Every day brings a new story. And each day contributes to the art of story telling -- in prose and poetry, in music, on the stage, on the screen, in podcasts, and in books.
Today is a story of February 5th
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It is the 36th day of the year, leaving 329 days remaining in 2023.
As a white man writing for newspapers in the Deep South, McGill told the story of the U.S. Civil Rights movement with passion, understanding, and clarity. He opposed segregation and wrote about its harmful effects. He explained to his mostly white readers the passive and non-violent actions the Black men and women took in their struggle for equal rights, and inspired other newspapers to follow his lead.
He wrote editorials that influenced this social change. As a columnist who was syndicated around the national, McGill attempted to explain the South to his readers, He also quietly advised Presidents Kennedy and Johnson about their actions during that time.
Born in rural southeastern Tennessee, he was educated at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He did not graduate because he was kicked out after writing an editorial critical of the school's administration.
He first worked for the old Nashville Banner and later moved to the Atlanta Constitution, where he spent the majority of his career and served as executive editor, editor, and publisher. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1958 for editorial writing. In 1964, President Johnson awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
He is the author of several books about the south, including Southern Encounters: Southerners of Note in Ralph McGill's South, and The South and the Southerner.
McGill died in 1969.
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