Background
Henry Woodfin Grady was born May 24, 1850 in Athens, Georgia, a descendant of old native stock. He was raised by his mother Anne Grady, as his father, William Grady, was killed during the Civil War.
Henry Woodfin Grady was born May 24, 1850 in Athens, Georgia, a descendant of old native stock. He was raised by his mother Anne Grady, as his father, William Grady, was killed during the Civil War.
In 1868 Grady received a bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia. Pursuing postgraduate studies at the University of Virginia, he became interested in journalism.
Grady’s first venture into newspaper work was a series of articles for the Atlanta Constitution on the resources and future possibilities of his war-ravaged state. In the early 1870s, having married into a cotton goods-manufacturing family, Grady settled in Rome, Georgia. Three attempts to establish his own newspaper failed within 5 months. In 1876 the dejected young man went to New York City in quest of work. A piece he wrote for the New York Herald was so well received that he returned to Georgia as the paper's special correspondent. Four years later, with a $20, 000 loan from Cyrus W. Field, Grady purchased a quarter interest in the Atlanta Constitution and became its editor.
Grady's reputation soared, as did the circulation of the Constitution, which in 8 years became the most popular weekly in the nation. Grady did not hesitate to attack graft and corruption in Georgia. Yet he became more famous for his economic and political crusades. In brilliant oratory he preached the virtues of a "New South" and continually urged embittered Southerners to seek reconciliation with the North.
Grady launched a one-man drive for new industry in his region. The South's slow but steady recovery from the destruction of the Civil War is a tribute in no small part to Grady's efforts. Grady also launched a misguided political dream: to unite all Southern whites into one party and then amalgamate it with the financial and industrial combine of the East – with Atlanta as the base of operations. Though he was frequently mentioned as a prospect for the U. S. Senate, Grady avoided political office. On December 23, 1889 he died of pneumonia. A number of buildings and monuments in Atlanta commemorate his service to his city, his state, and the South he loved.
(The Complete Orations and Speeches of Henry W Grady Class...)