Dawson News
HISTORY
Newspaper
Essay written for Chronicling America: George M. Roberts and Irby Goodwin Marshall purchased the defunct Dawson Appeal in March 1886 and published it as the South Western News beginning in June 1886. The four-page weekly circulated every Wednesday and shared the Democratic politics of its local competitor, the Dawson Journal. By May 1887, the News held legal advertising rights for Terrell County, which garnered a larger subscription base than the long-standing Journal and sent that older publication into a gradual decline. As a relatively small agricultural community just west of the larger cities of Americus and Albany, Dawson could not reliably support two newspapers with virtually the same politics and audience.
Roberts served as editor in chief, and W. L. Pilsbury joined the editorial department in February 1888; although Pilsbury left to take an editor position in Eufaula, Alabama, he remained connected to the News until his death in 1898. A young Thomas W. Loyless, who later achieved prominence for his criticism of the Leo Frank case as owner and editor of the Augusta Chronicle [LCCN: sn83016181], began his newspaper career with the News in November 1888.
On March 13, 1889, Eugene Leigh Rainey assumed ownership of the South Western News and renamed it the Dawson News, a title which continues to the present day. Managing the paper for nearly 50 years, Rainey stands as the News’ longest-serving editor and proprietor. He was a force in the local Democratic politics of Southwest Georgia, and his paper was as much a sounding board for Rainey as it was a source of news for Terrell County residents. In his time as editor, Rainey served as a Dawson City Council member and state representative (1902-1906), and as a member of the Democratic Executive Committee for Terrell County. In 1912, Rainey was elected to the Georgia State Prison Commission and eventually became chairman, a position he held until his death in 1936. Despite his penchant for politics, Rainey rarely endorsed Democratic candidates during primaries, instead choosing to support whomever the party coalesced around.
Rainey’s paper featured material common among Democratic sheets, including support for prohibition and reforms to Georgia’s convict labor system. As a conservative Democrat, Rainey opposed the rise of populism in the 1890s, and he editorialized against Georgia’s leading populist, Thomas Watson. Noting “Watson’s Evil Influence,” Rainey particularly highlighted Watson’s attempts to appeal to black voters. Rainey tailored much of his editorials to the largely white and agrarian audience the News served, and he frequently pointed to instances of racial violence in the North as a means of downplaying the South’s own fraught race relations. Rainey reluctantly supported William Jennings Bryan for president in 1908, and he lamented Georgia’s apparent lack of influence at that year’s Democratic National Convention; Georgia initially cast its ballots for George Gray.
In the 1910s, Rainey invested in new engine-powered presses, and expanded the News staff, which included bringing his son, Clement E. Rainey, on as an assistant editor. The paper briefly circulated semi-weekly from 1912 to 1914, but permanently returned to its weekly publishing cycle by 1915. Despite the relatively small town it called home, the News proved to be a popular and widely quoted sheet, and Eugene Rainey successfully managed the publication until his death in June 1936. Clement Rainey then took over management of the paper until selling it to Carl Rountree in February 1946. During Rountree’s tenure, Terrell County’s notoriety for racial violence caused the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to select the area for its earliest integration efforts in the 1960s. Today, Dawson News Inc. publishes the Dawson News, which continues to serve as Terrell County’s paper of record.
City
County Seat of Terrell County
County
From Chaney, B. (1980). Political changes in 'Terrible Terrell.' Southern Changes, 2(7), pp. 7-10: "For this small, predominately Black, southwestern Georgia town, the county seat for "Terrible Terrell" County, making history is not something new. Back in 1960 it became the first jurisdiction to be sued by the Justice Department under the 1957 Civil Rights Act for discrimination in voter registration. This time, however, unlike much of its past history when Black men lined up against White to do battle, three Black men stood alongside three White men and were sworn in together as Dawson City Council members. The victories for the Black men, Robert Albritten, Abraham Breedlove and Lucius Holloway, did not come easy. In fact they were the culmination of a long and fierce struggle. Terrell County was not nicknamed "terrible" because it rhymed; it had one of the worst records of race repression and violence in the South. Headlines about bombing and shooting of Black homes, the burning of Black churches, and even the murder of Blacks by Whites were not uncommon in Terrell County."
Superior Court Districts
Southwestern Circuit, Feb. 16, 1856—Feb. 28, 1856
Pataula Circuit, Feb. 28, 1856—
Population - Census
1860: 6,232
1870: 9,053
1880: 10,451
1890: 14,503
1900: 19,023
1910: 22,003
1920: 19,601
1930: 18,290
1940: 16,675
1950: 14,314
1960: 12,742
1970: 11,416
ALREADY DIGITIZED BY DLG
The Dawson journal; Jan. 4, 1883 - Apr. 28, 1887 (NDNP Cycle 3)
The South western news; May 4, 1887 - Mar. 6, 1889 (NDNP Cycle 3)
The Dawson news; Mar. 13, 1889 - Dec. 29, 1925 (NDNP Cycle 3)
FILM HOLDINGS within Proposed Theme (16 Reels)
Jan 1926 - Mar 1928
Apr 1928 - May 1930
Jun 1930 - Feb 1933
Mar 1933 - Dec 1935
Jan 1936 - Nov 1938
Dec 1938 - Dec 1941
Jan 1942 - Aug 1944
Sep 1944 - Feb 1947
Mar 1947 - Mar 1949
Apr 1949 - Apr 1951
May 1951 - May 1953
Jun 1953 - Apr 1955
May 1955 - Mar 1957
Apr 1957 - Feb 1959
Mar 1959 - Apr 1961
May 1961 - Mar 1963