One of the key cities in the Civil Rights Movement.

People from Albany include Ray Charles, Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon founder of Grammy winning Sweet Honey in the Rock, Alice Coachman first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal, Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch, Paula Deen TV Chef and cookbook author, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom host Jim Fowler, and Albany is the “second home” of grammy winning diva Patti LaBelle.

City was featured in W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk as a typical African American rural town in the South.