Atlanta graft ring

The Atlanta graft ring was a corruption scandal that erupted in 1930 that generated 26 indictments and its exposure earned a Pulitzer Prize for the Atlanta Constitution in 1931.

Atlanta had prided itself for a relatively corruption-free government throughout its history, but by the 1920s, a certain odor was beginning to be felt. On November 18, 1929, Fourth Ward Alderman Ben T. Huiet told the city council he had heard a payment of $3,500 was asked for to pass electrical wiring that had been installed in the new Atlanta City Hall which was then under construction.

Soon after Atlanta Constitution president, Clark Howell, wrote a ringing editorial demanding the Fulton County grand jury to investigate. Foreman Thomas Lyon and Solicitor General John A. Boykin began the lengthy investigation where more than a thousand witnesses were called to look into the council and Mayor I.N. Ragsdale's administration.

Of the twenty-six indictments, fifteen were convicted or pleaded guilty of those seven received prison sentences including councilman Harry York.

The press coverage earned Howell and his Constitution the 1931 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

Solicitor General Boykin went on to break up Atlanta's numbers game operation in 1936.

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