• Welcome
  • Introduction Video
  • About this Project
  • Meet the Leaders (Index)
    • Henry Aaron
    • Ralph David Abernathy
    • Julian Bond
    • Joseph E. Boone
    • John Wesley Dobbs
    • W.E.B. Du Bois
    • Alonzo Herndon
    • Jesse Hill, Jr.
    • Donald Lee Hollowell
    • Hamilton E. Holmes
    • Maynard Jackson
    • Martin Luther King, Jr.
    • John Lewis
    • Joseph Lowery
    • Benjamin Mays
    • James & Robert Paschal
    • Roslyn Pope
    • Booker T. Washington
    • Domonique Wilkins
    • Hosea Williams
    • Andrew Young
  • Interactive Map
  • Explorer's Toolbox
  • Historic Districts
    • MLK Historical Park
    • MLK Park Photo Gallery
    • Nat'l Center for Civil & Human Rights
    • Rodney Cook, Sr. Park
    • Sweet Auburn District
  • Newsletter
Black Leaders of Atlanta

​Hamilton E. Holmes

​Hamilton Earl “Hamp” Holmes was born July 8, 1941, in Atlanta. His father, Alfred “Tup” Holmes, was an Atlanta businessman, and his mother, Isabella, was a schoolteacher. As a child Holmes was studious and athletic. He knew early on that he wanted to be a physician, like his grandfather Hamilton Mayo Holmes. Holmes attended Atlanta’s Henry McNeal Turner High School, considered the most prestigious high school for Black students in Atlanta’s segregated public school system. He graduated from Turner in 1959 as valedictorian, having served as both president of his senior class and co-captain of the school’s football team.
Source: New Georgia Encyclopedia
​Hamilton Holmes is best known for desegregating the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens. One of the first two African American students admitted to UGA in 1961, Holmes was also the first Black student admitted to the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta two years later.

Where to Connect

  • H.E. Holmes Station — last station (furthest west) on the Blue MARTA Line
  • Hamilton Holmes Hall at Emory University
  • Hamilton E. Holmes Drive — this 1.8-mile stretch of the former Hightower Road (GA 280) runs from MLK Jr Drive (in the ATL neighborhood of Harland Terrace) north to Donald Lee Hollowell Pkwy in Collier Heights

Learn More

  • Hamilton Holmes (New Georgia Encyclopedia)
  • Hamilton Holmes Dies; Integrated University of Georgia (AJC)
  • Holmes and Hunter-Gault: They followed their dreams (UGA Today)
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website by ATLsherpa
  • Welcome
  • Introduction Video
  • About this Project
  • Meet the Leaders (Index)
    • Henry Aaron
    • Ralph David Abernathy
    • Julian Bond
    • Joseph E. Boone
    • John Wesley Dobbs
    • W.E.B. Du Bois
    • Alonzo Herndon
    • Jesse Hill, Jr.
    • Donald Lee Hollowell
    • Hamilton E. Holmes
    • Maynard Jackson
    • Martin Luther King, Jr.
    • John Lewis
    • Joseph Lowery
    • Benjamin Mays
    • James & Robert Paschal
    • Roslyn Pope
    • Booker T. Washington
    • Domonique Wilkins
    • Hosea Williams
    • Andrew Young
  • Interactive Map
  • Explorer's Toolbox
  • Historic Districts
    • MLK Historical Park
    • MLK Park Photo Gallery
    • Nat'l Center for Civil & Human Rights
    • Rodney Cook, Sr. Park
    • Sweet Auburn District
  • Newsletter