Atkinson Hall, constructed in 1896, is, next to the Old Governor's Mansion, the oldest and most stately building on campus. In 1978, through the vigorous intervention of alumni, community, faculty and students, Atkinson was saved from demolition and renovated. It has since served as the home of The J. Whitney Bunting College of Business. The structure is named for William Y. Atkinson and his wife, Susan Cobb Milton Atkinson. Mrs. Atkinson was sensitized to the plight of under-educated women in Georgia by her journalist friend, Julia A. Flisch, and she persuaded her husband, a young state legislator from Meriwether County (and future governor), to introduce the bill that created Georgia Normal & Industrial College in 1889. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places January 1972.
By Dr. Bob Wilson, University Historian
