On Dahlonega Nugget Newspaper Articles
Recently, I compiled a small collection of newspaper articles that mentioned Black people in the Dahlonega Nugget. Many of these articles involve events that happen around the state, but some of them involve incidents that take place from far places with slight connections. For example, one of the articles references an alleged Pennsylvanian Black serial killer being executed and his only relevance to Dahlonega being that he was originally from Georgia.1
A question that comes to mind immediately for this and other similar stories: why report this to the people of Dahlonega? Newspaper space was understandingly scarce as journalists presumably had to report federal, state, and local news — as well as the social and cultural events — in just a few pages. So, why use space to mention the execution of a Black person in Pennsylvania with the only relevance being that the individual was originally from Georgia?
Another question arises from this line of inquiry: was this the same treatment for White people accused of heinous crimes in other states? Did White serial killers with an origin from Georgia also get reported frequently in the Dahlonega Nugget? If not, why were Black serial killers treated differently?
Newspapers frequently allow their subscribers to submit editorials and letters to be published in an editor’s collum. These articles reflect the personal opinions of the person sending in the letter and not that of the newspaper itself. A few of these editorials appear in my compilation from people in Dahlonega. These editorials are almost exclusively critical of Black people and consistently use language that is strong to sanctify White supremacist views that were popular in the area at this time. Were there any other editorials that were contradictory to these submitted views?
This research will be difficult to entertain because of the sample size of articles but it is difficult to find contradicting articles. Hateful articles will use negative terminology while positive articles will be more difficult to find. Is this a reflection of the society and culture of Dahlonega or simply newspaper editors that were catering to their own views. What comes first: the racial newspaper or the racial hierarchy?
- Dahlonega Nugget, July 15, 1904. ↩︎