A NOTE FROM EDITOR KEVIN RILEY
When I came to Atlanta more than seven years ago to become editor of the newspaper, I knew of the storied tradition of The Atlanta Constitution.
The newspaper was known for its history as an advocate for all of Atlanta's citizens. Almost immediately upon my arrival, I read the biography of Ralph McGill, the famous editor of the Constitution who established its reputation during the Civil Rights era.
As I turned each page, I became more honored to have found a place in the line of his successors.
Today, as we celebrate the 150th birthday of The Atlanta Constitution, it's tempting to revel in that part of our history - and to see that as the entirety of the story in the Constitution's century and half of journalism.
But, as always, there's more to the story.
To understand the Constitution's tale requires a disquieting visit with some of Georgia's most difficult history and a journey along the road of our state's progression to some of its present-day challenges.
And, I promise you, it's a trip worth taking. The Constitution's history is a big part of Atlanta's story — and the newspaper was not always the positive force we are proud of today. Like Atlanta, it spent a long time finding its way.
As recorded by the New Georgia Encyclopedia, the Constitution's founding sounds routine:
"The Constitution was founded in 1868 by Carey Wentworth Styles, an Atlanta lawyer and entrepreneur. He bought the Atlanta Daily Opinion, one of several newspapers serving the city's 20,288 residents, and renamed it The Atlanta Constitution."
The Atlanta Constitution set about publishing its first drafts of the state's and city's history, but its founding — in fact, its very name — reveals a point of view that its numerous courageous moments have long overshadowed.
The name — "Constitution" — conjures a noble purpose and strikes a proud tone to modern readers. But on June 16, 1868, that name meant something very different. To grasp what was in that name, we must step back into the tumultuous times following the Civil War, when the country and Georgia experienced crises.
First, the federal government in Washington had just three weeks earlier survived a near-fatal power struggle.
The Republican-dominated Congress impeached President Andrew Johnson. There were strong disagreements about what to demand of southern states as they sought to rejoin the union.
Johnson survived his trial in the Senate by just one vote, but the impeachment had created a fissure between the president and Congress.
Johnson resisted enfranchisem*nt of former slaves, playing to the southern Democrats who were part of his constituency. He vetoed legislation to give rights to blacks when Congress passed it.
The Congressional Republicans demanded that southern states grant citizenship to former slaves and guarantee black men the right to vote.
Blacks began to exercise their new freedom, and demanded to participate in politics. This gave rise to the Ku Klux Klan as white resistance grew.
The southern states' leaders sought a return to the union, but imagined the South of old — a society that whites ruled, said Stan Deaton, senior historian at the Georgia Historical Society.
"That black voters were entertained at all seemed absurd to them," Deaton said. "This was the world turned upside down."
Among those insolent southern states was Georgia, where the federal military still intervened. Federal troops were ever-present in Georgia — and throughout the South — to guarantee rights to blacks.
And Georgia was in political chaos.
Gen. George Meade, the northern hero of the Battle of Gettysburg, oversaw the federal military district that included Georgia, Alabama and Florida. He was the all-powerful ruler of the subjugated former Confederate state. And in January of 1868, he removed the elected governor of Georgia for undermining efforts to grant blacks their rights.
Meade then appointed a fellow U.S. general as governor.
The federal government demanded that Georgia write a new constitution that included provisions enfranchising blacks.
White leaders in Georgia saw the writing of that constitution as their job — to be done in the way they saw fit and without the federal government's involvement — and as a job that excluded blacks.
Deaton called Georgia's political environment "a soup unlike any you can imagine."
"The Atlanta Constitution is born of this tumult," he said.
So the name "Constitution," was really a demand for ending federal military rule and giving Georgia self-determination of its government and laws — code for white domination.
"There's no other way to say it. The call was for a constitutional government that excluded blacks," said Deaton. "Its readers would've understood."
By its name, the Constitution aligned itself with Southern Democrats and against Republicans.
Two of its early leaders also served as mayors of Atlanta, and the newspaper eventually moved away from its anti-Reconstruction stance, as a number of newspapers fought for dominance in Atlanta — including The Atlanta Journal, which came along in 1883.
One of Georgia's most famous names joined The Atlanta Constitution in 1876. Henry Grady brought a new approach to the newspaper's journalism. He provided its readers with stories from around the country, and he also wrote about the south for northern newspapers.
Grady was progressive and the first to position the Constitution as a newspaper of national scope and reputation.
"Grady, the 'Spokesman of the New South,' served as managing editor for The Atlanta Constitution in the 1880s," according to The New Georgia Encyclopedia. "A member of the 'Atlanta Ring' of Democratic political leaders, Grady used his office and influence to promote a New South."
Grady was successful at convincing investors to look south for industrial growth and established Atlanta's reputation as the key city of the region.
But that New South still had a legacy with which to contend.
"In numerous Constitution editorials Grady claimed that African Americans enjoyed 'fair treatment' in Georgia and throughout the South," said the New Georgia Encyclopedia.
Despite Grady's characterizations, blacks in Georgia didn't enjoy full citizenship rights — and wouldn't for decades.
Grady died unexpectedly on December 23, 1889. He was just 39.
Clark Howell was the next great figure in the Constitution's history, taking charge of the newspaper his father owned in 1897.
The New Georgia Encyclopedia gives this concise description of Howell's journalistic leadership:
"He campaigned against the state's notorious convict lease system, supported Atlanta's acceptance of evacuees from a yellow fever epidemic in several southern states and stood with the governor when he vetoed a bill outlawing football at UGA in the wake of a player's death."
Also a politician, Howell served as a state legislator.
He lost a bitter battle for governor in 1906 to Hoke Smith, who was a former owner of The Atlanta Journal.
"(His opponent) was more strident in his opposition to suffrage for blacks than Howell and won handily," according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia.
In 1929, a young journalist from Tennessee would arrive in the Constitution's newsroom. He was hired in the sports department, a modest opportunity that would belie his future as one of Georgia's great historical figures and reformers. Ralph McGill, nine years later, would be named the newspaper's top editor.
McGill's legendary tenure at the Constitution would include a Pulitzer Prize and the writing of more than 10,000 columns, most of which appeared on the front page.
As the editor of one of the South's most important newspapers, he faced down harsh criticism as he challenged the treatment of blacks and segregationist laws.
He presented his views to southerners as a southerner. He wrote a column every day — but he mixed in other stories and topics instead of writing about racial issues all the time.
I spoke to Leonard Ray Teel, McGill's biographer and a professor at Georgia State University, for a column I wrote in 2011.
"McGill broke the silence" about the racial situation in the South, he said. "He was a southerner, which meant he was a traitor" to those who held segregationist or racist views.
But what made McGill so effective, according to Teel was his ability to tell stories.
"He would achieve his goal by telling a story," he said. "He was a good man who had a wonderful ability to tell a story.
"People read McGill whether they liked him or not," Teel said.
Many people didn't like McGill, who routinely received threatening letters, as he established himself as "The Conscience of the South," and the Constitution as one of the country's leading journalistic voices.
McGill would serve as an important mentor, including to Celestine Sibley, whom he appointed as one of the newspaper's first female editors.
He would eventually be named publisher of the newspaper, and the legendary Eugene Patterson would fill the role of editor.
By that time the Constitution and Journal were part of the same company, our current owners, Cox Enterprises.
Over time, changes to the media business and the economics of the newspaper industry would result in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
McGill and those who followed set the newspaper on a course that still guides us. My reading of McGill's biography reminded me that we, like him, must confront the difficult issues of our time.
In retrospect and from afar, McGill seems brilliant.
But upon a closer look in the pages of his biography, I met a man who was persistent, hard-working and thoughtful — wrestling each day with how to make Atlanta and Georgia a better place through his work.
He inspires us today.
You can see that in our commitment to investigative reporting, and to holding public officials accountable.
And you can see it as we consistently cover racial issues in our community and country. Race, and Atlanta's history with it, remains one of the important issues of our time — just as was 150 years ago.
The Constitution's growth and change through its history embodies the history of Atlanta. Its story, with all of its challenges, faults and accomplishments, is also a part of Atlanta's story. It seems that Atlanta has always known it would be one of the country's leading cities.
You will see that in the remarkable collection of front pages from The Atlanta Constitution published in this special keepsake edition.
The newspaper has been alongside our town through a lot of good and bad days, and by reaching into its history, the stories of Atlanta and Georgia unfold. And they remind us of the progress we've made.
Here's to another 150 years.
