Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

The University of Georgia

January 28

1672 William Stephens, first president of Georgia, was born in England. There, he was elected to the House of Commons in 1702 and served until 1727 (the last five years joined by James Oglethorpe). In 1736, Stephens' was hired to go to South Carolina and survey a grant on the Savannah River. There, he traveled down river to Savannah, where he met Oglethorpe. He accompanied Georgia's founder back to England that year. In London, the Trustees had a chance to read Stephens' journal of his trip to America. Impressed, they hired him in April 1737 to serve as their secretary for Georgia and keep them informed on military, civil, and other concerns in the colony. The Trustees became disturbed at how Georgia was being administered--and in particular at how Oglethorpe was overspending his instructions. Therefore, in 1740, the Trustees divided Georgia into two parts. The northern half was known as the County of Savannah, and Stephens was named as its president. The southern half was the County of Frederica, with the office of president temporarily left vacant. In 1742, Stephens was elevated to president of the entire colony--a post he held until he resigned in 1750. Spending his last days at his Bewlie plantation near Savannah, Stephens died at age 81 in August 1753.

1733 At the military barracks at Beaufort, Georgia colonists celebrated this day -- a Sunday -- as a day of Thanksgiving for their safe arrival and Oglethorpe's success in obtaining permission from chief Tomochichi to settle on Yamacraw Bluff on the Savannah River. [See map]

[Note: Letters, diaries, and records of this time show dates based on the Julian calendar (referred to as "Old Style") then in effect in Britain and the American colonies. The Gregorian calendar ("New Style") was adopted in 1752. Thus, Jan. 28, 1732/33 (Old Style) represents Feb. 8, 1733 under the calendar now in effect. For a fuller explanation, click here.]

1918 Atlanta barbers raised the price of a shave from 15 to 20 cents.

1943 Gov. Ellis Arnall signed a joint resolution approving a constitutional amendment creating the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia as a constitutional board. The amendment was part of a series of constitutional changes proposed by Arnall to reduce the powers of the governor--specifically in the area of education--in reaction to the actions of former governor Eugene Talmadge. Talmadge's interference with University System faculty and administrators had led to the loss of accreditation of state colleges and universities. Subsequently, Arnall defeated Talmadge in the race for governor on a promise to reduce the governor's power. This amendment vested the board with authority for the "government, control, and management of the University System" -- a provision which essentially removed state colleges and universities from the direct control of the General Assembly or the governor. Also, the amendment included a proviso that recognized and continued all statutory provisions relative to the Board of Regents. Among the statutes elevated to constitutional status was a law requiring appropriations to the University System be in a lump sum. The impact of this provision is that the General Assembly can not appropriate money directly to individual institutions.

1976 Educator and civil-rights leader Vivian Wilson Henderson died in Atlanta. Born in Bristol, Tennessee on Feb. 10, 1923, Wilson earned his undergraduate degree from North Carolina College, followed by masters and doctorate degrees from the University of Iowa. He held teaching positions in Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee before being named president of Clark College in Atlanta in 1965. In addition to teaching, Wilson published a number of works on the economic power of the black community. He took an active role in the civil rights movement as an organizer of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, director of the Voter Education Project, and chairman of the Southern Regional Council's executive committee. Always a powerful, yet conciliatory, voice in the civil rights movement, Henderson advocated economic empowerment of blacks -- but not at the cost of driving whites and other races from Atlanta. In 1971, Governor Jimmy Carter selected Henderson as co-chairman of the Georgia Goals Commission to prepare for Carter's reorganization of Georgia state government. Henderson remained active in teaching, leading Clark College, and supporting the economic growth of the black community until his death in 1976.

1976 The Atlanta Hawks basketball team began a 28-game losing streak in games played on the road.

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1740 From Savannah, Anglican minister George Whitefield wrote Harman Verelst, accountant for the Georgia Trustees about the practical importance of his planned orphan home in Georgia:

". . . The building of this Orphan House I find will be of great service to the colony in general. It prevents many leaving the place and I believe will be an encouragement for others to come over. It is about 10 miles from the town [Savannah] and I intend contributing largely towards making a great cartroad from Savannah thither which will be very serviceable to all the plantations thereabout. I have taken in many children and am taking in fresh ones daily. I propose employing some of them in the cotton manufactory. I am just getting a weaver to work and have engaged to take all the cotton that shall be planted in the colony the ensuing year, so that I hope Savannah, through the Divine blessing, will yet lift up her drooping head. . . ."

Source: Mills Lane (ed.), General Oglethorpe's Georgia: Colonial Letters, 1733-1743 (Savannah: Beehive Press, 1990), Vol. II, p. 435.

1777 Savannah merchant and revolutionary soldier Joseph Clay wrote to an American naval captain with advice on how to elude the British blockade of Georgia:

". . . I am informed that a Frigate was Cruising off their Barr, & that they had reason to expect another wood be there shortly which has induc'd me to drop you a line at a Venture, shoud it meet you it may be of use to You. I am also well assumed that the Otter Sloop is generally between St. Johns & Augustine, sometimes she goes to St. Marys besides which there is generally two or three Tenders, say small Schooners & Sloops Arm'd about St Marys, tho' I believe they dont cruise much, being principally intended for the protection of E. Florida...otherways we have heard of nothing on the coast since you left this. We have had several arrivals since you left this Nevertheless. Dry goods, good Rum, Sugar & Salt still bear good prices shoud you get in safe you may probably do tolerably well the Man of War being off will rather be of service to your Sales. . . ."

Source: Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, Vol. VIII, Letters of Joseph Clay, Merchant of Savannah, 1776-1793 (Savannah: Georgia Historical Society, 1913), pp. 19-20.