A HISTORY of the ATLANTA BRANCH of the ENGLISH-SPEAKING UNION

Imagine that it is the year 1910 and you are sitting in a middle pew in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Enveloping your entire being is the music of funeral marches of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Purcell and Chopin. King Edward VII has just died and you are seated at his memorial service in Westminster Abbey. You are twenty-eight years old and have already made your first million dollars in the postcard business. You introduced the ‘picture postcard to your fellow Britons, having been influenced at an earlier age by those of the Germans in your family travels. You are now known in England and on the Continent as “The Post Card King.”

The soaring organ notes capture your soul. With the veil of materialism and gain falling from you, you dedicate the rest of your life to a higher purpose. You decide to dedicate your life to the betterment of the Empire and your fellowman… You feel that each human being should be a reflection of the Divine.

Such is the beginning of what became The English-Speaking Union, a gradual getting together of English speaking, like-minded men and women, who in turn brought in others to whom the betterment and education of those surrounding them would benefit the whole. Ultimately, these groups of like-minded people extended all across the British Isles and to America, where we now have 65 branches in the U.S., 36 branches in the U.K., and branches in 54 countries worldwide.  Our own Atlanta Branch was founded in 1940 and received their charter from Her Majesty in 1948.