The Cassidy-Lamb Home at 2579 W. Fontainebleau Court was built around 1930 by Clara Cassidy as a summer home. Cassidy purchased 140 acres of land south of Spalding Drive and arranged for a log cabin to be constructed. In 1942, gasoline rationing made it difficult for Clara Cassidy to travel back and forth between Atlanta and her summer home. She sold the home to Baxter Maddox, Vice President and Trust Officer of First National Bank.

If you have seen the 1959 film Pillow Talk, you will remember how Jan, played by Doris Day, kept trying to use the phone only to find that Brad, played by Rock Hudson, was constantly on their party line.  A party line consists of multiple telephone subscribers connected to the same land line. 

On the day of the move, Fred Miles worked half a day at his downtown job with Georgia Power, then rode the streetcar to meet his family in Buckhead. The family brought their possessions, including chickens, in a wagon pulled by a mule. They also brought their cow Betsy and her calf who walked behind the wagon. Betsy “had no time to chew her cud and meditate that day” as the family continued down Roswell Road.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was a government program created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 to help the country during the Great Depression by providing jobs. It was part of a group of policies, programs and projects known as the New Deal. Many public works projects were part of the program, as well as projects in the arts. Over 8.5 million people participated in the WPA.

Several Georgia schools had canneries on their grounds.  In 1943, Tucker, Norcross, and Chamblee High Schools were among the top Georgia schools processing canned food and helping their community. 

Doraville School was first established by John Y. Flowers in 1866 in the area that became Flowers Park. Later, it moved across the street next door to the Doraville Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church at Church and Central Street. (“Images of America: Doraville,” Bob Kelley)

As a survivor of the Holocaust, Ratonyi now shares his story with groups of middle and high school children, as well as adult audiences. He has presented at The William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum and other venues. He wrote a book about his life experiences, “From Darkness into Light: My Journey through Nazism, Fascism, and Communism to Freedom,” published January 12, 2022.

Roswell Road was once a forty-foot-wide concrete road known as Roosevelt Boulevard between 1925 and 1927. The road was named for President Theodore Roosevelt, whose mother’s childhood home was Bulloch Hall in Roswell. Roosevelt returned home by way of the Roswell Railroad in 1905. You can read more about Roosevelt’s visit here.