The Colonnade: Nearly 100 years of family-style service; The student-led protest for Eva L. Thomas High School

Closer Look with Rose Scott

As its 100th anniversary approaches, Rose Scott and the “Closer Look” team sit down with the staff of The Colonnade. Established in 1927, the Cheshire Bridge Road diner is one of Atlanta’s oldest restaurants, with some employees from the 1970s and 1980s still working in the kitchen and dining room. Scott talks with the owners about the history of The Colonnade, its family atmosphere among the staff and customers, the many movies and television shows that have filmed there, and the food that’s kept customers coming back for decades.

Plus, in the midst of the civil rights struggle to desegregate public schools, an all-Black school was constructed to accommodate students in the College Park area. Starting from 1964, the students of Eva L. Thomas High School achieved academic excellence and athletic success. That’s until the late 1960s, when the Fulton County School Board ordered the school to be closed. As a documentary shows, this sparked a student-led protest. Rose talks with Mike Santrock, an archivist and historian for Fulton County Schools, and Ursel Brown, an alum of Eva L. Thomas High School.

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