Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta, GA 30305
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Notes
Rich's Department Store was founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1867 by Morris Rich, a Hungarian-born immigrant. The business expanded over several decades, and eventually was located on the corner of Alabama and Broad Streets in downtown Atlanta. In the 1960s and 1970s the store opened in several other locations. In 1948 a seventy-foot live Christmas tree was first placed on the roof of Rich's downtown department store. Thereafter, the Lighting of the Great Tree became an Atlanta tradition. In 1960, several African American college students protested segregationist policies practiced by Rich's until the store agreed to desegregate its stores in 1961. Rich's department store was phased out in 2005.
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