The Fortress of Southwest Atlanta: A History of West Manor

Introduction: The Civic Blueprint

The residential grid of Southwest Atlanta was not merely built; it was aggressively negotiated, lobbied for, and defended. Situated in the rolling topography of the Utoy Creek watershed, the neighborhood of West Manor stands as a premier example of this intense civic engineering. Developed during the post-World War II housing boom, West Manor was originally designed as a highly restricted, all-white suburban enclave. Its early residents did not passively wait for municipal services. Through the formidable West Manor Civic Club, they fought bitter political battles to secure their own parks, pave their own streets, and literally will their own elementary school into existence.

However, the true historical weight of West Manor lies in its demographic transition. As the racial boundaries of the Cascade corridor collapsed in the 1960s, the neighborhood transformed into a bastion of Black middle-class prosperity. The incoming African American residents inherited the neighborhood’s fierce tradition of civic advocacy, utilizing the local elementary school and park as staging grounds for political power, educational excellence, and community resilience.

Chapter 1: Earthworks and the Post-War Boom

Long before the mid-century brick ranches were constructed, the land that would become West Manor was a theater of war. In August 1864, Union and Confederate forces clashed violently across this terrain during the Battle of Utoy Creek. To survive the relentless artillery barrages, local pioneer families, including the Willis family, huddled in a fifteen-by-six-foot subterranean bombproof shelter dug in their backyard.¹ The physical scars of this engagement remained etched into the landscape for over a century. In 1979 and 1985, local historian Sharon C. Keene noted that the remnants of slave-made Confederate trenches were still visible near her property, serving as a constant reminder of the area’s violent past.², ³

The modern residential footprint of West Manor was carved out of these historic woodlands in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The development was heavily driven by the same network of real estate titans who were shaping the broader Cascade corridor. Prominent developers and exclusive sales agents like George L. Wilson, Jas. A. Parks Rlty. Co., Brewer-Head Co., Johnson Land Co., and Spratlin, Harrington & Thomas blanketed the local newspapers with classified advertisements for “West Manor,” “West Manor Heights,” and “West Manor Circle.”⁴, ⁵, ⁶

The marketing targeted the affluent, upwardly mobile white middle class. Advertisements from 1952 and 1954 boasted of six-room, red brick ranch-style homes featuring daylight basements, double carports, and central gas heating.⁷, ⁸ Priced between $11,500 and $18,500, these homes were frequently marketed with the promise of highly accessible GI and FHA financing.⁹, ¹⁰ The FHA, at the time, actively encouraged the use of racial restrictive covenants to maintain neighborhood “stability,” ensuring that West Manor was built as a strictly segregated enclave.

Chapter 2: The West Manor Civic Club and the Infrastructure Wars

The early white residents of West Manor were highly organized and fiercely protective of their new suburban investment. They formed the West Manor Civic Club, an organization that quickly became a relentless political lobbying machine. Operating under the motto “Working in Unity, For Our Community,” the club frequently held its meetings at the West Manor Grill and the nearby Cascade Community Clubhouse.¹¹

The leadership of the club was a who’s who of local pioneers. Early officers included J.C. Thomas (President), E.A. Sewell (Vice President), H.E. Shindlebower (2nd Vice President), M.W. Anderson (Treasurer), Mrs. M.H. Hubbard (Secretary), Mrs. J.T. Hubbard (Assistant Secretary), and Mrs. J.P. Frasch (Chaplain).¹² The club’s influence was so pervasive that they even formed a West Manor Junior Civic Club, led by Miss Joan West, to groom the next generation of neighborhood advocates.¹³ By July 1954, the club elected M.R. Plunkett as president, succeeding Clifford Booker, alongside an executive board featuring Calhoun A. Long, Maj. P.A. Spangler, Mrs. Fred D. Phillips, Robert I. Moon, Miss Venice Calhoun, and Mrs. Charles W. Key.¹⁴

This leadership team fought for every inch of municipal infrastructure. They were unafraid to challenge county leadership directly. In October 1948, the club went to war over a $40,000 bridge being built over Utoy Creek. The residents, led by spokesman Alvin Fuller, publicly accused Fulton County Commissioners J.C. Aldredge and Charlie Brown of building the bridge purely as a “political experiment,” charging that it was a massive waste of taxpayer money that served no practical purpose for the neighborhood.¹⁵, ¹⁶

The club’s combative relationship with the county continued into the 1950s. In June 1952, a severe delay in paving a 1,100-foot stretch of West Manor Circle brought down the wrath of the neighborhood. The civic club’s complaints prompted Fulton County Commissioners R.L. (Shorty) Doyal and Jack Towns to publicly criticize County Manager A.E. Fuller. Doyal accused Fuller of ignoring board orders, declaring that the county manager’s handling of the West Manor paving project had been “completely out of line.”¹⁷

Beyond paving, the club successfully lobbied for the installation of traffic lights, the extension of gas service lines in February 1954, and strict zoning enforcement.¹⁸ They frequently appeared before planning boards to oppose commercial encroachment, successfully fighting off R-5 zoning on Sewell Road in July 1954 and fiercely protesting plans to place the State Farmer’s Market on Gordon Road in June 1955, arguing it would industrialize their residential buffer zone.¹⁹, ²⁰ The club also desperately wanted a dedicated meeting space of their own; in December 1953, member Charlie Leftwich publicly lamented that the construction of a new community house for the group must await an “indefinite future.”²¹

Chapter 3: Building the Anchors: The Church and the Park

The civic club recognized that a successful suburb required strong institutional anchors. The spiritual and social heart of the early white community was the West Manor Baptist Church. Led by a succession of dedicated pastors, including Rev. A.C. Stephens, Rev. Pat A. Johnson, Rev. Wendell Belew, and Rev. Arnold Smith, the congregation was deeply intertwined with the civic club’s goals.²², ²³ The church hosted massive building fund campaigns, “loyalty suppers,” and week-long revivals, providing a central gathering space for the neighborhood’s families.²⁴, ²⁵

Simultaneously, the residents fought to secure recreational space. In August 1946, Fulton County provided the growing community with West Manor Park, an 11.2-acre green space on Sewell Road equipped with a field house and a grill.²⁶, ²⁷ Just two years later, in May 1948, a local Grand Jury recommended moving the park’s playground equipment to a different facility, citing a perceived “lack of interest” from the public.²⁸ The residents immediately fought back against the recommendation, charging that the move was purely political, and successfully ensured the park remained a permanent fixture for the community.²⁹

The park quickly became a hub for community programming. By the early 1970s, the facility was hosting robust youth sports programs. In August 1972, the Twelfth Annual City Recreation Tennis Tournament highlighted the neighborhood’s athletic talent, with West Manor youth dominating the brackets. Nelson McGhee and Curtis Reese captured the Boys 17 and 18 Doubles title, Von Pearson won the Girls 17 and 18 Doubles, and Delphine Clagion and Janice Dotson placed in the Girls 17 and 18 Singles. The younger divisions were equally successful, with Greg Duffy and Gary Ertzberger taking the Boys 13 and 14 Doubles crown.³⁰ The recreation center also catered to adult programming; in March 1975, the Atlanta Bureau of Parks and Recreation sponsored a six-week belly dancing class at the West Manor Recreation Center. Taught by an instructor named Annette for a $15 fee, the program was coordinated by Mrs. Thelma Smith, reflecting the diverse cultural offerings of the era.³¹

Chapter 4: Blockbusting and the Friction of Integration

The pristine, segregated isolation of West Manor could not withstand the tides of the civil rights movement. Following the fall of the Peyton Road Wall barricades in 1963, the racial boundaries of Southwest Atlanta collapsed. As affluent Black professionals began purchasing homes in the area, the neighborhood experienced a rapid and often tense demographic transition.

The transition was heavily manipulated by unscrupulous real estate agents who engaged in “blockbusting,” stoking racial panic to encourage white flight. The exact mechanics of this psychological warfare were captured in a February 7, 1967, letter sent by Sid Stovall of Stovall Realty and Insurance, Inc. Stovall blanketed the area with letters listing specific addresses of homes that had recently been sold to Black buyers to prove the neighborhood was turning. The addresses explicitly listed to scare white homeowners included homes on West Manor Circle, Lynfield Drive, Cedar Island Drive, Pamlico Drive, Hiawassee Drive, Veltre Circle, Annelaine Drive, Lynn Circle, and Sewell Road.³² Stovall weaponized the transition, writing: “We would like to point out that after due deliberation we undertook to be of service to property owners of your area when others declined to do so. Where others feared to tread we faced the problem.”³³

The white residents were frantic. On April 22, 1967, a group calling themselves the “Citizens of Southwest Atlanta” petitioned Mayor Ivan Allen Jr., complaining that “Pressure tactics are being used by real estate companies and more and more signs are appearing in front of homes… For sale signs should be banned from in front of all homes.”³⁴ They threatened total white flight, warning that if the city ignored them, “the former home owners will have moved entirely out of Fulton county.”³⁵ The archival signatures reveal that dozens of local pioneer residents signed the petition, illustrating how the original white suburbanites transitioned from building their dream homes to actively resisting the demographic shift.³⁶

The resentment toward the incoming Black elite was palpable. In September 1967, a white resident angrily wrote to the Mayor complaining about the “bulk of negroes” being pushed to the “Cascade sewell road section.” She suggested that wealthy Black figures should integrate the Mayor’s affluent Northside neighborhoods rather than Southwest Atlanta, stating: “I am sure with Hank Aarons money he could afford a home in your section.”³⁷ (Mayor Allen bluntly dismissed her complaints in a September 12 reply, stating: “Obviously I do not agree with the views outlined in your letter.”)³⁸

The racial tension extended directly into the neighborhood’s recreational spaces. In April 1967, the Cascade Little League was formally accused of discrimination for depriving youngsters around West Manor Elementary of the opportunity to play. Robert Haver and George Samples of Lynhurst Drive pleaded for aldermanic intervention, charging that the area was excluded from the league specifically because its “residential racial patterns were changing.” They took their fight directly to Aldermen Douglas (Buddy) Fowlkes and Charles Leftwich. League president William F. Wall denied the discrimination, claiming the exclusion was based purely on population rules, but the incident perfectly illustrated how segregation was enforced in everyday suburban life.³⁹

Yet, amidst the panic, a biracial coalition known as Southwest Atlantans for Progress (SWAP) fought to stabilize the neighborhood. In May 1967, Fred L. Shoenberger, a resident of Lynhurst Drive and active SWAP member, wrote to Mayor Allen asking for a positive letter of support to validate their efforts to maintain a “thoroughly integrated” community.⁴⁰ The arrival of Black professionals actively dismantled the prejudices of some white leaders who stayed behind. W.M. Alexander, a lifelong resident and SWAP board chairman, wrote a remarkable letter to the Mayor in December 1967. “Being a native Atlantan, I have grown up with the prejudice against living in an integrated neighborhood,” Alexander admitted. “During the past year, after meeting the negros moving into Cascade Heights, my thinking has changed.” He urged his white neighbors to stay and fight their own prejudices, noting that if they held out long enough, they could establish a successfully integrated city.⁴¹

This fragile alliance was severely tested in October 1967 during a bitter zoning dispute. SWAP co-chairs Rev. James Costen and Bob Haver led a massive protest against proposals to build 1,200 “low to moderate-income” housing units in the area, including 650 units on the north side of Sewell Road and 558 units on the east side of Fairburn Road. The residents argued that dumping high-density public housing into the corridor would overwhelm local infrastructure and destroy their efforts to maintain a stable, integrated middle-class neighborhood.⁴², ⁴³

The zoning battles continued into the next decade. On January 15, 1970, the Federation of Southwest Clubs held an emergency meeting at West Manor Elementary School to protest the rezoning of a tract of land on Sewell Road for apartment units. The meeting was called by Mrs. Henrietta Canty, a fierce community advocate and co-chairman of the federation. Canty publicly accused Aldermen Jack Summers and Ira Jackson of having “sold-out southwest residents,” noting that the aldermen had promised a zoning hearing would be held two weeks later, only to hold it the very next day, denying residents the opportunity to voice their concerns.⁴⁴

Chapter 5: The Fight for West Manor Elementary

The emotional toll of integration was felt deeply inside the classrooms. In March 1970, the Atlanta Constitution published a feature on the city’s faculty desegregation plan. The article highlighted Mrs. Robert Sewell, a white sixth-grade teacher with 18 years of experience at West Manor Elementary, who was fighting back tears as she prepared to be transferred to the all-Black F.L. Stanton School to meet federal integration quotas. “I can’t stand the thought of tomorrow,” she said. Her students threw her a farewell party, gifting her a leather bag and a book of poetry they had written themselves, reflecting the deep anxieties and “bad feelings” that characterized the era’s uneasy truce.⁴⁵

The Black community also had to actively defend the school from municipal neglect. In July 1965, civil rights leaders including Jesse Hill Jr. (representing the C.W. Hill School PTA), Oby Brewer Jr. (school board president), Rev. Samuel Williams (head of the Atlanta NAACP), and State Sen. Leroy Johnson successfully negotiated a full desegregation plan to head off Negro protests regarding the West Manor School area, ensuring that the Black families who had recently purchased homes surrounding the school received equitable educational resources.⁴⁶

Throughout the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, West Manor Elementary School evolved into a powerhouse of Black academic excellence and political influence. However, this excellence was forged through intense community struggle. By the spring of 1971, the school was facing a severe overcrowding crisis. Built to accommodate 25 pupils per classroom, the school was bursting at the seams. Children were being taught in dilapidated portable classrooms with doors and windows that would not close properly. Two seventh-grade classes were forced to meet in the auditorium, separated only by portable blackboards, while other classes were held in the principal’s office and the teachers’ lounge.⁴⁷

Frustrated by the inadequate facilities, fire hazards, and lack of lunchroom space, parents formed an “Action Committee” in April 1971. Led by Rep. William M. Alexander, Mrs. Henrietta Canty, and T.O. Sturdivant, the parents took drastic action, staging a boycott and withdrawing their children from the school prior to the Easter holidays. The boycott meeting was attended by 30 parents, including Mesdames Barbara Manos, R.C. Duckworth, Magnoria Smothers, and Mrs. William A. Turner. The parents noted that in 1965, when the first Black families moved into the area, the average class size was 25 pupils, and the school boasted speech, music, band, language, and orchestra teachers. By 1971, those resources were gone. The boycott drew immediate attention from the highest levels of the Atlanta Board of Education. Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, president of the board, and member Jerry Luxemburger personally visited West Manor to meet with the irate parents. Dr. Mays acknowledged the severe overcrowding, promising the parents, “We are working on these problems right now, and we hope to come up with a workable solution.” The parents noted the stark inequity of the situation: while the school was 99% Black and the surrounding lawns and homes were spacious and beautiful, the quality of life for the children inside the school was “indescribably worse than in any slum area.”⁴⁸, ⁴⁹

The school’s legacy was further enriched by legendary educators like Sylvia Ann Dodson Sewell. A graduate of Bessie Tift College who married Robert Sewell in 1939, she taught sixth-grade English at West Manor and J.C. Harris for over 30 years. Known as a firm and fair teacher, she instilled a deep love of poetry in generations of Southwest Atlanta students, requiring them to copy, learn, and recite classic works like “Abou Ben Adhem,” “Invictus,” and James Weldon Johnson’s “The Creation.” Former student Tracy Flanagan, who later became a TV reporter, recalled using the poems she learned in Mrs. Sewell’s class for her mic checks. Following her retirement in 1985, Sewell continued her life of service. Her daughter, Robyn Burns, noted that her mother volunteered at Piedmont Hospital as a Pink Lady for over 25 years and maintained a dedicated “card ministry,” hand-delivering greeting cards to over 300 neighbors for every holiday. She passed away in October 2011 at the age of 95, preceded in death by her husband Robert in 2005.⁵⁰

Because of its deep connection to the highly organized, affluent Black electorate of the Cascade corridor, the school also became a mandatory staging ground for local political campaigns. During the fiercely contested 1998 State Senate recount between Gordon Joyner and Horacena Tate, the school served as a primary polling place battleground, with candidates accused of violating election laws by campaigning within 150 feet of the entrance.⁵¹ In the 2001 mayoral race, candidate Robb Pitts specifically highlighted West Manor Elementary as the center of a massive Southwest Atlanta precinct where he had ended his campaigns for the past 24 years, proving the sheer electoral weight the neighborhood carried.⁵²

The school continued to innovate in the modern era. In 1996, West Manor Elementary launched an in-school student banking program. The initiative was the brainchild of George Andrews, president of Capitol City Bank & Trust, designed to teach young people the importance of saving, investing, and collective economics in the African American community. The program was championed by Washington High School students Everett Parks Terry (18) and his sister Mashaun Terry (16), who served as officers of the Washingtonian Student Bank and helped establish the West Manor branch. By January 1997, the West Manor student bank boasted more than 310 accounts with a total of $1,800 in savings, operated entirely by student tellers and clerks.⁵³ In 2011, the school made headlines under Principal Cheryl Twyman for hosting six sets of twins in its student body, including four sets in the kindergarten class alone.⁵⁴ Recognizing the enduring value of the institution, the Atlanta school board approved a massive $11 million renovation for West Manor Elementary in August 2020. Executed by Balfour Beatty Construction, the project included 14,500 square feet of new additions and 37,250 square feet of major renovations. The construction team applied value engineering to save nearly $385,000, delivering the project nine weeks early in the summer of 2021, while students temporarily relocated to the former Fain Elementary site.⁵⁵, ⁵⁶

Chapter 8: Tragedies and Triumphs at West Manor Park

As the neighborhood stabilized into a premier enclave for the Black middle class, West Manor Park remained a central, though occasionally turbulent, gathering space. In August 1975, the park, located at 3240 W. Manor Circle S.W., hosted a massive “Dustbowl Tournament,” an outdoor basketball classic played on the grassless natural turf. Organized by a local group called “the New Breed” and led by spokesman Dennis Huggins, the tournament drew teams from as far away as Indiana and Washington, D.C.⁵⁷

However, the park was also the site of a horrific tragedy. In the winter of 1977, a serial shooter known as the “Lover’s Lane Killer” terrorized the parks of Southwest Atlanta. On the night of February 12, 1977, a teenage couple was parked in West Manor Park when a man emerged from the bushes. Finding the car doors locked, the assailant fired a gun directly through the window, shooting both teenagers in the chest. Miraculously, the couple survived the bizarre shooting and provided police with a description of the suspect, identifying him as a muscular Black male between the ages of 20 and 35. Major J.H. Amos, head of the Atlanta Police Department Criminal division, and Lt. W.K. Perry led the investigation, publicly pleading with young people to refrain from parking in unlit, desolate areas. The shooter, who had previously killed two people and wounded three others in similar attacks at Adams Park, was never caught, leaving a lingering shadow over the neighborhood’s greenspaces.⁵⁸, ⁵⁹

The community also had to fight the city for basic maintenance of the park’s facilities. In May 1981, residents complained bitterly that the West Manor Park recreation center lacked air conditioning. “You burn up in there,” one resident noted. City Councilman John Sweet offered the group the temporary use of a large fan he had bought at a yard sale. Furthermore, residents demanded to know why the park’s basketball goals had been disassembled. City Councilman Ira Jackson admitted he had requested the courts be moved after nearby families complained about excessive noise and abusive language, leaving the neighborhood youth without a place to play. Parks and Recreation Commissioner Gerri Elder bluntly stated that “adequate money” for capital improvements was simply not available.⁶⁰

The park’s legacy was ultimately reclaimed and celebrated in 2001. Family and friends of Anthony Flanagan, a legendary high school athlete from the area who made history as the first Black quarterback to play for the University of Georgia, lobbied the city to rename West Manor Park in his honor following his death at age 44. The proposal divided the community. Longtime residents, including Marie Parker, president of the Ivan Hill Garden Club, argued that the West Manor name was a historic landmark “like the Big Chicken” that should not be erased. Flanagan’s widow, Rosalyn Flanagan, alongside his former coach Kirby McDaniel (who drove in from Lithonia to support his former player) and friends Audraine Jackson and Andrew Bussey, pushed for the full renaming. Jackson compared Flanagan’s impact to integration pioneers Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter, while Bussey, son of the late Rev. Reuben T. Bussey Sr., noted Flanagan was a “far better person than he was an athlete.” State Rep. Douglas Dean supported the full renaming, urging the city to “stop being afraid to change history.” The Atlanta City Council, led by Councilman C.T. Martin who opposed erasing the neighborhood’s identity, ultimately reached a compromise: the 11.2-acre park retained the name West Manor, while the recreation center was officially renamed the Anthony Flanagan Memorial Recreation Center, beautifully honoring the local hero without erasing the neighborhood’s geographic identity.⁶¹

The city’s maintenance of the park remained a point of contention. In August 2001, just months after the renaming vote, residents Carolyn and Jack Harvey toured the park and publicly complained about the “unsanitary, unsightly and dangerous” conditions, pointing out dirty restrooms, pervasive litter, and cars parked directly under no-parking signs on West Manor Circle. Carolyn Harvey dismissed the city’s recent repairs to the recreation center walls as mere “whitewashing,” calling the situation a disgrace to the community. Tony Gomez, a public information officer for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, acknowledged the problems but cited budget constraints, promising to address the issues in the 2002 budget.⁶²

Chapter 9: Modern Resilience

As West Manor navigates the 21st century, the neighborhood continues to face the complex realities of urban infrastructure and environmental challenges. In August 2018, the community’s mature tree canopy proved hazardous when a massive tree fell directly onto a car driven by a local mother on Benjamin E. Mays Drive. She and her two young daughters, who were en route to West Manor Elementary School, miraculously escaped unharmed, though the incident snapped two power poles and caused widespread outages.⁶³

The neighborhood also continues to fight for municipal protection against the encroaching highway system. In 2026, a local resident launched a campaign to force the Georgia Department of Transportation to install sound barriers along Interstate 285 to protect the West Manor neighborhood from severe noise pollution. Despite measuring traffic noise at close to 70 decibels from his Cedar Island Drive home, he faced immense bureaucratic headwinds, proving that the residents of West Manor are still fighting the state and city for their fair share of infrastructure protection, just as the original civic club did in the 1950s. His efforts were supported by U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, who introduced the Negating Neighborhood Noise Act to unlock federal funds for communities intentionally divided by the interstate system.⁶⁴

To address chronic environmental issues, the city launched the Green Infrastructure Design Challenge for West Manor Park. The project was designed to address nuisance flooding in the Utoy Creek watershed. A powerhouse team of engineering and design firms, including R2T, Hedstrom Design, Hazen and Sawyer, Accura Engineering, Corporate Environmental Risk Management, and Southeastern Engineering, developed a comprehensive plan utilizing bioretention ponds, enhanced dry swales, and stormwater planters to improve water quality and protect the park’s amenities.⁶⁵, ⁶⁶ Despite these infrastructural battles, West Manor Park remains a vibrant cultural hub for the community. In May 2026, the park was selected to host the Atlanta Jazz Festival’s Neighborhood Jazz Series. The free weekend event brought live music directly to the greenspace on Manor Circle, featuring performances by the Kennesaw State University Jazz Combo, La Silhouettes, the Sabor Brass Band, and DJ Professor X.⁶⁷ This celebration of music and community highlights the enduring legacy of the park as a gathering place for Southwest Atlanta.

Conclusion

The history of West Manor is a profound testament to the power of community organizing. Born from the postwar suburban ambitions of white civic leaders who fought for every paved street and classroom, the neighborhood was ultimately claimed and elevated by a generation of Black professionals who refused to accept municipal neglect. From the Civil War earthworks of Utoy Creek to the modern, $11 million halls of West Manor Elementary, the neighborhood stands as an enduring, fiercely defended fortress of Southwest Atlanta.

1. Wilbur G. Kurtz, “Dugout Home in Atlanta,” The Atlanta Journal, July 10, 1932, 47.
2. Actor Cordell, “Near Civil War trenches, dreams for the future,” The Atlanta Constitution, March 1, 1979.
3. “Near Civil War trenches, dreams for the future,” The Atlanta Journal, September 26, 1985, 185.
4. “Display Ad 15,” The Atlanta Constitution, June 22, 1957, 11.
5. “Display Ad 31,” The Atlanta Constitution, January 14, 1955.
6. “Display Ad 41,” The Atlanta Constitution, March 3, 1940, 10B.
7. “Classified Ad 9,” The Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution, March 2, 1952.
8. “Display Ad 41,” The Atlanta Constitution, March 3, 1940, 10B.
9. “Display Ad 32,” The Atlanta Constitution, June 19, 1956.
10. “Classified Ad 4,” The Atlanta Constitution, May 6, 1952.
11. “West Manor Civic Club,” The Atlanta Constitution, August 25, 1946, 4C.
12. “West Manor Civic Club,” The Atlanta Constitution, August 25, 1946, 4C.
13. “West Manor Civic Club,” The Atlanta Constitution, April 27, 1947, 16C.
14. “West Manor Club Elects M. R. Plunkett,” The Atlanta Constitution, July 14, 1954, 8D.
15. “Aldredge Defends Utoy Creek Bridge,” The Atlanta Constitution, October 10, 1948, 3.
16. “Politics Charged,” The Atlanta Journal, October 10, 1948, 20.
17. “Paving Job Delay Stirs County Rift: Doyal, Towns Criticize Fuller,” The Atlanta Constitution, June 28, 1952, 9.
18. “West Manor Club Gets Gas Service,” The Atlanta Constitution, February 3, 1954, 34.
19. “100 Protest ‘Rural’ Zone On Property,” The Atlanta Constitution, June 29, 1954, 5.
20. “Farmer Mart In Gordon Rd. Area Opposed,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 29, 1955.
21. “West Manor Club Asks Heat for Meeting House,” The Atlanta Constitution, December 23, 1953, 3.
22. “West Manor Baptists Plan Week Revival,” The Atlanta Journal, October 30, 1956, 38.
23. “The Rev. Arnold Smith,” The Atlanta Constitution, October 11, 1954, 14.
24. “Loyalty Supper Marked By West Manor Baptist,” The Atlanta Constitution, September 10, 1952, 30.
25. “West Manor Revival To Begin Sunday,” The Atlanta Journal, October 29, 1955, 4.
26. “Welcome All Park,” The Atlanta Journal, August 15, 1946, 15.
27. “List of Parks, alphabetical,” City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation, accessed 2026.
28. “Lack of interest in West Manor Park,” The Atlanta Constitution, May 3, 1948, 16.
29. “Politics Charged,” The Atlanta Journal, October 10, 1948, 20.
30. “City Recreation Tennis Tournament Held Here,” Atlanta Daily World, August 10, 1972, 9.
31. “Belly Dancing At West Manor Recreation Center,” Atlanta Daily World, March 16, 1975, 3.
32. Sid Stovall, Letter to Resident, February 7, 1967, Ivan Allen Jr. Mayoral Records.
33. Sid Stovall, Letter to Resident, February 7, 1967, Ivan Allen Jr. Mayoral Records.
34. Citizens of Southwest Atlanta, Letter to Mayor Ivan Allen Jr., April 22, 1967, Ivan Allen Jr. Mayoral Records.
35. Citizens of Southwest Atlanta, Letter to Mayor Ivan Allen Jr., April 22, 1967, Ivan Allen Jr. Mayoral Records.
36. Citizens of Southwest Atlanta, List of Signatures, April 22, 1967, Ivan Allen Jr. Mayoral Records.
37. Mrs. John C. Hoke, Letter to Mayor Ivan Allen Jr., September 6, 1967, Ivan Allen Jr. Mayoral Records.
38. Mayor Ivan Allen Jr., Letter to Mrs. John C. Hoke, September 12, 1967, Ivan Allen Jr. Mayoral Records.
39. Alex Coffin, “Ball League Is Accused Of Bias,” The Atlanta Constitution, April 12, 1967, 6.
40. Fred L. Shoenberger, Letter to Mayor Ivan Allen Jr., May 20, 1967, Ivan Allen Jr. Mayoral Records.
41. W.M. Alexander, Letter to Mayor Ivan Allen Jr., December 6, 1967, Ivan Allen Jr. Mayoral Records.
42. “Several Oppose Low Rent Housing,” The Weekly Star, October 19, 1967, 1.
43. “SHOW UP TODAY!” The Weekly Star, October 19, 1967, 4.
44. “Zoning Meeting Set Tonight By Southwest Clubs,” Atlanta Daily World, January 15, 1970, 1.
45. Mike Bowler, “Future for Atlanta Schools: Quality Education or Doom?” The Atlanta Constitution, March 4, 1970, 1A.
46. “Full Desegregation Heads Off Negro Protests, Leader Says,” The Atlanta Constitution, July 8, 1965, 12.
47. John L. Davis, “West Manor School Stages Boycott On Over Crowding,” Atlanta Daily World, April 13, 1971, 1.
48. John L. Davis, “CROWDING IS ISSUE IN SW. SCHOOLS,” Atlanta Daily World, April 4, 1971, 10.
49. John L. Davis, “West Manor School Stages Boycott On Over Crowding,” Atlanta Daily World, April 13, 1971, 1.
50. Michelle E. Shaw, “SYLVIA SEWELL, 95: APS teacher shared love of poetry: Students remember lessons of longtime educator,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, November 7, 2011, B.6.
51. Sandra Eckstein, “Recount request turns on one vote Now on losing side, Joyner awaits ruling in Senate race with Tate,” The Atlanta Constitution, August 19, 1998, B1.
52. Colin Campbell, “A new day for all three candidates,” The Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution, November 7, 2001, B.3.
53. “Two Student Banks Open In S’West Atlanta,” Atlanta Daily World, January 26, 1997, 1.
54. Gracie Bonds Staples, “Twins turn heads at West Manor school,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2011.
55. Vanessa McCray, “$22 million in renovation work approved for Atlanta elementary schools,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 31, 2020.
56. “West Manor Elementary School,” Balfour Beatty Portfolio, accessed 2026.
57. “Outdoor Cage Tourney At West Manor Park,” The Atlanta Constitution, August 21, 1975, 6E.
58. Yvonne Shinhoster, “Police Press Hunt For Deadly Preyer On Lovers’ Lanes,” Atlanta Daily World, April 21, 1977, 1.
59. Ken Willis, “‘Lover’s Lane’ Murders Haunt Survivors,” The Atlanta Constitution, March 18, 1979, 1B.
60. Donna Williams, “West Manor Gets a Fan But No Basketball Goals,” The Atlanta Constitution, May 28, 1981, E9.
61. Stacy Shelton, “Recreation center to be named for star athlete – Council weighed neighbors’, supporters’ concerns,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 5, 2001, JD3.
62. Yusuf Davis, “New look to match new name at park,” The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, August 9, 2001, JD2.
63. Steve Burns and John Spink, “Tree falls on car with mother, children inside,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 13, 2018.
64. Doug Turnbull, “It’s time to make it easier to build sound barriers on interstates,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 26, 2026.
65. “West Manor Park,” City of Atlanta Green Infrastructure Design Challenge, 13-14.
66. “West Manor Park Green Infrastructure Design Challenge,” City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management, accessed 2026.
67. Mary Caldwell, “12 Atlanta arts events to look forward to this week,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 13, 2026.