Our History

The Story of Gate City Day Nursery Association
“A Quality Early Childhood Program, Where Learning Comes First”

Where did it all begin?
It all began in a city called Atlanta, the “Gate City”, so named because it was the Gate Way to the South. While Atlanta was known as the “Gate City”, the picture was not as bright as it seemed, prosperity was not enjoyed by all of its citizens, and the city was divided along racial lines. It was a city that was segregated.

Many parents of small children had to work long hours, just to make ends meet. During the time they were away at work, oftentimes their children were left unattended to play in the streets of their neighborhoods. Their basic needs were unmet until their parents returned home from work. Even though mothers worked all day, the economic and physical conditions of African Americans in the city often put the families at risk.

The plight of these families did not go unnoticed, as a teacher from Atlanta University, Dr. Gertrude Ware, began to put ideas in motion. Her dream was to provide a safe haven where children could learn and socialize with their peers. And so began her quest to bring her dream to fulfillment.

During this time at Atlanta University, there was a leading scholar and writer, by the name of Dr. W. E. B. DuBois, who was one of the most prolific thinkers of the 20th century. He was a teacher of sociology at Atlanta University. Dr. DuBois was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University, and in 1896 organized the sociology department at AU, edited its internationally respected journal, and convened annual conferences that targeted issues affecting the life of African Americans.

Dr. Gertrude Ware approached Dr. DuBois with her vision, and he initiated the movement, which was stimulated by one of a series of conferences on African Americans conducted by Atlanta University under his direction. One of the most significant issues which came out of these conferences was the necessity for some type of agency to provide child care during the day for parents who had to work.

And so in 1905 Gate City Day Nursery Association, first called the Gate City Free Kindergarten, was organized for the purpose of providing and maintaining a free kindergarten for African American children in Atlanta.

Dr. Ware and a group of Atlanta women; Mrs. Ola Perry, Mrs. Ida Wynn, Mrs. Lizzie Burch, Mrs. David T. Howard, Mrs. J. W. E. Bowen, Mrs. John Hope, and Mrs. Alonzo F. Herndon all stepped up to meet the challenges set before them. They helped find the finances, teachers, and supplies as they opened centers and worked hard to make sure they were supported. It was in 1923 that Gate City Day Nursery Association became a charter member of the Atlanta Community Chest, now known as the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta.

Decatur Street was full of small businesses, including restaurants, loan shops, groceries, and clothing and hardware stores, many of which were owned and operated by African Americans. It was the second largest major thoroughfare for African Americans in Atlanta. The street was also laden with speakeasies, bars, prostitution, and gambling, and thus dubbed the “Red Light” district.

The most popular building on Decatur Street was Bailey’s 81 Theater. As Atlanta’s legitimate vaudeville theater and picture show for African Americans, the theater had an orchestra pit where many of Atlanta’s prominent musicians performed. In later years, a young singer from Macon, Georgia, named Richard Penniman, won a talent show at the 81 Theater. He would later be known as “Little Richard”. The landmark theater closed in the 1960’s. Currently the Georgia State University Library occupies the block on Decatur Street where the theater once stood.

In 1955 at the request of the Atlanta Housing Authority, the Elizabeth Burch Child Care Center was opened, and in 1958 the center moved to the community building in the Carver Homes community. The Carver Homes Housing Project opened in Atlanta in 1953.

During this time the Claudia White Harreld Child Care Center opened in the Perry Homes Community. The Perry Homes Housing Project was completed in northwest Atlanta in 1955. The Harreld Center was named in honor of the former president of Gate City Day Nursery Association. Claudia White Harreld devoted most of her life in service to the organization.

In 1963 Gate City was requested to operate two centers in Marietta by the Junior League of Cobb Marietta. The Lyman Homes Child Care Center, and the Fort Hill Child Care Center were operated out of the Marietta Housing Authority communities. Also during the early 1960’s, Gate City moved from the John Eagan Homes Community to assume operation of the A. F. Herndon Child Care Center in Herndon Homes, located on Northside Drive in Atlanta.

In 1965 then President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964, which opens the doors of restaurants, hotels and theaters to African Americans in Atlanta and elsewhere. Gate City embarks on a new venture opening a Head Start Program in the Bowen Homes housing community sponsored by Economic Opportunity Atlanta, Inc.

Stokely Carmichael, the chairman of SNCC, denounces the latest instance of police brutality in Atlanta and leads the Summerhill Riot where one person was killed. The riot is triggered by the shooting of an African American male, an alleged auto thief, by an Atlanta policeman. Then Mayor Ivan Allen summons 25 of the city’s leading African American ministers to attempt to restore peace and order to the city.

In 1972 two significant events occurred with Gate City: The Ida E. Wynn Child Care Center opens in the Thomasville Heights Housing Community, and in October of the same year, the Central Administration is opened on Cascade Road in Southwest Atlanta. The Samuel L. Jones Center opens on the Southside of Atlanta to bridge the gap in services for families in that area. Gate City establishes its first flat fee center when it opened the S. L. Jones Center.

In 1975 the Campbellton Road strip featured the largest and liveliest selection of night spots for African Americans in Atlanta. Clubs such as Mr. V’s Figure 8, Cisco’s, and Marko’s Disco and Restaurant provide urbanites with social outlets. Nestled between three shopping centers, Greenbriar, Westgate, and DeLowe Plaza—Campbellton Road has numerous fast food restaurants, auto showrooms, bank branches, gas stations, package stores, and convenience shops.

Gate City Day Nursery Association acquires another center in 1986, known as the Grady Homes Child Care Center. It was renamed the Susie LaBord Child Care Center.

During the 1990’s several major changes occurred within the agency: The A. F. Herndon Child Care Center closes because of renovations to the Herndon Homes community, the Elizabeth Burch Child Care Center moves from Carver Homes to its current location at the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency on Pollard Boulevard. This move was made because of the revitalization of the Carver Homes community. The Claudia White Harreld Child Care Center in Perry Homes closed due to the renovation and revitalization of the community. The Bowen Homes Child Care Center closes its doors.

In January 1998 Gate City Day Nursery Association opens a new facility, one which the agency purchased from  Nations Bank. It is the second facility owned by the agency. The new center was named the Samuel M. Nabrit Child Care Center in honor of the past Board President, Dr. Samuel M. Nabrit.

In 2001 Gate City was asked to operate a center in the newly revitalized community of Castleberry Hills, a mixed income community developed by the Herman J. Russell Company. The center was name the John Hope Child Care Center in honor of one of Gate City’s first board members in 1905. The Fort Hill Child Care Center and Lyman Homes Child Care Center closes its doors in 2003 and 2006 respectively.  The Elizabeth Burch Child Care Center is funded by the AWDA as a one-stop center to provide services for participants of that agency.