United States, Georgia, Coweta County, Newnan, 33.38067, -84.79966Hulett, Keith2006-05-26Encyclopedia article about William Y. Atkinson. A noted proponent of education and credited with helping to establish the first state women's college, William Y. Atkinson served two terms as governor of Georgia, from 1894 to 1898. His successful implementation of reform politics helped cut short the Populist threat to the state Democratic Party. A lawyer-legislator from Newnan, Atkinson's political ascent heralded the declining influence in Georgia of the old Confederates--the Redeemers--and of the so-called Bourbon Democrats, who advanced the interests of the state's postwar urban capitalists and plantation-country elite. Atkinson emerged from among the ranks of young professionals entering state politics from the newly developing regions of Georgia. Atkinson County, created in 1917, is named for him.text/htmlengForms part of the New Georgia Encyclopedia.http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/Forms part of the New Georgia Encyclopedia.Governors--GeorgiaLawyers--Georgia--NewnanPoliticians--GeorgiaWilliam Y. Atkinson (1854-1899)Text