East Point Juneteeth Celebration 2020

On Friday June 19th, 2020, Brenda Tackett, President of the East Point Historical society was an invited to be a speaker at the City of East Point’s Inaugural Juneteenth Celebration.

Brenda spoke a for about 5 minutes highlighting some of the notable African American citizens from the city.

Among those she highlighted were, James L Jackson,  the first African American man to run for East Point City Council in 1972. Though Mr. Jackson was never elected to the city council, he served as chairperson with the East Point Community Relations Commission, as well as being a member of the East Point Housing Review Board. The Pedestrian Community Foot Bridge which connects the Buggyworks to the Downtown district of East Point was named after him in 2002

Joe Heckstall, who was the first African American man elected to the East Point City Council in 1981, serving the community through 1994. He later went on to become a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing District 62 from 1995 to 2013.

C. Ann Douglas, who had recently passed away. She was the first African American woman to be elected to the East Point city council, serving on the council from 1988 to 2005. Her role in the formation of the Camp Creek Tax Allocation District, helped create the Camp Creek Marketplace and Camp Creek Trade Center.

Patsy Jo Hilliard, who in 1993 was both the first woman and the first African American person ever elected as Mayor of East Point. She served as mayor until 2006, longer than any other East Point mayor. 

Gus Thornhill, Jr. , who passed away in 2019, was a native of East Point and 1958 graduate of South Fulton High School. He along with George Clifford Burnette desegregated East Point’s police force in 1965 rising to the rank of Major before his retirement in 1991. As the founder, owner and operator of Gus Thornhill’s Funeral Home, he was one of our community’s most successful businessmen.

John Milner who lived in the East Washington community, would go on to play professional baseball for 12 years with the NY Mets , Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Montreal Expos. He is honored today with a sports complex built on the very same sandlot he played sports on growing up.

She invited those wanting to learn more about our city’s history to visit the Historical Society Building. She also recommended for those that are interested in learning more about the history of Black East Point, The Black America Series book, “East Point, GA.” written in 2001 by Herman "Skip" Mason Jr.  of which copies are available for purchase from the society.