History
The Burns Club of Atlanta is fifty-third in seniority among several hundred organizations recognized by the Scottish-based World Burns Federation. Officially organized on January 25, 1896, the centennial year of Robert Burns’ birth, the Burns Club of Atlanta is quite possibly the city’s oldest surviving cultural and literary society. As early as the 1870s, Burns admirers in Atlanta had been meeting in private homes and hotels to celebrate the birthday of the Scottish poet. Shortly after the club’s formation, plans were made to construct for a clubhouse an exact replica of Robert Burns' birthplace in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland. Situated in the East Atlanta neighborhood of Ormewood Park, construction for the Atlanta Burns Cottage was completed in 1911.
The moving spirit behind the club’s founding was Joseph Jacobs, the Atlanta pharmacist and drug-store owner at whose suggestion Coca-Cola was first carbonated. He served the very first Coca-Cola beverage from his fountain in the Five Points neighborhood of Atlanta. Of German Jewish parentage, Dr. Jacobs illustrates the universal appeal of Robert Burns’ poetry.
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