Southern Bell

Not to be confused with Southern belle.

For the company founded in 1983 as Southern Bell, see BellSouth Telecommunications.

Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company

Southern Bell Telephone Company Building in Atlanta, Georgia
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Telecommunications
Founded	1879 (1879)
Defunct	1983 (1983)
Fate	Merged
Successor	SBT&T Co.
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Products	Local telephone service
Parent	American Bell (1879-1899) AT&T (1899-1983)

Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company was a Bell Operating Company serving the Southeastern United States of Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. However, the Southern Bell name isn't used anymore as of 1992 although the network still exists. It also covered the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee until 1968 when those were split off to form South Central Bell.

The company was originally known as the Atlanta Telephonic Exchange, having been created to service citizens of Atlanta in 1879, before it was renamed in 1882.

Southern Bell also operated in Charleston and other parts of West Virginia, from 1883 until 1917, when the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of West Virginia took over operations there.

Split into South Central Bell & Southern Bell

Southern Bell originally served nine Southern states. On December 20, 1967, the western portion of the Southern Bell territory (Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee) was split off as South Central Bell Telephone Company.

Landmark sex discrimination case

1912 advertisement for Southern Bell in The Atlanta Constitution

Weeks v. Southern Bell was an important sex discrimination case in which Lorena Weeks claimed that Southern Bell had violated her rights under the 1964 Civil Rights Act when they denied her application for promotion to a higher paying position because she was a woman. She was represented in the case by Sylvia Roberts, a National Organization for Women attorney. She lost the initial case but won in 1969 after several appeals. Weeks v. Southern Bell was an important case as it marked the first victory in which NOW used the Civil Rights Act to fight sex-based discrimination.

Reincorporation

Southern Bell, originally incorporated in New York, was reincorporated in Georgia in 1983 as SBT&T Co. The original Southern Bell was then merged into SBT&T Co., at which point that company was renamed Southern Bell. Since BellSouth, the new owner of Southern Bell and South Central Bell upon the divestiture of AT&T, was based in Georgia, it was more practical to have Southern Bell incorporated in the same state. Southern Bell was renamed BellSouth Telecommunications in 1992 when Sourh Central Bell was merged into it. BellSouth Telecommunications was acquired by the new AT&T (the former SBC Corporation) in 2006 when that company acquired BellSouth Corporation. BellSouth Telecommunications remains the local operating company of AT&T in BellSouth territory, though does business as AT&T Southeast.

Southern Bell was headquartered in (what is now) the AT&T Midtown Center building in Atlanta, Georgia. Most Atlanta operations have now been relocated to AT&T Headquarters in Dallas, Texas. Downtown Atlanta's telephone exchange is located in the Art Deco AT&T Communications Building.

See also

• AT&T
• AT&T Corporation, now a subsidiary
• BellSouth Telecommunications
• Telephones portal

External links

Media related to Southern Bell at Wikimedia Commons