GA HR1470

Georgia House Resolution 1470 recognizes and commends Mr. Henry "Hank" Thomas, a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and participant in the first Freedom Riders group in May 1961

Mr. Thomas served as a medic in the Vietnam War, earning a Purple Heart, and later became a successful Atlanta entrepreneur, owning nine McDonald's restaurants for 30 years and becoming a millionaire by 1991

He has served on the boards of numerous organizations including the APEX Museum, Butler Street YMCA, Atlanta Youth Academy, Atlanta's Boys and Girls Club, Tougaloo College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and the Piney Woods School in Jackson, Mississippi

Awards and honors include the Buffalo Soldier award from Howard University (2006), induction into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame, the Rabbi Perry Nausbaum Civil Justice Award, and the 365 Black Award from McDonald's Inc.

He and his wife Yvonne recently retired after selling their last McDonald's restaurant and currently own three Marriott Hotels