Newspapers

The history of Atlanta's early newspapers is a series of enthusiastic beginnings followed almost immediately by failures. Newspaper publishing too often was regarded as a mere avocation for the entrepreneur with a little idle money, with the result that many papers served no other purpose than to express the personality of the owner or to report news limited in interest to one particular group in a town too small to support even a paper of general appeal.

Many of these early papers were largely one-man affairs, owned, edited, and published by a single individual. It mattered little that these men had no previous journalistic experience; word had but to be passed around that a Washington hand press and an ink roller were available at the sheriff's sale and some self-appointed molder of public opinion would be there with his bid. Within a few days dog-eared manuscripts of long-cherished editorials would be set up in type and another paper was launched. These ventures, however poorly conceived and directed, nevertheless served to accustom the people to the regular appearance of a newspaper and to create a demand for printed news.

Historians disagree as to which of the early Atlanta newspapers began publication first. C.R. Hanleiter, an early newspaperman, said in 1861 that he was in doubt as to the order in which the first three newspapers were established but that he thought the Enterprise was the first; years later he stated without qualification that the Democrat was the first. Most historians, however, credit the Luminary with being the earliest, saying that it appeared in 1845 about the time the Georgia Railroad reached the city. But doubt is cast on this date by a news item in the Athens Banner of July 21, 1846, commenting on the first number of the Luminary, "... a capacious and handsome newspaper ... published at the new town of Atlanta, by Messrs. Baker & Wilson."

The Reverend Joseph Baker used a Washington hand press for printing the Luminary, and indications are that it was really a small, crudely printed sheet consisting chiefly of religious items Bible lessons, moralizing editorials, and the like. Because of its limited appeal subscribers were few, and within a short time Baker was forced to sell his paper. The new owners, J.B. Clapp and L.W. Bartlett, made drastic changes in the format, and a commentator of 1847 writes that the December 9 edition "came out in a blaze of glory with four columns of original matter, a poem, and odds and ends." Early in the following year Clapp's interest in the paper was bought by Charles L. Wheeler and the name was changed to the Tribune. The venture failed, however, and publication was suspended before the year was out.

The Democrat, it is said by most of the local writers, was the city's second paper. Dr. William Henry Fonerden set up a little hand press in 1846 in the upper half-story of a building at the junction of the Peachtree and Marietta roads and began printing the paper as a weekly. But after a few months he moved his family to Spring Place near Dalton, Georgia, and, changing the paper into an educational journal, continued publication there.

The Enterprise, another weekly, was published in the fall of 1846 by W.H. Royal and C.H. Yarbrough in an office just a few doors south of Alabama Street on Whitehall Street. In the same year, however, the paper was discontinued and the material and equipment sold to C.R. Hanleiter, who in 1847 moved to Atlanta with his Southern Miscellany, which he had been publishing for six years in Madison, Georgia. The paper asserted itself to be A Weekly Family Newspaper Devoted to Literature, Education, Agriculture, Mechanical Arts, News, Humor, and Politics. Of the nine subscribers, three paid in money, one in candles, and five nothing at all. A copy of this paper, dated December 4, 1847, gave four and a half of the six col-

umns on the first page to "A Selected Tale, from the Columbian Magazine" entitled "Charity Begins at Home." A speech by Henry Clay filled the remaining column and a half of the first page, the entire second page, and a half of the third page. The remainder of the third page was devoted to national political news. Henry Clay was endorsed for President and John McLean for Vice President.

In keeping with the custom of the day, no local news was published. Aside from the town's small size, which rendered this unnecessary, it was considered a confession of failure for an editor to be forced to fill his pages with local happenings. If civic undertakings demanded newspaper comment or support, the custom was to publish separate handbills for distribution in order that they might be in no way associated with the regular issues. If regular issues failed to appear after one of these handbills exhausted the week's supply of paper and ink, it was politely overlooked by subscribers who were also the editor's friends. Another taboo of the day was the mention by name of any citizen except by way of a business advertisement. Not for several decades yet was such mention to be regarded as anything but a serious breach of good taste.

True to form, the Miscellany's only indication (aside from the masthead) that it was published in any specific place was found in the advertisements on the fourth and last page. Here it was announced that the Washington Hotel was under new management; that Major Wyllys Buell, the portrait painter, was recommended by the editor; and that Jonathan Norcross had a new supply of "fine hardware and dry goods selected in New York and was quoting attractive prices on "meats and feathers."

Hanleiter continued publication of the Southern Miscellany until the fall of 1849, when he was forced to discontinue the paper because of a raging smallpox epidemic that made it impossible to secure workers. The type and press were purchased by four men, one of whom was Jonathan Norcross, the town's foremost merchant and later its mayor. The name of the paper was changed to the Intelligencer and, after several other changes in ownership, came into the possession of John Duncan and Colonel Thomas C. Howard in 1855.

Two years previously the Daily Examiner, Atlanta's first daily, had appeared under the editorship of J.H. Steele and J.W. Dowsing. It consisted of one sheet devoted to the advocacy of democratic principles." After four successful years it was purchased by John Duncan, who had become sole owner of the Intelligencer. He merged the two papers and continued publication under the name of the Atlanta Daily Intelligencer and Examiner.

During the decade of the fifties no less than 28 papers appeared in Atlanta. These included the Herald, the Weekly Republican and Democrat, the Christian Advocate, the Olive Tree, the Knight of Jericho, the Georgia Blister and Critic, the Southern Blade, the Discipline, the Literary and Temperance Crusader, the National American, and the Medical and Literary Weekly. The circulation of these journals was limited because of restricted appeal or hidebound dogma, or their columns were devoted too exclusively to political propaganda, with the result that they survived but a few months.

Although the dawning sixties brought the threat of war nearer, there was no abatement in the appearance of new sheets on the streets of Atlanta. During the first year of the decade five papers were established, the Educational Journal & Family Magazine, the Georgia Weekly, the Temperance Champion, the Daily Locomotive, and the Gate City Guardian. During the four-year period of the conflict 15 newspapers were published at various times. Three of these were papers which were moved to Atlanta from other besieged towns, the Memphis Appeal, the Knoxville Register, and the Chattanooga Rebel.

The Gate City Guardian changed its name to the Southern Confederacy as "a more appropriate title" in 1861 and claimed a circulation of 5,000. This was undoubtedly surpassed by the old Intelligencer, which was still carrying on under a constant change of management. The amazing number of less important papers may be partly explained by the law that exempted newspaper editors and workers from military service.

Wire service was supplemented by letters from correspondents and soldiers at the battle fronts, and contact was maintained with the telegraphic offices of the railroads for any additional news concerning activities of the fighting forces. Some of the most dramatic scenes of the war period occurred in the streets before the newspaper offices, as reports of another battle brought distraught crowds for news of relatives and friends. Office boys and printers devils were kept busy running up and down stairs delivering hurriedly printed lists, still wet with ink, as fast as they were taken from the presses. Grief-stricken hysteria often hung upon the spelling of a name and, because of the probability of errors in the hastily compiled lists, tension was heightened by people pushing into the offices to check the original spelling.

With the beginning of the siege of Atlanta, the presses of the Intelligencer were moved aboard a freight car, where publication continued. Since supplies were cut off from the besieged city, papers were' printed on any acceptable material that came to hand. Issues appeared on wrapping paper, wallpaper, and even cardboard. When it became evident that the Confederate forces could no longer hold the city and that Federal occupation was imminent, the car containing the press of the Intelligencer was pulled out of town and for the duration of the war was shifted about the State, papers being irregularly published wherever circumstances permitted. This was the only Atlanta paper to survive the war.

During the period of Reconstruction many new papers appeared. Most important among these were the Daily Commercial Bulletin and the Ladies Home in 1866; the Daily Opinion and Adair's Georgia Land Register in 1867; the Constitution in 1868; the Weekly Republican, the Sunny South, and the Southern Advance in 1874; and the Daily Tribune in 1875. Many others, like the Acanthus ("Devoted to the True, the Beautiful and the Good") had an ephemeral existence.

Only two papers inclined toward Northern sympathies during the Reconstruction Period. The first of these was the Daily New Era, which was acquired by Dr. Samuel Bard in 1866. In retrospect Bard's allegiance seems to have been more to supporting the Constitution than the Federal regime, but even this was unpopular among a defeated people living under military rule. In the first issue of the paper Bard outlined his policy of accepting the reconstruction methods of President Johnson and advised a conservative political course that he believed would result in an ultimate union with full restoration of the South's rights under the Constitution. Adhering to his conservative principles, he refused to comment on the Sherman Reconstruction Bill. This caused much bitter censure, and finally the paper was forced to declare that it was accepting the Reconstruction Bill unconditionally and was determined to co-operate with the United States authorities. Subscriptions were immediately canceled and the Daily New Era was scathingly denounced by other papers as a Republican sheet. Nevertheless, the New Era survived and began an attack on the irregularities of the carpetbag administration of Governor Bullock in Georgia, which Bard so effectively exposed that Bullock was forced to silence the paper by purchasing it for $25,000 in 1870. He neglected, however, to insert a clause in the deed of transfer prohibiting Bard from beginning another paper. The result was that Bard, now armed with the additional weapon of the facts of the sale, opened an office across the street from the New Era and began publishing the Daily True Georgian. More than any other individual, this resourceful editor was responsible for the defeat of Governor Bullock and his ultimate resignation from office.

On November 17, 1870, the Daily True Georgian announced that in acting with the Republican Party in support of measures for the restoration of the Southern States it had discharged a duty to the people; it declared sympathy with the National Democratic Party, believing the principles of that party guaranteed the best interests of the people. Thus, having defeated the Bullock administration and returned to the Democratic fold, Bard discontinued the publication of the Daily True Georgian early in 1871.

The Intelligencer, which had admirably spurred Atlanta's citizens in the work of reconstruction, likewise passed out of existence in 1871, but the work was carried on by the new sheets. Most prominent of these was the Atlanta Constitution, a morning daily founded by Colonel Carey W. Styles in 1868. The Constitution led the fight for the re-establishment of State government under the rule of its own people while it was still under the military control of the Federal regime. Because of this courageous stand the paper became instantly popular, a regard which was justified when it proved itself the most conspicuous newspaper factor in the complete triumph of 1871 when the native white people succeeded in recapturing the State and routing the scalawags and carpetbaggers.

Styles maintained his connection with the paper for only a year and was succeeded by G.H. Anderson, who took into partnership his son-in-law, William A. Hemphill, a young Confederate veteran then teaching school in Atlanta. Following Anderson's retirement in 1871, Colonel E.Y. Clarke became associated with Hemphill, and the two were chief owners of the paper until 1876. Clarke then sold his interest to Captain Evan P. Howell. A few years later Henry W. Grady, a young man who later became the South's most outstanding orator, bought one-fourth interest in the paper and was made managing editor.

Some knowledge of the type of reading matter contained in the papers of this period may be learned by a review of an 1882 issue of the Constitution. It consisted of eight pages of six columns each. The first column of the front page was allotted to advertisements. The second column contained two ghost stories and an article on the "Treacherous Thirteen," dealing with the superstitious regard of this number. The third and fourth columns were given over respectively to Ben Hill's and ex-Governor Colquitt's speeches. The fifth column was a travelogue in the Burton Holmes manner entitled "Life and Nature in the Far Northwest." But the most striking notice on the first page was the last column headed "Women's Feet," in which the avid reader learned that Mme. Patti has the plumpest of legs that hang over her trim little boots, while the spindle limbs of Bernhardt borrow rotundity from bull red, block blue and dull pink stockings." The inner pages contained news items with such captions as "Cruelly Deceived—A Young Woman Made Crazy by the Neglect of a Faithless Lover" and "The Evils of Drink—Drunken Young Man Arrested for Loitering Confesses He Has Led Many Young Girls Along the Road to Ruin." The "Personal Intelligence" column contained such confidences as the season in the deer forests of Scotland is now pretty well over" and "The elevated railroads in New York are being repainted.

The reporter of the day pictured himself not as Mercury but as Aesop. In any news story concerning unfortunate persons every possible opportunity was taken to squeeze out the utmost of sentiment and to point out the most telling moral. Story captions were standardized, and The Wages of Sin" led the lot. The line drawn between conceivable news and actual fiction was hardly discernible.

Although the Constitution excelled in the approved reportorial lush-ness of the day, it also plunged candidly and dynamically into critical controversial problems. Because of its courageous policies, it soon became the most important paper in the South, and its editorial offices were a training school for a number of men who later became impressive figures in the world of journalism and literature. Among these were Joel Chandler Harris, whose first "Uncle Remus" stories appeared in the columns of the paper; Major Charles Smith, whose homely philosophies and dry witticisms were published under the pseudonym of "Bill Arp"; and Frank L. Stanton, whose poems expressed in distinctive style the "soil and soul of America" in a column known for years as "Just From Georgia." Wallace P. Reed and Lucian Lamar Knight, two other reporters on the early staff of the Constitution, became noted historians of Atlanta and Georgia.

For many years the Constitution was undisputed leader of the city's daily newspapers. Then, in 1883, its predominance was challenged by the appearance of the Atlanta Journal. In its first issue the Journal proclaimed, "Our editorial department will be under the exclusive control of those who are to the manor born, and, therefore, our patrons need not fear that any offence will be given through ignorance of Southern sentiment or lack of sympathy with it. In politics the Journal will be Democratic, though not so loosely buckled in the harness that it will unthinkingly yield to the party lash in the hands of those who may assume the right to rule."

The four-page paper was founded by Colonel E.F. Hoge, a lawyer and legislator. While it caught the public interest immediately, the Journal's future was assured by a chance occurrence which made it the talk of the town and the State and proved more effective than any planned publicity stunt. This was the issuance of an extra covering the burning of the Kimball House, at that time the largest hostelry in the South, a favorite haunt of legislators, the center of many territorial conventions, and the symbol of Atlanta to thousands of travelers. The fire broke out at 4:30 on the morning of August 12, 18831 after the day's issue of the Constitution was off the press. The Journal called in its workers and hastily composed the extra, which was Quickly rushed onto the streets. Other copies were sped to trains for distribution in cities throughout the State.

The extra, an almost unheard of innovation, caused more excitement than the fire. Commenting on its tour de force the next day, the Journal stated, "The extra edition of the Journal yesterday was a phenomenal success. Long before the paper went to press the sidewalk in front of the office was crowded with people eager to secure an early copy. The regular carrier force of the Journal numbers twenty-one boys, and as it was impracticable under the circumstances to notify them of the extra edition, it was, of course, out of the question to attempt a delivery to the regular subscribers. The demand for the papers continued until dusk, and fully five hundred enterprising boys were kept busy selling papers all over the city and in the suburbs. In the neighboring towns the afternoon trains were besieged by people clamoring for the Journal and thousands of copies were disposed of in tnis way.

But as though to demonstrate that it could take such success in its stride without undue excitement, the very next item in the column showed a return to the great tradition: Among the society women of London is an old lady eighty-three years of age, who is quite a wonder. She has a very youthful figure, and across the room would be taken for a woman of thirty."

Until 1906, the Journal and the Constitution had the newspaper field in Atlanta virtually to themselves. Only seven other papers appeared during the quarter century after the establishment of the Journal and four of these were for Negroes. Of the remaining three, two, the Peoples Party Paper and the Daily Press, were published by the fiery Tom Watson, State representative and United States Senator. The Peoples Party Paper was established in 1891 and achieved a moderate circulation among Watson's political followers. Encouraged by the success of this weekly, Watson brought forth the Daily Press in 1894 which was intended to have a more general appeal. The new sheet, however, soon began to show the old Watson trait of biased news, and although Watson's followers were numerous enough to support a political weekly, the general public refused to subscribe to a daily paper largely given over to the self-glorification of its publisher. The Daily Press, therefore, was discontinued within the year, but the Peoples Party Paper continued in publication until 1898.

The Daily News, which had been published since 1902, was bought in 1906 by F.L. Seely who merged it in the establishment of a new paper, the Atlanta Georgian. Six years later the Georgian was taken over by the powerful Hearst interests, and for almost 30 years it constituted a serious rival to the Journal in circulation. The Constitution, being a morning paper, was not directly involved in this struggle.

John Temple Graves, a South Carolinian who began his newspaper career on the Rome Daily Tribune and was later editor of the Atlanta Journal and the New York American, was the first editor of the Georgian. His oratorical brilliance equalled that of Henry W. Grady, and his eloquence in political debate led to his first appointment in newspaper work. Under his direction the Georgian conducted successful drives against open saloons and the convict lease system and championed the passage of child labor laws. But the odds were against the Georgian, and it never quite attained the circulation of the Journal.

In 1900 the controlling interests of the Journal had passed into the hands of James A. Gray, under whose astute guidance the Journal introduced many features. It was the first Southern paper to feature business, agricultural, and educational news; the first to give sports the prominence of major news; and the first to issue a magazine section (1912). In 1917 Gray died, but, although Major John S. Cohen succeeded to the presidency, the Gray family retained theirstock ownership and their personal interests in the paper. Major Cohen continued to establish precedents. In 1919 the Journal became the first Southern paper to publish its own rotogravure section; in 1922 the first to construct a radio station, WSB; in 1929 the first to employ teletype mechanism in sending news direct from the source to the editorial room; and in 1935 the first to introduce wire-photo service. In 1937 the Journal opened its second radio station, WAGA.

On December 15, 1939, James Cox, thrice governor of Ohio, made a flying visit to Atlanta and announced that he had bought both the Journal and the Georgian. The deal included full possession of the Journal's 50,000-watt radio station WSB and a 40 per cent interest in the less powerful WAGA. The total cash payment was approximately $3,500,000. Within a week the Georgian suspended publication and many of the workers and features of the paper were added to the Journal. The addition of the Georgian's subscribers now probably gives the Journal the largest circulation of all papers in the South, 150,000 copies daily and 200,000 on Sunday.

Atlanta has had several Negro papers, both weekly and daily. The earliest, the Weekly Defiance, was published in 1881 but quickly failed. It was followed by the Atlanta Age, established in 1893 and discontinued in 1908. More successful was the Atlanta Independent, a weekly founded in 1903 by Benjamin Jefferson Davis who was a prominent Republican and officer in the Order of Odd Fellows. The paper was published until 1932 when Davis discontinued it in order to devote more time to his political and fraternal activities.

The Atlanta World, a weekly, was founded in 1928 by William Alexander Scott, a young, well-educated Negro. The paper was an immediate success and in 1930 was made a semiweekly. In 1931 it became a triweekly and in 1932 a daily, the name being changed in this year to the Daily World. The paper maintains its own wire service and features a full page of comics drawn by Negro artists and a Sunday rotogravure section. It is the only Negro daily published in the country. A newspaper syndicate founded by Scott owns or controls 34 newspapers appearing in various Eastern cities.

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