The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Reed’s graceful Swan House Ball swan song
Kasim Reed attended his last Swan House Ball as Atlanta’s mayor recently. But he hasn’t attended his last Swan House Ball.
“I may not be back as mayor, but I will be back,” he said at the April 22 event benefiting the Atlanta History Center. “I’ll be just some regular guy. I would thank each and every one of you but my term would expire before I was through. It has been the privilege of my life to serve.”
His impending exit looms amid a time of triumphant partnership between the city and the history center, as the Cyclorama, long housed in a historic Grant Park building near Zoo Atlanta, will now call the history center home.
Mary Ann and Lloyd Whitaker, whose vision, generosity and philanthropic leadership launched the effort to restore and relocate the Cyclorama, were honored at last year’s Swan House Ball. Their names will grace the painting’s new facility, currently under construction on the history center campus.
“I can’t wait to visit the Cyclorama,” Reed said. “I look forward to the day when my daughter comes here with her family to learn about Atlanta, what we have been through and what we have accomplished.”
The historic work, which depicts the 1864 Battle of Atlanta, is due to open next year.
“All great cities or cities that want to be great have a repository for their history,” said Reed, who has enjoyed a strong relationship with the history center during his tenure. In 2014, he and Gov. Nathan Deal were the Swan House Ball’s joint honorees.
“Tonight, in all of my time being mayor, was the first time I was jealous of my friend Gov. Deal,” Reed said that night. “He had an easier commute.”
Speaking of commutes, Atlanta History Center President and CEO Sheffield Hale said he’d thought of parading the Texas, the 26-ton engine famed for its role in the 1862 Great Locomotive Chase and now on display at the history center, through town upon its return from a refurbish job in North Carolina. The ripple effects of the I-85 mess scotched that idea.
Quipped Reed: “Y’all might want to rethink putting the Texas right out front. Folks in Marietta want that thing really bad!”
Hale saluted the mayor’s leadership, saying, “He gets the fact that we’re trying to connect people, history and culture.”
The 2017 Swan House Ball, chaired by Barbarella Diaz and Bea Perez, honored the family of May and Philip H. Alston Sr., longtime civic and philanthropic leaders. The impressive roster includes James L. Alston, Robert C. Alston, Philip H. Alston Jr., Anne Alston Glenn, Birnie Alston Jordan, Cotten Alston, Elkin Alston, Jimmy Alston, Stuart Alston, Alston Glenn, Bob Glenn, Jack Glenn, Lewis Glenn, Amanda Alston Gregory, Fletcher Jordan, Jimmy Jordan and Daphne Alston Marane.
Following a video presentation during the event heralding the Alstons’ lasting impact on Atlanta and a lively live auction, the crowd hit the dance floor and didn’t leave until early Sunday morning.