RACEALONG 127 



for the southern farmer to grow something that he 

 could eat as well as wear, and at the same time have 

 something that he could sell for cash at any time 

 even if there was a bad crop of cotton or a glut in 

 the market. 



Striplin continued his work at Meridian until 1914, 

 when the live wires back of the spirit of Atlanta 

 decided that the gate city of the south should have 

 a fair that was up to the standard of the new south 

 described by Henry Grady. Everyone dropped into 

 line with the movement from the school boys to gray 

 haired men, who saw the city grow from the village 

 of Marthaville which Ivy founded in 1838, and also 

 raise from the ashes left by Sherman. 



Selecting grounds which afterwards became part 

 of the park system of Atlanta, except when being 

 used for fair purposes, they planned an exposition 

 which rivals any on the continent, while the mam- 

 moth stucco exhibition buildings, each with a touch 

 of Spanish architecture, blend harmoniously with 

 their woodland surroundings. A mile race track was 

 built around the edge of an abandoned reservoir, in 

 which there is sufficient water for boating and other 

 aquatic features. 



R. M. Striplin was selected to supervise this work, 

 and plan a fair in keeping with the surroundings. 

 Opening in 1915 with a cotton and stock show he 

 followed it in 1916 with a fair that was complete in 

 every department. When the gates were thrown 

 open in the middle of October the stockmen of 

 Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama had an oppor- 



