Dan Sweat oral history interview 1996 November 24

Sweat was born in 1933 in Waycross, Georgia. He graduated from Georgia State College (later Georgia State University) in 1957 with a degree in public administration. He married his wife Tally in 1956, and they had three children and several grandchildren. Sweat covered the Fulton County courthouse for the Atlanta Journal while still in college. In 1957 he entered the Navy, where his commander allowed him to attend Seventh Fleet scheduling conferences. Sweat later returned to Atlanta, and the Journal, but later took at job as information director at DeKalb County. County Commission chairman Charles O. Emmerich took Sweat under his wing, but lost his reelection bid in 1964. Emmerich then took a job with Economic Opportunity Atlanta, a new federal anti-poverty program, and took Sweat with him. Sweat earned a reputation as a master at getting federal grants. Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. eventually offered Sweat a position at City Hall. Sweat took a job in 1966 as director of government liaison, charged with bringing as much federal money to Atlanta as possible. Eventually Allen promoted Sweat to chief administrative officer in August of 1969. Sweat kept the same job under Mayor Sam Massell, who succeeded Allen. He coordinated Atlanta's War on Poverty and Model Cities programs during his tenure at City Hall. Sweat also played a role in the naming of the first two black department heads in city government. Sweat left City Hall in late 1971, and early the next year took a job as executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission. He was involved in establishing the Chattahoochee River Corridor, and helped the commission survive its initial court challenges. In 1973, Sweat became president of Central Atlanta Progress. In that role he represented downtown business interests, and gained the reputation as a major power broker in Atlanta. Sweat bridged the gap between new black political power at City Hall and the white downtown business establishment. He was involved in numerous high profile downtown projects, ...