A History of Hate Groups in Atlanta

The stories of Samuel Green, Homer L. Loomis, Minnie Sibley and the historic Atlanta landscape.

This story map pieces together information regarding the lives of 3 figures: Homer L. Loomis, a fascist who founded the Atlanta based hate group, the Columbians in 1946; the rise of the final iteration of the Ku Klux Klan under the helm of Samuel Green; and the life of Minnie Sibley, an African American woman who was targeted and attacked by the Columbians Inc. The Columbians attacked Sibley's house with dynamite in the early morning of October 31st 1946. This story map also provides supplemental information exploring the built environment of Atlanta in which these individuals lived.

Samuel Green and the KKK

Dr. Samuel Green was born November 18th 1899 in Atlanta Georgia. He worked as an obstetrician and joined the Ku Klux Klan in 1922. Green announced his return to public cross burning in 1945 and would soon be elected as the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan on August 4th 1949. The Klan would feud with the newly formed Columbians Inc. between 1946 and 1947 as both groups battled for power to become Atlanta's eminent white supremacist organization. However, his tenure as leader of the Klan would be short as he died on August 18th, 1949 at the age of 59. Green's draft cards from 1917-1918 display his residence at the Kimball House in downtown Atlanta.

Homer Loomis and the Columbians

Homer L. Loomis was born in New York on January 31st, 1914 to a prominent and wealthy family. His father worked as an admiralty lawyer allowing Loomis a privileged childhood. Loomis attended school in Concord, New Hampshire at St. Paul's School and would eventually attend college at Princeton University between 1933 and 1935. However, he would be expelled from Princeton for public drunkenness. After his military service in the United States Army between 1944 and 1946, Loomis would eventually move to Atlanta, Georgia where he would form the fascist hate group, the Columbians Inc. with Emory Burke and John H. Zimmerlee. The Columbians Inc. would operate from 1946 to 1947 with a charter granted by the state of Georgia at 82 Bartow Street. Their goals ranged from organizing the white working class to stop the integration of African Americans in white neighborhoods to political domination of the United States government. Ultimately, their end goal was to form a white supremacist ethno-state brought about by mass deportations of ethnic minorities. The Columbians Inc. would eventually dissolve due to legal trouble impacting Loomis and Burke. Homer L. Loomis would eventually relocate to Thomasville, Georgia where he would live until his death on October 7th 1991. Homer L. Loomis is buried at Arlington Memorial Cemetery in Sandy Springs. Georgia.

Minnie Sibley: Victim of the Columbians Inc.

Minnie Sibley was an African American woman born June 19th 1915 in Cedartown, Polk, Georgia. Her father, Turner Sibley worked as a brakeman for the railway as a wage laborer. Minnie had 4 siblings, 3 brothers and 1 sister. She would eventually leave Cedartown and move to 333 Ashby Street Atlanta, Georgia. On October 31st, 1946, Sibley's home would be attacked by the Columbians Inc. who bombed her front porch in an act of racist domestic terrorism. Minnie Sibley continued to live in Atlanta, Georgia until her death on January 11th 1975.

Newspaper headline from Atlanta Daily World covering the Columbians bombing of Minnie Sibley's home at 333 Ashby street on October 31st, 1946.

Minnie Sibley 1920 Census.

Investigators examining the damage from the Columbians attack on the Sibley home at 333 Ashby Street.


Supplemental information

1919 Foote and Davies map showing Sanborn map 463 location including the Kimball House and the 2nd Atlanta Union Station which was demolished in 1930.

The Kimball House, 1930.

The Kimball House and Union Station circa 1882.

Old Union Station stood from 1871 to 1930.

1919 Foote and Davies map showing Sanborn map 14 including the Tabernacle Baptist church, Tabernacle Infirmary, a private stable. 58 Bartow would eventually become the headquarters of the Columbians INC.

Tabernacle Baptist Church circa 1930s.

References

1.      Sanborn Map Company. "Insurance maps, Atlanta, Georgia, 1911 / published by the Sanborn Map Company." 1911. April 16, 2024.  https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_sanb_atlanta-1911#item . Maps used 463, 14 and 31.

2.      Library of Congress, KKK mascots flank dragon, 1948, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division,  https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2005676211/ .

 

3.      Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

 

Original data: United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.

4.      Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.

 

Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.

5.      Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

 

Original data: Find a Grave. Find a Grave®.  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi .

6.      McCARTNEY, KEELER. "Four Members Jailed in New Racial Disorder as Hornsby Asks Columbians be Outlawed: Buyer of Home Told to Stay Out." The Atlanta Constitution (1946-1984), Nov 03, 1946, https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/four-members-jailed-new-racial-disorder-as/docview/1528746265/se-2 (accessed April 16, 2024).

7.      AJCP170-027c, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.

8.      AJCP170-027e, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.

9.      AJCP455-091e, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.

10.  Year: 1930; Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Page: 24A; Enumeration District: 0542; FHL microfilm: 2341301

Source Information

Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.

 

Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.

11.  AJCN005-034i, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.

12.  National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Virginia, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 457

 

Source Information

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

13.  AJCP455-091d, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.

14.  U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; School Name: Princeton University; Year: 1934

 

Source Information

Ancestry.com. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

 

Original data: Various school yearbooks from across the United States.

15.  "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; School Name: Saint Paul's School; Year: 1932

 

Source Information

Ancestry.com. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

 

Original data: Various school yearbooks from across the United States.

16.  Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

 

Original data: Find a Grave. Find a Grave®.  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi .

17.  "Police Intensify Probe of Columbians: Blast Rocks Dwelling on Ashby Street History of New Organization shows Intense Race Hate." Atlanta Daily World (1932-), Nov 01, 1946, https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/police-intensify-probe-columbians/docview/490810559/se-2 (accessed April 16, 2024).

18.  Year: 1920; Census Place: Cedartown, Polk, Georgia; Roll: T625_274; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 164

 

Source Information

Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

 

Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City).

19.  Foote And Davies Company. Atlanta. [N.P, 1919] Map.  https://www.loc.gov/item/75693190/ .

20. AJCP221-001a, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.

21. LBGPF7-010a, Lane Brothers Commercial Photographers Photographic Collection, 1920-1976. Photographic Collection, Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.

22. AJCP321-020b, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library

23. AJCP338-037i, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.

24. "Georgia - White and Yellow Pages - Atlanta - Jul - 46." 1946. April 19, 2024. https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/gdcustel.usteledirec06212.

25. "Columbians, Barred from Hall, Break in." The Atlanta Constitution (1946-1984), Nov 22, 1946. https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/columbians-barred-hall-break/docview/1528753258/se-2.

26. "Columbians Tear Up Charter, Mail Bits to Prosecutor Duke: Pin Hopes on 'Power' in Politics." The Atlanta Constitution (1946-1984), Nov 08, 1946. https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/columbians-tear-up-charter-mail-bits-prosecutor/docview/1528747456/se-2.

27. Hatfield, Edward. "Columbians." New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified May 4, 2021. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/columbians/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Newspaper headline from Atlanta Daily World covering the Columbians bombing of Minnie Sibley's home at 333 Ashby street on October 31st, 1946.

Minnie Sibley 1920 Census.

Investigators examining the damage from the Columbians attack on the Sibley home at 333 Ashby Street.

1919 Foote and Davies map showing Sanborn map 463 location including the Kimball House and the 2nd Atlanta Union Station which was demolished in 1930.

The Kimball House, 1930.

The Kimball House and Union Station circa 1882.

Old Union Station stood from 1871 to 1930.

1919 Foote and Davies map showing Sanborn map 14 including the Tabernacle Baptist church, Tabernacle Infirmary, a private stable. 58 Bartow would eventually become the headquarters of the Columbians INC.

Tabernacle Baptist Church circa 1930s.