Manuel’s Tavern has played a significant role in the politics, culture, and history of Atlanta. The Unpacking Manuel’s project provides a local archive platform for GSU classes from History, English, Political Science, Art, Policy and other courses to explore, research, and tell stories. Students can choose artifacts they wish to research and compose content for pop-out project pages including text, video, interviews and links to other sources. Strong student work can be added to the site, and students and teachers can point to a project as an example of their work. The 3D virtual environment part of the project will also feature student work. In my GSU 1010 course as a part of the experiential learning component, students visit Manuel’s Tavern. The students speak to neighborhood residents and read and write about neighborhood folklore and the rich history preserved on the walls of the neighborhood pub.
Unpacking Manuel’s Project is a part of the Student Innovation Fellowship Program at Georgia State University. The Student Innovation Fellowship Program collaborates with community partners, government agencies, and for-profit companies to enhance learning and research at Georgia State University through the use of innovative technology. It allows students to develop consulting expertise and share ideas on emerging technologies and instructional innovations. Projects utilize digital curation, integrated marketing media platforms, web development and content, 3D modeling, and community outreach. Sample clients include Maps Atlanta, Manuel’s Tavern, Homeless Resource Project, and the Atlanta Migration Worker Research Project.
Below are some examples of student work from the Unpacking Manuel’s Tavern website.
Student #1
Manuel’s Tavern: Where Politics and Sports Mix
Student Contributor – Cameron Brown
Check out Cameron’s original post here
“Manuel’s Tavern: Where Politics and Sports Mix”
The restaurant that is Manuel’s Tavern is a historic one that lies many stories within the building. These stories are quietly shown throughout the numerous amount of pictures that are laid out on the walls that are in the restaurant. Some of these pictures being political and some having some type of significance about the origins of which it came. For instance, one of the political pictures I chose was a framed confederate 100$ bill which in retrospect shows the past of the restaurant and gives you a little insight on how long the restaurant was around. The reason for why I chose this is because along with the other researchers finding information on the pictures that are associated with the presidency, I find this picture different and somewhat of a topic that is forgotten. This frame is ambiguous revolved around the topic of a confederacy which in my opinion brings somewhat of an ominous past because of the reason that Atlanta resides in the south. Considering that the unspeakable topic of confederacy withholds the origin of being formed as seven secessionist slave-holding states. Nevertheless, this shows the old age of the restaurant and by doing some research, you can find that the 100$ confederate dollar is the ultimate double price of 265$. This dollar was first issued around the outbreak of the American Civil War and was used simply as a promise to pay the bearer after the war on the tide of southern victory. As the historic food place does hold many pictures that are of the topic of the U.S government, there are some wall items that are there that are for another significant reason.
For instance, the second item that I chose was an Atlanta Thrasher pennant. This pennant was held from all the way back to the 1990s which were when hockey was popularized by a lot of people. This pennant shows importance because of the critical fact that Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League in June 1997 which was only around 20 years ago. Although they somewhat had a team from 1992 to 1996 from the departure of the Atlanta Knights, to eventually become the Quebec Rafales. The brand new franchise was named the Atlanta Thrashers after Georgia’s state bird. This shows that Manuel’s Tavern is and was also popularized by the concept of sports and made it which somewhat of a variety sports bar as well. The explanation for this is because that there were many other pennants that were also hanged and portrayed other sports but that were represented by the city of Atlanta.
Author information: Cameron Brown is a freshman at Georgia State University.
Student #2
Atlanta Falcons Pennant
Student Contributor Jacob Tranter
Check out Jacob’s original post here
Atlanta Falcons Pennant
This pennant celebrates the 1998 NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons. In the 1998 season, the Atlanta Falcons reached their first Super Bowl behind QB Chris Chandler. They knocked off the #1 seeded Minnesota Vikings in an overtime win in which Minnesota kicker Gary Anderson missed his first field goal of the season. This allowed Atlanta to take the win with a game-winning kick in overtime. Morten Anderson, the Falcons then-kicker, went on to become an NFL Hall of Fame-r and is now the only Hall of Fame inductee on the 1998 Atlanta Falcons team. The Falcons won this game despite the Vikings being 11-point favorites coming into it and the Vikings having only lost one game during that year’s regular season and became the only 15-1 team in NFL history not to win the Super Bowl. This win was a great moment for Falcons fans as the franchise had previously been dubbed “snakebitten” by many sports critics and analysts. Bleacher Report contributor Dan Weiner recalls “For most of the franchise’s history, Atlanta was the whipping boy of the 49ers in the old, and geographically [challenged], NFC West.” Weiner even entitled that article “The 1998 Atlanta Falcons: The Team That Proved Anything is Possible”. This changed after the Falcons 1998 victory, however. The Falcons won the game 30-27 in overtime and the Dirty Bird fever spread across Atlanta. Despite reaching the Super Bowl, the Falcons did not take home the championship. The Falcons went on to lose 34-19 two weeks later. Despite this, the Falcons 1998 season is still remembered as only one of the franchises two Super Bowl appearances.
Author Information: I’m Jacob Tranter and I am currently a political science major at Georgia State University. I plan to study abroad for Fall 2018, in perhaps France or Italy, and join some clubs next semester. After I graduate, I plan to further my education by going to law school to study a currently undecided type of law. I’m from Newnan, Georgia, but originally hail from Oxford, England.
Man in Drag
The wooden frame located in room L2 on the northwest wall depicts a picture of a man standing up in front of a couch. He is fully dressed in drag and make up. The reason I chose this to be my political item was because of the connection of politics and LGBT rights. Gender non-conforming individuals have always struggled with constant discrimination, mistreatment, and controversy where ever they may be. The LGBT community is still fighting for things such as workplace discrimination, gender-neutral bathrooms, ease of sex change on legal documents which I still rejected by three states, housing discrimination, and general mistreatment on subjects like politics, business, sports, etc. As many know Manuel’s Tavern is a politically Democratic bar who has had an abundance of presidents and political figures in attendance. Some of these individuals include John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, and many more. Democrats are considered to be left-wing individuals who are more progressive and liberal. This means that in general they are more supportive of the LGBT community and their rights. I think that pinning up a frame of a man dressed in drag, shows a sign of support to the LGBT community, especially on the northwest wall. This wall has very few picture frames, many of which include these political figures. Rarely do you see pictures of this sort hung up in bars, which shows the Democratic side of Manuel’s Tavern.
Author Information: Lizette Arias is a freshmen at Georgia State University.
Student #4
Evel Knievel
Student Contributor Kyra Urquhart-Foster
Check out Kyra’s original post here:
Evel Knievel
Evel Knievel, originally named Robert Craig Knievel, was born in Butte, Montana on October 17, 1938. He is remembered for doing death-defying stunts. He started out doing his stunts at local fairs, then later expanded to doing shows at stadiums. His shows would almost always sell out. His most famous stunt was jumping from ramp to ramp on a motorcycle. His first jump was in 1966 in California. From then on, he attempted over 75 more motorcycle jumps. He was also known for his canyon jumping. He would use a steam powered rocket to cross canyons. He jumped over cars, busses, and a lot of his stunts were considered some of the greatest sporting events of all time. He also holds the Guinness Book of Records title of most bones broken in a lifetime (433 to be exact).
As a child, Evel lived without rules. When he was eight years old, he went to daredevil motorcycle show and that is when his love for stunting began. He ended up being a high school dropout and joined the army for s little while. He came home to marry Linda Bork and they had five children. He participated in rodeos, ski jumping events, and hockey seeking to fulfill his drive for thrill. Evel really wanted to jump the Grand Canyon but the United States government would not allow it. He fought a long legal battle with the United States but eventually still lost. In 2007 in Clearwater, Florida, Evel Knievel died at the age of 69 due to failing health from diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Author information: Kyra Urquhart-Foster is a biology major at Georgia State University. She aspires to be a Physician Assistant after graduate school. She is from Suwanee, Georgia and enjoys playing volleyball, cooking with friends, and exploring all that Atlanta has to offer.
