Atlanta graft ring
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.