The Constitution's Author And Editor: Unveiling The Key Figures

The Atlanta Constitution, a daily newspaper based in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, has had a number of editors and authors since its inception in 1868. The newspaper, which was founded by Carey Wentworth Styles, James H. Anderson, and W.A. Hemphill, has undergone several name changes and mergers over the years, including a merger with The Atlanta Journal in 2001 to become The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Notable editors of The Atlanta Constitution include Ralph McGill, J. Reginald Murphy, Celestine Sibley, and Henry W. Grady, who was also a political writer and advocate for industrial development in the South. The Howell family also maintained controlling interest in the newspaper from 1902 to 1950, with Clark Howell serving as editor and owner until his death in 1936, after which his son, Clark Howell Jr., took over.

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Carey Wentworth Styles co-founded the Atlanta Constitution in 1868

Carey Wentworth Styles was an American lawyer and journalist who founded or wrote for at least 21 newspapers in his career. He is best remembered as the founder of The Atlanta Constitution, which he co-founded alongside James H. Anderson and W.A. Hemphill in 1868.

Styles was born on October 7, 1825, near Spartanburg, South Carolina. He spent his early years on his father's plantation, which prospered from cotton farming and cattle. In 1846, he enlisted in the Palmetto Regiment of the South Carolina Volunteers to fight in the Mexican-American War. After the war, he returned to Georgia, where he enlisted in the 2nd Georgia Volunteers and organized the Wiregrass Minutemen in Savannah. He was later commissioned Colonel in August 1861 and placed in charge of the coastal defence of Georgia, commanding a force of 4,000.

Styles first published the Atlanta Constitution on June 16, 1868, alongside his co-founders and joint venture partners. He editorialized against Radical Reconstruction and the Rufus Bullock administration in the newspaper's pages. However, Styles was unable to finance his half of the newspaper, and his shares were transferred to Anderson, who then sold them to Hemphill, the paper's business manager. Styles' last contribution to The Constitution was on December 5, 1868, and he left his sword and pen in the editorial office as a parting gift.

Henry W. Grady was a prominent editor and writer for the Atlanta Constitution

Henry Woodfin Grady was an American journalist, editor, and orator for the Atlanta Constitution in the 1880s. Grady was born on May 24, 1850, in Athens, Georgia. He graduated from the University of Georgia and briefly studied literature and history at the University of Virginia before pursuing a career in journalism. Grady first wrote for the Rome Courier, the Atlanta Herald, and the New York Herald.

In 1874, Grady published an editorial in the Herald entitled "The New South," advocating for industrial development to address the postwar South's economic struggles. His aggressive writing style and support for railroad development caught the attention of Atlanta Constitution stockholders Evan P. Howell and W. A. Hemphill. They offered Grady a one-fourth ownership stake in the Atlanta Constitution and the position of managing editor. Grady accepted, and by 1880, the newspaper had become one of Georgia's most influential under his editorial leadership.

Grady was a spokesman for the "New South," promoting northern investment, southern industrial growth, diversified farming, and white supremacy. He used his platform at the Atlanta Constitution to endorse his political views, including support for antiliquor laws, the construction of a new library, and care for Confederate veterans. Unfortunately, Grady's editorial guidance also condoned and even encouraged lynching, with headlines that made light of racial violence.

Grady's talent extended beyond writing, as he was also a celebrated orator and speaker. He delivered speeches such as "The South and Her Problem" (1887) and "The Farmer and the Cities" (1889), showcasing his exceptional ability to promote the "New South" movement. Grady's legacy is considered mixed due to his arguments for white supremacy in the post-Civil War South, resulting in the removal of his name from several schools. However, he was praised by contemporaries as a civic promoter, political strategist, and captivating speaker. Grady's contributions to journalism were recognized, and he was inducted into the Georgia Newspaper Hall of Fame in 1931.

Clark Howell was company president and editor of the Atlanta Constitution

Clark Howell was a prominent state politician and, for 53 years, an editorial executive and owner of the Atlanta Constitution. A talented and dedicated journalist, he served as a bridge from Georgia to the rest of the nation in matters political and journalistic.

Howell was born in Erwinton, South Carolina, on September 21, 1863, to Julia A. Erwin and Evan P. Howell, a Confederate artillery captain. After the Civil War (1861-65), Howell’s father cut and sold timber from his own father’s land in Atlanta for two years, then entered the newspaper field as a reporter and city editor for the Atlanta Intelligencer. Leaving that newspaper briefly, he bought a half interest in the Atlanta Constitution in 1876. Evan Howell hired Henry Grady and Joel Chandler Harris to work there. Clark Howell joined those two legends at the paper after graduating from the University of Georgia.

In 1884, Howell returned to Atlanta and worked as a reporter and night editor at his father's newspaper, the Atlanta Constitution. His father was editor-in-chief. After managing editor Henry Grady died in 1889, Howell took over that position. He eventually succeeded his father as editor-in-chief in 1897, upon the elder Howell's retirement. In 1901, Clark Howell purchased controlling shares in the Constitution, from Hemphill, to become its new owner.

Howell was a lifelong Democrat and embarked on a political career almost simultaneously with his journalistic apprenticeship. In 1885, he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, where he served three terms. In 1906, he lost a bitter campaign for governor against former Atlanta Journal owner Hoke Smith, who advocated disenfranchising black voters. The racial tensions unleashed by the campaign helped trigger the Atlanta Race Riot that year.

Howell's newspaper, The Atlanta Constitution, editorialized against mob violence during Frank's trial. When Clark Howell died, on November 14, 1936, in Atlanta, he was the president and editor of the Atlanta Constitution and a director of the Associated Press.

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Ralph McGill was a leading editor and journalist for the Atlanta Constitution

In 1942, McGill became the editor of the newspaper, a position he held until 1960. During this time, he was a leading voice in the civil rights movement, and in 1959, he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. He was one of the few southern newspaper editors to support the American Civil Rights Movement, and Martin Luther King Jr. mentioned him by name in his Letter from Birmingham Jail as one of the "few enlightened white persons" who understood and sympathized with the civil rights movement.

In 1960, McGill became the publisher of the Atlanta Constitution, a position he held until his death in 1969. During this time, he was the only editor of a major white southern paper to cover the passive resistance tactics used by the students involved in the Greensboro sit-ins. McGill's impact on the fight against segregation was recognized in Michael Braz's opera, "A Scholar Under Siege," and he received numerous awards for his work, including the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award, honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from several universities, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964.

The Atlanta Constitution and Atlanta Journal merged in 2001

The Atlanta Constitution and the Atlanta Journal were once rivals, but they merged in 2001 to become the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The two papers had been under common ownership since 1950, but they did not merge their news operations until 1982, and separate publications continued for two decades after that.

The Atlanta Constitution was founded in 1868 when Carey Wentworth Styles, James H. Anderson, and W.A. Hemphill purchased the Atlanta Daily Opinion and renamed it. It became famous for the editorials of its political writer and editor, Henry W. Grady, who served from 1879 until his death in 1889. Grady was a spokesman for the "New South", encouraging industrial development and the founding of Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Evan Howell's family owned the paper from 1902 to 1950. Notable editors of The Atlanta Constitution include Ralph McGill, who was one of the few southern newspaper editors to support the American Civil Rights Movement, and J. Reginald Murphy, who gained notoriety after being kidnapped in 1974.

The Atlanta Journal was founded in 1883 and was purchased by James Middleton Cox in 1939, who also bought the Constitution in 1950, bringing both newspapers under the same ownership. The Journal was an afternoon paper, while the Constitution was a morning paper. The two papers had separate publications until 2001, when they fully merged and began publishing a single morning paper under the Journal-Constitution name.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is based in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody, Georgia, and is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. It is one of the few remaining daily newspapers that has published continuously for over a century. It has won several Pulitzer Prizes and has nurtured the careers of many famous journalists.

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