Photos of Atlanta and Georgia 50 years ago

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Flashback photos: 50 years ago in Georgia, 1968

It was a tumultuous year all over the world, and Georgia was not immune to the upheaval and tragedy. It was the year that both Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. Take a look back at that pivotal year in photographs.

Businesses in Midtown on Peachtree St., looking north toward 14th Street. Photo taken on Feb. 26, 1968

I-285 stretches north into the distance while I-20 vehicle traffic passes beneath (middle of photo) in August 1968. Atlanta would be to the left side of the photo.

A jammed Atlanta Municipal Airport parking lot in September 1968.

Peachtree Street with the Equitable Building being constructed in background, April 1968.

Newly recruited women train for Atlanta police traffic positions, February 1968. In a sign of the times, the original information attached notes that "they attend weekly sessions in beauty, fashion, personality."

Police escort the body of Martin Luther King Jr. down Auburn Avenue during the funeral procession, April 1968.

Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr. at home in Atlanta in March 1968. A painting of Gandhi hangs in the background, and a bust of FDR is on the coffee table.

Downtown Atlanta with view of buildings being constructed in September 1968, including the Equitable Building in the center (the darker building at the back).

Cherokee County resident Larry Colburn (right) shown here with an unknown soldier (left). Colburn was one of three GIs who interceded for the Vietnamese villagers in the My Lai massacre. He was recently awarded the Soldiers Medal in Washington D.C. and returned to My Lai for the new park. Photo circa 1968.

Students Beverly Harper and Louis Bamberg look over Georgia State College (now University) newspaper, The Signal. on the Sparks Hall Terrace with downtown Atlanta for a backdrop.

UGA II, the University of Georgia mascot, with his own fire plug in 1968.

David Hunter isn't thrilled as Dr. William Likosky gives him a shot of the measles vaccine at the Southside Child Development Center in Atlanta in October 1968.

Crowds swarm Wilt Chamberlain as he arrives for the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr., April 1968.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s casket during the funeral procession near the State Capitol, 1968

Atlanta Municipal Airport, September 15, 1968. Less than three years later, it would be named for former mayor William B. Hartsfield and become an international airport.

Atlanta Chiefs soccer team photograph, July 1968.

Atlanta Civic Center on April 19, 1968.

Coretta Scott King with Ralph D. Abernathy at press conference in Atlanta on April 7, 1968.

Construction work beside the Northeast Expressway tol widen it by one lane from the Brookwood interchange south to 14th Street. This picture looks south toward downtown in 1968.

Aerial view of the Lenox Square Mall area, Atlanta, Georgia, September 1968.

Funeral procession passes in front of State Capitol in remembrance of Martin Luther King Jr., 1968

Margaret Mitchell Square outside the Loew's Grand Theatre, September 1968

Atlanta Chiefs Rookie of the Year Kaiser Motaung slips behind two defenders against the Cleveland Stokers, on June 24, 1968. The Chiefs won 3-1.

Richard Nixon (center just below the Regal sign) during a parade through Atlanta during a campaign stop, October 1968

Presidential candidate Richard Nixon during a campaign stop, October 1968.

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Businesses in Midtown on Peachtree St., looking north toward 14th Street. Photo taken on Feb. 26, 1968

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