Episode 2: The Families

In the second episode of 1912, Rose Scott and Sophia Dodd peel back the layers of history to reveal the personal stories of some of the Black families exiled from Forsyth County. The episode opens with Elon Osby recounting the life of her grandfather, William Bagley — a man who, alongside his wife Ida, embodied the promise of post-Emancipation life in Forsyth. Born into the first generation of free Black Americans, the Bagleys carved out a prosperous life on 60 acres of land, only to see it ripped away by the racial hatred in 1912.

As the episode unfolds, Scott and Dodd follow the Bagley family's journey out of Forsyth County. They resettled in Macedonia Park, an area that would eventually become Bagley Park, nestled in what is now Buckhead. There, the Bagleys didn’t just survive — they thrived, building a community that became a focal point for Black life in the area. Dorothy Pemberton describes growing up in Bagley Park, where the threat of the Ku Klux Klan was ever-present and a constant reminder of the hatred that had driven them from Forsyth.

The episode widens its lens to include the stories of other displaced families such as the Stricklands and the Merritts, whose lives were also turned upside down by the violence that swept through Forsyth County in 1912.

1912 is a limited series from Atlanta History Center and WABE.

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