This Month in History

May 3, 1911: Adeline Mayer and Victor Hugo Kriegshaber hosted an informal dance for their out-of-town guests at their home “Marianna’’ located at 66 Moreland Ave. located on the eastern fringe of the Inman Park neighborhood. In 1970, Wilma Stone adapted the Kriegshaber home into the Wrecking Bar, a business that salvaged woodcarvings, mantels, doors and other restoration treasures from older homes. The new owner, Bob Sandage, bought the site in March 2010 from Inman Park Properties and opened the Wrecking Bar Brew Pub in March 2011.

May 5, 1993: Atlanta native Gladys Knight – singer, songwriter and actress – emceed the Kids’ Celebration, a free concert at the Omni (now Philips Arena) sponsored by the Atlanta Project Immunization Children’s Health Initiative. The special guest for the evening dressed in black, donning a wide-brim hat and shades was Michael Jackson. After his introductory walk on stage, he took a front row seat and remained in the audience for two

75-minute shows. Knight called to the stage former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, Gov. Zell Miller and Mayor Maynard H. Jackson, noted hip-hop trio TLC and a host of other performers. Kids’ Celebration was an effort for the immunization of 17,000 Atlanta children in five days.

May 8, 1910: Although not official, the Mother’s Day Movement at the Wesley Memorial Church invited the city’s young people to wear a white carnation and attend a 3 p.m. reception with their mothers. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed the proclamation setting aside the second Sunday in May as a national American holiday to honor mothers. The idea for Mother’s Day was credited to Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis, who both suggested a holiday dedicated to a day of peace. Many individual states celebrated Mother’s Day by 1911, but it was not until Wilson lobbied Congress in 1914 that Mother’s Day was officially set.

May 13, 1976: Piedmont Park is added to the National Register of Historic Places. The land, originally a farm and residence, became the site of fairs and expositions, most notably the Cotton States and International Exposition in 1895.

May 15, 1872: Kimball House manager S. E. Crittenden published the Ponce de Leon Springs summer omnibus (a forerunner of the streetcar) schedule in the Atlanta Daily Sun. The six-story, 317-room Kimball House hotel had opened Oct. 17, 1870 in Downtown. The shuttle-car drawn by four horses accommodated 12 passengers at a time. Round trip single tickets were 50 cents or 12 tickets for $3. Ponce de Leon Springs – now the site of the Ponce City Market development – used to be a favorite attraction in the city.

May 30, 1922: The imposing Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. Georgia Marble supplied the 28 pieces to create the colossal 19-foot seated statue of President Abraham Lincoln. Sculptor Daniel Chester French had begun the design for the statue in 1915.

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