OLPA’s Patron Saint
By Jennifer J. Richardson
Words cannot adequately describe Tally Sweat. She grew up on a pecan farm in
Cuthbert, Georgia, but soon left South Georgia for a larger life in the big city. She
attended Georgia State University, where she studied English and English
Literature (and in 2010 won a distinguished alumna award).
In 1956, she married a local boy from Waycross, Georgia, Dan Sweat, and they had
three children, Charles, Stephen and Sally. Dan and Tally moved to Atlanta where
they both went to work for the Atlanta Journal. Tally wrote obituaries and soon,
Dan ventured into the world of civic leadership in Atlanta.
Dan was the first executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission and then
became leader of Central Atlanta Progress (CAP). He had a huge and positive
influence on the City of Atlanta, and Tally was right there with him all the way.
Her intellect, support and inspirational influence on Dan was evident throughout
his career.
When Dan was diagnosed with cancer, Tally was with him every step of the
journey. When Dan died in 1997, she faced a choice: what do I do now?
Tally once told me that she could have rested on their shared successes and
contributions to the community. If she chose that path, she would have been known
as “Dan Sweat’s wife.” and that would have been enough. But it wasn’t enough for
Tally. She felt a calling, an ambition and even an urgency not to sit back and relax,
but to carry on work Dan had started, and to begin some initiatives of her own.
Founder of Olmsted Linear Park Alliance
As mentioned, after Dan’s death in 1997, Tally decided to pursue her own work
and make her mark on the city. In that same year, she worked with Park Pride to
form the Olmsted Linear Park Alliance (OLPA). They were instrumental in
developing a master plan to renovate the six segments of Olmsted Linear Park
along Ponce de Leon in the Druid Hills neighborhood. Once the master plan was
complete, public input was gathered and a robust fundraising campaign was
initiated by Tally.
She established a powerful board of Olmsted devotees, Atlanta’s power brokers,
and influential people who knew how to raise money and organize ways to spend it
appropriately. All of the fledglings like me on the board were exposed to the
collective genius of the group Tally had assembled. It was the learning experience
of a lifetime!
With the help of many on the OLPA board and in the community, the linear park
was renovated in stages to the specifications of landscape architect Spencer
Tunnell, II, using planting schemes and plant names obtained from the Olmsted
Archives. Today, OLPA continues to raise money for maintenance of what it has
built as a legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. In 2027, OLPA will celebrate 30
years of stewardship of the linear park.
Tally had always been invested and involved in the Garden Club of Georgia. She
was a member of the Smoke Rise Morning Glories Club and the Druid Hills
Garden Club. Later, she served for years as the Legislative Chairman for the
Garden Club of Georgia, where she lobbied for environmental causes, helped
establish the Eastern Swallowtail Butterfly as the state butterfly, and worked
tirelessly to curtail billboards on Georgia’s highways. Of the Garden Club of
Georgia, one member of the legislature once said that it was the most effective
partner in conservation efforts the state had ever seen.
Her passion for gardening, parks and Georgia’s environment led Tally to become a
founding member of Park Pride Atlanta, Inc.
Over the years, Tally received several awards for your civic leadership and her
environmental advocacy. In 2017, she received the Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr.
Lifetime Achievement Award from OLPA. In 2020, Tally was the first recipient of
Central Atlanta Progress’ “Dan and Tally Sweat Award.” This past February, the
Georgia Water Coalition (GWC) presented Tally with the GWC Lifetime
Achievement Award.
Tally was a mentor to all she knew. Her mind was forever planning to accomplish
positive goals for her community. She abhorred complacency and half-way
measures more than just about anything. It didn’t hurt matters that most often her
goals were right and ended up making our communities and our city a better place
in which to live.
Thank you, Tally, for your determination, dedication to excellence and your
amazing service to make Atlanta and Georgia better because of you!
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