Lester Maddox letters

Lester Garfield Maddox (1915-2003) was a well-known Democratic party politician and Governor of Georgia for one term. Maddox rose to political prominence as a staunch segregationist in Atlanta. He owned a successful family restaurant called The Pickrick which was very well known. During the 1964 Civil Rights movement, a group of black activists approached the still-segregated restaurant but were run off by Maddox and his employees. Maddox filed a lawsuit, trying to keep his restaurant segregated, but lost and sold the restaurant rather than integrate it. Maddox ran several times for Mayor of Atlanta and Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, but was unsuccessful. However, Maddox did run successfully for Governor and served one term from 1967-1971. Maddox campaigned as a fierce segregationist, but governed as a Moderate. Following his one term in office, he faced extreme financial hardship. He ran unsuccessfully for Governor again in 1990 and remained a prominent figure in Cobb County. He was married to his wife, Virginia, for 61 years before his death in 2003.