This Day in Georgia History: May 24, 1850

On this day in 1850, Henry W. Grady was born in Athens, GA. He was known as the “Spokesman of the New South” and was the managing editor for the Atlanta Constitution in the 1880s.

Before working at the Atlanta Constitution, Grady shared ownership in the Atlanta Daily Herald (which can be found in the Athens Historic Newspapers Archive). In 1874, he wrote an editorial in which he first used the term “New South” and advocated for industrial development to solve the economic and social problems facing the South at that time. You can read this editorial on page 3 of the March 14, 1874 issue of the Atlanta Daily Herald.

To read more about him, see the Henry W. Grady (1850-1889) article in the New Georgia Encyclopedia. For historical photos and more, search for Henry Grady in the Digital Library of Georgia.

Image from the New Georgia Encyclopedia