Henry W. Grady

Henry W. Grady
Born
Henry Woodfin Grady

(1850-05-24)May 24, 1850
Athens, Georgia, U.S.[1]
DiedDecember 23, 1889(1889-12-23) (aged 39)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Signature

Henry Woodfin Grady (May 24, 1850 – December 23, 1889) was an American journalist and orator who helped reintegrate the states of the Confederacy into the Union after the American Civil War. Grady encouraged the industrialization of the postbellum South, which Grady referred to as "The New South." He was praised by contemporaries and by authors Shavin and Galphin as a civic promoter, political strategist and captivating speaker,[2] and by Atlanta journalist Frederick Allen as a visionary.[3] However, in modern times, Grady's arguments for the need for white supremacy in the post–Civil War South have resulted in his legacy being seen as mixed and overtly racist.[4][5] Grady's name has been removed from several schools including Atlanta's former Grady High School. Grady was the father-in-law of Federal Reserve Chairman Eugene Robert Black and grandfather of banker and World Bank President Eugene R. Black Sr.

  1. ^ New Georgia Encyclopedia (about Henry W. Grady) Archived January 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ Shavin, Norman; Bruce Galphin (1982). Atlanta: Triumph of a People. Capricorn. ISBN 9780910719001.
  3. ^ Allen, Frederick (1996). Atlanta Rising. Taylor Trade Publishing. p. 241. ISBN 9781461661672.
  4. ^ Editorial Board (December 3, 2019). "Editorial: Mayor Bottoms, tear down this statue!". The Signal. Georgia State University.
  5. ^ Torpy, Bill (December 12, 2019). "OPINION: Hey, 'Grady Babies,' old Henry might not have liked you". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved February 8, 2021.