The Democratic primary for the 1949 Atlanta Board of Aldermen election was held on September 7, 1949 for all members on the Atlanta Board of Aldermen, concurrently with Democratic primaries for mayor and school board, and election to the Atlanta City Executive Committee (the municipal chapter of the Democratic Party). Nomination in the primary and the runoff was tantamount to election.
It was the first primary for the board since the 1946 federal court decision in King v. Chapman, which ended the white primary in Georgia and implemented the earlier U.S. Supreme Court decision in Smith v. Allwright, allowing African Americans to vote in primaries and elections for the first time. African Americans had previously been turned away from the polls in the 1945 Democratic municipal primary. The Atlanta Negro Voters League was formed months before the election to help organize African American first-time voters and endorse candidates for municipal offices.
1st Ward
Aldermen
Roscoe C. Ailor Ed N. Hendrix R. H. "Bob" McCutcheon
Councilmen Position 1
Robert S. Dennis J. M. "Jim" Gregory A. C. Hopkins
Councilmen Position 2
James E. Jackson Sam S. Johnson
2nd Ward
Aldermen
Charles Beall Ed A. Gilliam
Councilmen Position 1
Herman A. Austin Robert E. Lee Field
Councilmen Position 2
Joe Allen W. C. "Bill" Campbell E. Gregory Griggs Horace M. Rantin
3rd Ward
Aldermen
?
Councilmen
?
4th Ward
Aldermen
Franklin "Frank" Rogers Lee Evans
Councilmen Position 1
E. E. "Buster" Cooper John T> Marler Neal Ponder Joe Wallace
Councilmen Position 2
Roy Bell Robert K. Glass Douglas Wood
5th Ward
Aldermen
Dowse Donaldson Jimmy Walker
Councilmen Position 1
John A. White Robert A. Whitsett
Councilmen Position 2
O. B. Cawthorn Jimmy Vickers
6th Ward
Aldermen
Raleigh Drennon F. H. "Pug" King Charles H. Smith
Councilmen Position 1
T. Wayne Blanchard Howard Haire
Councilmen Position 2
Ralph A. Huie J. Sidney Lanier
References