Atlanta graft ring

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The Atlanta graft ring was a corruption scandal that erupted in 1930 that generated 26 indictments and its exposure earned a Pulitzer Prize for the Atlanta Constitution in 1931.

Atlanta had prided itself for a relatively corruption-free government throughout its history, but by the 1920s, a certain odor was beginning to be felt.^[1] On November 18, 1929, Fourth Ward Alderman Ben T. Huiet told the city council he had heard a payment of $3,500 was asked for to pass electrical wiring that had been installed in the new Atlanta City Hall which was then under construction.^[2]

Soon after Atlanta Constitution president, Clark Howell, wrote a ringing editorial demanding the Fulton County grand jury to investigate. Foreman Thomas Lyon and Solicitor General John A. Boykin began the lengthy investigation where more than a thousand witnesses were called to look into the council and Mayor I.N. Ragsdale's administration.

Of the twenty-six indictments, fifteen were convicted or pleaded guilty of those seven received prison sentences including councilman Harry York.^[3]

The press coverage earned Howell and his Constitution the 1931 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

Solicitor General Boykin went on to break up Atlanta's numbers game operation in 1936.

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