[3] Atkinson enlisted in the United States Army two days after the country entered World War I.
[1] After the war, Atkinson was mustered out of the federal service and commissioned as a major in the 1st Supply Train Unit of the 26th Infantry Division of the Massachusetts National Guard.
[5] He was the North and South American representative of the Bata Corporation and was a member of its board of directors.
[6] He made over 90 trips to Europe and in 1939 he was detained in Czechoslovakia after Nazi Germany took over the country and the Bata factory.
[7][5] After the position of city manager was created in 1942, Atkinson, who had never been involved in politics, became the front-runner for the office.
[9] Atkinson was responsible for purchasing the city's first snow plows and modern equipment for the police and fire departments.
He transferred responsibility for road repair, municipal building maintenance, and publishing from private contractors to city bureaus.
[2] On August 4, 1952, the city council voted 5 to 4 to replace Atkinson with school headmaster John J.