Atlanta Daily World Newspaper
145 Auburn Avenue
Sweet Auburn Historic District. Atlanta, Georgia

Built: 1920's?
Original Use: Simple Storefront; in 1928 became offices of the Atlanta Daily World.
Re-adaptive Use: Still serving the needs of the Atlanta Daily World.

 

Recorded dates:
1928 - August 5. William Alexander Scott II, age 26, founded The Atlanta Daily World. It was the first successful

            African American daily newspaper in the United States. When The Daily World was founded there was only

            one other black paper in the Atlanta area, The Atlanta Independent, which shut down in 1933, consequently

            leaving The Daily World as the lone voice for the city's growing black community. Scott launched the paper

            mainly as a business venture, not a political venture. As a result, it was able to secure local and national

            advertisements from both black and white businesses, including Coca-Cola, Sears, Roebuck & Company, and

            Rich's, the largest department store in Atlanta. White businesses did not feel unduly threatened by the

            paper's editorial position, as they might have with a black paper such as The Chicago Defender or The Negro

            World, which were "militant" in their attacks against southern white racism.
1930 - May. semi-weekly.
1931 - April. tri-weekly
1931 - March 13. Became daily; As a daily paper, it was set apart from other black newspapers, the majority of which

           were published as weeklies. Its new format allowed for more timely news coverage.
1934 - February 4. Scott was shot and killed while walking from his garage. No one was ever convicted of his murder.

            His brother, Cornelius Adolphus Scott, subsequently became the head of The Daily World. Under his

            leadership, the newspaper adopted a more conservative, Republican position, reflecting C.A. Scott's political

            views.
1936 - Feb. 12. John Wesley Dobbs speaks for 2 hours at Big Bethal to awaken the political conscience of Atlanta's

            90,000 blacks. He proposes that night to organize the Atlanta Civic and Political League to register 10,000

            voters. Twenty-eight year old C.A. Scott at The Daily World backed him up the next day in his newspaper.
1944 - February 8. Reporter Harry S. Alpin became the first person of African American descent to cover the White

            House
1954 - 1965 - During the Civil Rights era The Daily World was criticized for not supporting sit-ins staged at several

                       white-owned restaurants in downtown Atlanta. Scott reasoned that African Americans would more

                       effectively improve their situation by working towards ending segregation in education, obtaining

                       political and voting influence, and improving their economic situations rather than engaging in this

                       form of protest.
1997 - Scott retired from The Atlanta Daily World and on Aug. 14 his great niece, Alexis Scott Reeves, was named

            publisher.

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Credit for content : http://www.pbs.org/blackpress/news_bios/newbios/nwsppr/atlnta/atlnta.html

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