Q: Would you please tell me all about “The Bridge” sculpture honoring (I believe) Rep. John Lewis? It seems hidden in the weeds at Ponce de Leon Avenue and Freedom Parkway. No one I asked seems to know it is there.
—V.R. Baugh, Atlanta
A: There's an interesting story behind "The Bridge."
The sculpture was created to honor civil rights icon John Lewis, but another gap had to be spanned before it could be installed at that corner.
Members of the Freedom Park Conservancy initially chatted with self-taught Alabama artist Thornton Dial in 1996.
There was such an initial fervor about the project that it appeared the sculpture quickly would be created and moved into place.
They thought the process would take perhaps a year, the AJC wrote.
It turned out to be more complicated than that.
Even though the sculpture was completed by 1997, differences between the conservancy and Dial, choosing a site and fund-raising issues complicated matters.
The schism grew wider and years passed.
A lawsuit was filed in 2003, and finally, two years later, there were no more barriers to “The Bridge.”
The sculpture was dedicated on Sept. 9, 2005. Lewis, who has been a U.S. Representative from Atlanta since 1986, and others, spoke at the ceremony.
Dial used discarded objects, including scrap metal and tires, to make the 42-foot long abstract sculpture, which can be accessed from one of the park’s trails and is tough to see for drivers at that busy intersection.
Dial died in January.
Q: When did Tech High School change to Grady High School? Why?
—Carl Adkins, Decatur
A: The time was right for a coed high school in 1947.
That’s what Atlanta school officials thought when they decided to merge Boys High and Tech High – two all-male schools that had a severe dislike for one another – with Girls High.
So the three schools were combined to form Henry W. Grady High School.
Many alums and teachers were opposed to the move, Harold H. Martin wrote in “Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events, 1940s-1970s.” Atlanta historian Franklin M. Garrett wrote the first two books in the series.
Famous alums before the merger include golfer Bobby Jones (Tech) and former U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk (Boys).
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