The Pickrick, once located at 891 Hemphill Street NW in Atlanta, Georgia was originally owned by segregationist Lester Maddox, who later became governor in 1966. Maddox shut the diner down in 1965 rather than comply with a court order to desegregate. On one occasion, he waved a gun at three black men who came to eat at the diner.
The diner was purchased by Georgia Tech shortly after Maddox shut it down. and it was turned into the Fred W. Ajax Placement Center.
You can read what happened once GT and Neil DeRosa took over in the Georgia Tech alumni magazine below…
(Click images below for larger version)
From Maddox Country to DeRosa Country, the transformation of the Pickrich Diner
Read more here… (NYTimes: July 23, 1964)
More history of the Pickrick Restaurant at Atlanta Time Machine
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