The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an interesting little project going. Through October 24, readers can vote in a poll to select the 100 people who most influenced the South in the 20th century. The headline on the September 26 announcement was a bit misleading. That makes those of us happy who feel Franklin Roosevelt and George Norris were important influences on the South.
Readers can do their judging between influences for good or ill.
Voters in the poll who have internet access will find it easy to make their choices. The paper's own list of nominees does an impressive job of covering the waterfront. The Journal-Constitution nominee list is probably a bit too heavily weighted toward the last forty years of the century and towards Atlanta and Georgia and towards males, but voters can write in additional names at the end. Picking the most influential out of a century's worth of luminaries is a fun game to play, requiring us to dredge our deepest brain crevices to play it well. Making us pause to remember and be grateful is the spin-off benefit of the Atlanta poll.