Journalism and politics were intertwined in Georgia, and many of the state’s politicians had careers as journalists. Virulently segregationist governor and one-time state agricultural commissioner Eugene Talmadge edited the Statesman (Atlanta, 1932-1956) and in its pages he called for the restoration of the Georgia Democratic Party’s white primary and condemned Roosevelt’s New Deal policies. Political kingmaker Roy V. Harris owned and edited the Augusta Courier, the official organ of the Georgia branch of the Citizens’ Council of America. Segregationist governor (1955 to 1959) Marvin Griffin served as publisher of the Bainbridge Post-search light from 1933 to 1972 pledged to block desegregation efforts “come hell or high water.” Racist views were also espoused in the Atlanta-based Klan newspaper the Searchlight. Columbus, Georgia preacher, Klan member, and radio broadcaster Ezra “Parson Jack” Johnston used the Georgia Tribune to shrilly advocate for white supremacy and against labor and the Jewish community. He would call for the formation of White Citizens’ Councils and “segregation academies.”
Disenfranchisement of Georgia's Black citizens, and the effects of Jim Crow laws and practices (SS4H6)
The changing role of Blacks during World War II (SS5H4)
Analyze the effects of Jim Crow laws and practices (SS5H6)
Analyze the impact of Reconstruction on Georgia (SS8H6)
Analyze how rights were denied to African Americans or Blacks through Jim Crow laws, Plessy v. Ferguson, disenfranchisement, and racial violence, including the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre (SS8H7)
Explain the roles of Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. DuBois, and Alonzo Herndon in advancement of the rights of African Americans or Blacks in the New South Era (SS8H7)
Examine antisemitism and the resistance to racial equality exemplified in the Leo Frank case (SS8H7)
Evaluate the role of Georgia in the modern civil rights movement (SS8H11)
The Jim Crow Press in Georgia
The Civil Rights Movement in South Georgia
Racial Violence in South Georgia
Statesman, Fulton County (1932-1956, 4 reels, weekly, 5.1k pages)
Searchlight, Fulton County (1921-1923, 1 reel, weekly, 357 pages)
Augusta Courier, Richmond County (1946-1963, 3 reels, weekly, 4k pages)
Post-Search Light, Decatur County (1923-1965, 19 reels, weekly, 25.6k pages)
Georgia Tribune, Muscogee County (1947-1961, 4 reels, weekly, 3.4k pages)