous I-485 Protest February 1965 to December 1970
Robisch, Charles J President MLPA Interstate 485 Protest: Details of Current I-485 Protest January 1971 to August 1971
https://casetext.com/pdf-downloaded?download_redirect=morningside-lenox-park-association-v-volpe
https://www.atlantamagazine.com/civilrights/the-integration-of-atlanta-public-schools/
Atlanta Journal Constitution, Nov 3, 1971, Five Whites Switch to Mostly Black School – Paying Off
https://digitalexhibits.auctr.edu/exhibits/show/bemays/overview
https://digitalexhibits.auctr.edu/exhibits/show/bemays/desegregation
Henry, Elizabeth E., “Halting White Flight: Atlanta’s Second Civil Rights Movement.” Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2012.
Henry EE, Hankins K. Halting White Flight: Parent Activism and the (Re)shaping of Atlanta’s Circuit of Schooling,” 1973-2009. Journal of Urban History 2012 DOI: 10.1177/0096144212439707
Lewis, Boyd, 1944-. “School Integration.” Atlanta History Center. 1973-09-01, https://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/digital/collection/byd/id/1493
Interviews and Emails with Gerri Ard, Mary Davis, Josh Kirschner, Adele Northrup, Barbara Ray, and Virginia Taylor, 2023
Changing Community, City, and State Values About Transportation
I-485 was expected to ease traffic on the downtown connector and initially was supported by the City of Atlanta, the central business district, the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Chamber of Commerce, Governor Carter, and many other key figures and entities. Freeways and toll roads were viewed as exemplifying progress and a healthy business community. Early on, however, residents in Morningside Lenox Park recognized that the freeway would substantially alter the quality of life in town and posited that the residents who were directly affected should have input into the process.
Strengthening ties with other affected neighborhoods and acquiring knowledge of new environmental laws and federal transportation policies helped advance the fight against I-485. For example, community organizations in the Atlanta Coalition on the Transportation Crisis came together to oppose I-485, to raise money for legal actions, and to coordinate lobbying. Federal funding for local and state transportation projects required the “3-C” planning process – continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive. The National Environmental Policy Act required environmental impact studies, and a Supreme Court decision halted the construction of I-40 through the 342-acre Overton Park in Tennessee.
February 1971: A Political Action Committee
In February 1971, concerned Morningside residents Mary Davis, Virginia Gaddis, Adele Northrup, Barbara Ray, Virginia Taylor and others formed a Political Action Committee (PAC). “Our first problem was to convince the neighborhood that the highway could be stopped” (Barbara Ray). “Our other battle was to stop the state from tearing down houses” (Mary Davis). Since 1966, the state had acquired 1007 properties (many were boarded up) and torn down about 300 houses. The Georgia Highway Department set up an office on E Rock Springs Road and pressured homeowners to sell and get out. The Department had failed to maintain the vacant properties which became overgown, and in some instances, were occupied by homeless people.
The PAC hired the lawyer, Michael Padnos, who had an interest in environmental litigation. He told them he would take the case if they could:
- Raise the money to pay for the litigation
- Obtain the support of the MLPA
- Gather 600 signatures.
They went door to door with their kids in strollers. Barbara Ray recalls telling home owners “Hold on, don’t sell anything.”
Virginia Gaddis, Barbara Ray, and Adele Northrup
Condemned house, circa 1971
Meetings with Government Officials, University Academics, and Others
In early 1970, MLPA President Charles Robisch met John Volpe, US Department of Transportation Secretary in DC about the I-485 plans. By 1971, Morningside residents were gathering petitions to request that Volpe order an environmental impact study of the proposed highway, as mandated by the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act. They collected approximately 1000 signatures, but Volpe declined the request anyway.
The PAC took their case to the Atlanta Board of Alderman, Mayor Maynard Jackson, Council Member Andy Young, and staff at the Georgia Highway Department, including Director Bert Lance. They met with academics at the Emory, University of Georgia, Georgia State, and Atlanta University about ecology and biodiversity, the environment, and economics.
Bumper stickers, 1970s
March-June 1971: Another Lawsuit
The initial MLPA Board reaction to a proposal to file suit a second time to stop I-485 was met with great reluctance. After all, in the 1960s, the MLPA spent a lot of money, fought hard, filed suit, and lost. So, this time around, neighborhood-wide meetings were held to gauge community agreement to oppose the construction of the highway. In April, more than 175 MLPA members and non-members attended a specially-called meeting in severe weather and voted to retain attorney Michael Padnos, to raise funds for legal expenses, and to file a complaint against Bert Lance, Director of the Georgia State Highway Department, and John Volpe, Secretary of the US Department of Transportation.
In June, Judge Charles A. Moye denied the preliminary injunction sought by the MLPA but imposed a temporary halt to further condemnation and demolition of properties. This temporary halt was a huge win. “No one has to sell his house unless he wants to.” “I feel we have an excellent chance of winning this case when Judge Moye hears it on its merits” (Michael Padnos).
Judge Moye’s order to cease acquisition and demolition of properties, June 1971
Letter from Attorney Padmos explaining the order to cease the acquisition and demolition of properties, June 1971
Continuing the Fight – Protests, News Conferences, Fund-Raising
Even after the injunction in June 1971, the energy and passion for stopping the highway pushed the PAC to organize more events – picnics and the Phooey Fair in Piedmont Park and news conferences. Ecology walks through the virgin forest on Pelham and Orme Park explored the natural features and characteristics of the green spaces along the highway route. Environmental scientists from local universities and agencies participated in the walks and subsequently wrote evaluations that could be incorporated into the legal briefs that referenced the National Environmental Policy Act.
These events were designed to raise money, to call attention to how the construction of I-485 would negatively alter the quality of life in Morningside, and to promote consciousness-raising about the construction of the highway and its impact on the environment. The final decision would not come until Fall.
Press conference, Mary Davis, 1971
Phooey Fair July 1971 (left to right: Greg Ray, Anna Davis, Dale Ray Jr., Linda Williams, Riva Davis, Mary Williams, Geoff Ray, and Barbara Ray)
November 1971: The Final Court Decision
The final decision was heard on November 12, 1971. “The Court’s application of the NEPA applies to both defendants and precludes both the state and federal defendants from continuing with the project until the environmental studies have been accomplished.” Moreover, the MLPA challenge was “further testimony to the growing propensity of urban residents to battle with the planners and builders of urban highways.” The case and result are important not only because of how they shaped future urban planning and the character of Morningside and nearby neighborhoods, but also because they further codified the application of NEPA to interstate highway planning. Although not relied on in this context today, the MLPA’s arguments were used by neighborhoods across the U.S. to challenge highway planning that would have destroyed neighborhoods and parks.
Of course, no discussion of the construction of the US interstate system is complete without recognition of its often pernicious and racist consequences. During the 20 years following passage of the National Interstate and Defense Highway Act, nearly 1 million people lost their homes to highway construction. Non-white residents, homeowners, and neighborhoods were disproportionately affected by this displacement. While MLPA’s fight was successful and is to be celebrated, it is important to remember that many communities suffered a far worse fate.
Declines in Population and Property Values
The Morningside population decreased by about 3100 persons from 1960 to 1980. About 1000 properties in Morningside and nearby neighborhoods had been condemned, and 300 houses had been torn down even though the highway construction had been stopped.
“The atmosphere was pretty bleak. … The shops that have been very effective there, Los Angeles Auto Parts and Eats and Sweets, and all those little restaurants that have always been there, George’s, Murphy’s, and Moe’s and Joe’s, were there, but there was a whole lot of empty store fronts. … I mean people really ran scared. … you’re putting a highway through here and then you’re putting power lines through here and now you’re asking for pairing. These three things just defeated people so much, they just left. And then what happens of course, the real estate just bottoms out.” (quote by Nancy Hamilton in E.E. Henry dissertation).
Condemned house circa 1971
School Desegregation in Morningside
In August 1961, nine African American students began the school year at four different, all-white, Atlanta high schools. Integration progress was slow, however. Ten years later, in 1971, five white students living in Morningside attended the new nearly all-black J.F. Kennedy Middle School. Because the school board declined to provide transportation, Morningside parents carpooled the kids to school.
By the mid-1970s, enrollment at Morningside Elementary School had dropped into the 120s. In 1973, under the Atlanta Compromise[1], Morningside Elementary School was paired with C. W. Hill Elementary School (now Hope Hill) in Bedford Pines for busing in a step toward ending racial segregation in the Atlanta Public Schools. Before the Compromise, 100% of Morningside students were white, and 99% of C.W. Hill students were black. According to the Compromise, the plan for each grade was as follows:
– Kindergarten: children attended the school in their neighborhood
– Grades 1-3: children from Morningside were bused to C.W. Hill in Bedford-Pines
– Grades 4-6: children from C.W. Hill were bused to Morningside Elementary.
See the collection of photos by Boyd Lewis at the Atlanta History Center of children from C. W. Hill boarding buses headed to Morningside Elementary in 1973.
Building Back
The PAC worked to identify and support anti-highway candidates for the MLPA Board and the Atlanta City Council. Members of the PAC Mary Davis, Adele Northrup, Virginia Taylor, and Barbara Ray were elected to the MLPA Board in 1971. Mary Davis was elected to the Atlanta City Council in 1978, where she served for 20 years.
Despite the court decision in November 1971, the work was not done. The Georgia Department of Transportation still had I-485 in state plans and maps. Apparently, as long as I-485 was in the plans, the state would continue to receive extra federal dollars. The federal highway funds allocated for I-485 were still in the budget. In December 1973, the Board of Aldermen voted to shift $70 million in I-485 funds to MARTA. Finally, the condemned properties were then owned by the federal government and the state of Georgia. The neighborhood, of course, wanted be able to build back houses and establish parks. Eventually, Maynard Jackson and his planning team developed an approach for transferring the land back to the City.
The involvement of the neighborhood in the I-485 fight led directly to the current Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU) structure in place today. Neighborhood residents can attend NPU meetings, have input to parking and other nuisance issues with events held in Piedmont Park, for example, can vote on zoning variances and alcohol license applications for businesses, and so on.
[1] In 1969, Dr. Benjamin Mays had been elected to the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education and subsequently guided the peaceful desegregation of the Atlanta Public Schools. The Atlanta Compromise was part of that effort.
