In 1886, Dr. John Pemberton served the very first
Prior to his death in 1888, just two years after creating what was to become the world’s #1-selling sparkling beverage, Dr. Pemberton sold portions of his business to various parties, with the majority of the interest sold to Atlanta businessman, Asa G. Candler. Under Mr. Candler’s leadership, distribution of Coca‑Cola expanded to soda fountains beyond Atlanta.
http://www.worldofcoca-cola.com/about-us/coca-cola-history/
Recognizing the economic benefits of racial harmony, the challenges of the growing student movement, and the power of the burgeoning black electorate, Hartsfield, Coca-Cola executive Robert Woodruff, and other prominent white businessmen from the Chamber of Commerce accepted limited, carefully circumscribed civil rights reforms in exchange for black votes, economic growth, and civic harmony. As Kruse writes of Atlanta's white power structure, "Forced to choose between the social customs of segregation and the economic creed of progress, they readily chose the latter" (p. 37). By negotiating with black leaders over the relaxation of racial segregation, however, the moderate coalition helped to spawn grassroots rebellions within Atlanta's white working-class neighborhoods and other spaces on the margins of Atlanta's expanding black community.
https://networks.h-net.org/node/9997/reviews/10652/highsmith-kruse-white-flight-atlanta-and-making-modern-conservatism
When Robert Woodruff of Coca-Cola announced his support of the dinner [honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.], opposition within the business community quickly died. Woodruff was concerned that the city's image would be damaged if Atlanta refused to honor Dr. King. The dinner was held at the Dinkler Hotel in downtown Atlanta. Almost every major business owner was present or represented. Over fifteen hundred Africa American and white leaders gathered to honor Reverend King...Life magazine characterized the dinner as "an emotional acceptance hereto unknown in the South.' Atlanta, 'once more,' had 'earned the reputation as the most progressive city in the South on race relations.'"
Beneath the Image of the Civil Rights Movement and Race Relations: Atlanta, Georgia, 1946-1981
"...Coca-cola determined strategic policy locally, policy that promoted economic expansion at all costs. On the eve of World War II, Atlanta appeared poised for greatness. With federal dollars providing the stimulus, the corporate structure embarked on a course of phenomenal growth. Only the issue of race threatened to cloud the horizon. Determine that Atlanta would not undergo a Little Rock experience, Coca-Cola's Robert W. Woodruff led an informal coalition of progressive white businessmen that assisted Mayors William B. Hartsfield and Ivan Allen Jr. in making token race reforms. Members of the traditional Negro leadership class, including A.T> Walden of Atlanta Life Insurance, restauranteur John Wesley Dobbs, and the Reverend Martin Luther King Sr., quietly negotiated with the white power structure. Commentary favorable to desgregation by Atlanta Constitution editor Ralph McGill set the tone of white guilt and racial responsibility that characterized Atlanta's civic mentality. Consequently, the city weathered the civil rights movement relatively untouched by the storms that battered other southern cities. Atlanta thus epitomized the southern transition in positive race relations and provided a role model for progressive leadership in the region."
But for Birmingham: The local and national movements in the civil rights struggle
GT Eskew
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