William B. Hartsfield films
Catalog number: VIS 194.002.001

Mayor Hartsfield’s 1940 reelection campaign film for mayor presents information about the conditions of Atlanta’s hospitals, schools and crime rates and how Hartsfield has improved the city in those areas during his previous mayoral tenure. It also highlights city infrastructure improvements under his administration; improvements to the sewer system; street expansions to improve congested areas; and widening of significant business districts. The administration also boasts Howell Park improvements in the historic West End neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia.

The film features footage of Grady Memorial Hospital, Grady High School (later Midtown High School), Battle Hill Sanitorium, Maddox Junior High School, Murphy Junior High School, Atlanta Fire Department No. 1 on 44 West Alabama Street, renderings of a new incinerator that was being built during Hartsfield’s tenure as mayor (later named the Hartsfield Incinerator), workers digging and laying pipes for the city’s sewage system and paving and widening roads, Atlanta Fire Department firefighters, testing new equipment, and the Atlanta Waterworks at Hemphill Station.

Digitization of the films in this collection is made possible by a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.