Russell County AlArchives Photo Place.....On Phenix City- 1955 Pulitzer ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Christine Thacker http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00033.html#0008100 May 21, 2007, 3:03 pm Source: Sesquicentennial Supplement IV, Columbus Ledger -Enquirer Photo can be seen at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/russell/photos/onpheixc6517gph.jpg Image file size: 120.0 Kb On Phenix City Ledger Wins 1955 Pulitzer (Editor's Note: The following account of how Ledger earned the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is a compilation of articles written by Tom Sellers and Ben House for the 75th Anniversary Edition of The Ledger 1961.) During its 75 years of existence, The Columbus Ledger has received almost countless awards and commendations for outstanding contributions to journalism but regardless of the future awards the newspaper may receive none will surpass the paper winning the Pulitze Prize on May 2, 1955. The newspaper received its Pulitzer, which has come to be recognized as the supreme accolade of the profession in this country, for its coverage of the Phenix City story in 1954, including the assassination of Albert L Patterson and the resulting vice cleanup, which burst into national and international headlines over a six-month period. Phenix Citv in recent year's has been called "the cleanest town in Alabama.' It wasn't always thiS way, however. The Ledger and its outspoken former editor Bryan Collier began publicly worrying about vice conditions in the border town as far back,as World War II. There were flareups against the newspaper by elected officials across the river, from time to time. Ledger reporters weren't always welcome in the halls of government, and newsmen had to be especially careful in the gambling dives near both river bridges. Things reached a head in October 1946 when the late Carlton Johnson wrote an article exposing a system of bond forfeitures in the Phenix City Recorder's Court by alleged "bug" writers. Johnson said the court docket showed 56 lottery cases over a period of 18 months, but none had paid a fine or received a sentence. A few days after Johnson's article appeared, the Phenix City Commission met in closed session. Later, Johnson walked into the city clerk's office and was told by Miss Clara Fletcher, assistant city clerk: "You're forbidden to look at the docket." "Why?" the reporter inquired. "They the City Commission) decided not to let you look at the docket," said Miss Fletcher. Johnson asked if the ruling applied to both Recorder's Court and police records and was told that it did. He then went to Mayor Homer D. Cobb and asked why the records had been closed. The mayor said: "We have decided to keep everybody out except taxpayers and those who have a right to look at it. We have tried to give everybody a fair deal, but so far we haven't recrived a fair deal." Editor Collier, in an editorial titled "The Closed Books," called the city's ruling "high-handed," and asked. if the people of Phenix City would be willing "to have the door slammed in their faces." The people of Phenix City should know that anything can happen, and usually does, when elected officials are permitted to pull down the curtain and operate in privacy, which is obviously what Mr. Cobb, el al, seek to do. We suppose it must be up to the people to remove this ban, if they have the courage and ability to do it, or if they are interested in doing it. If they aren't interested, why should we be? Collier plainly did not intend to let the matter drop there, however. On Tuesday, October 29, 1946, he began printing a black-bordered "blank space" one column wide and four inches deep on The Ledger front page each day. The first "blank space" contained the following question inserted at the bottom: "Why is the 'bug' so respected by the Phenix City Commission thay it bars reporters from public records pertaining to the 'bug'?" Next day the blank spot was decorated with a large question mark and this provocative query: "Is it the public interest or the 'bug' the Phenix City Commission is tryng to protect by barring Ledger rpporters from public records?" Collier's campaign continued in this vein for several weeks, until the order closing Phenix City's books was rescinded. The period 1950-54 saw innumerable spats between Phenix City elements and The Ledger. In 1953, Russell County Rep. J.W. (Jabe) Brassell introduced a bill in the Alabama legislature which, if successful, would have permitted cities and counties to sue newspapers for punitive damages anywhere in their circulation areas. The bill failed to pass. Brassell was quoted as saying: "For 20 years, The Columbus Ledger has been jumping all over Phenix City and it has run only one fair Phenix City editorial in all that time." City Clerk Jimmy Putnam went a step further in August 1953 when he denied reporters access to City records, particularly the Recorder's Court docket. It was said the action came as an aftermath of a Ledger story concerning the possibilily of a manufacturing plant coming to Phenix City. Again the press gag was only short-lived, and reporters were soon allowed to peruse the books as usual. But the opposition to news coverage took many other forms. It was during this period that the Russell Betterment Assn.. an anti-vice organization was founded with the help of Attorney Albert Patterson. It became extremely active. RBA members supplied The Ledger with information about racketeering in Phenix City and Russell County. The hoodlums retaliated by bombing the home of Hugh BentleY, RBA president; thrashing RBA leaders and Ledger reporters at the polls in May 1952. and by telephoned threats aimed at newsmen. The Ledger continued to spotlight the illegal doings, however. Only two months before crime-fighting Albert Pattlerson was murdered in June 1954 in an alley beside his Phenix City law office, the paper reported the return of slot machines. After the Patterson assassination, with Editor Brown at the helm, The Ledger assigned veteran staffers Carlton Johnspn, Tom Sellers and Ray Jenkins to the Phenix City story, and Brown published daily front-page editorials in which the vice lords and their political cronies came under scathing atack. Phenix City was a dangerous place for newsmen right up until July 22, 1954, when the city and county were placed under martial rule by Gov. Gordon Persons. Ironically, within minutes after this proclamation was issued, a Phenix City policeman being relieved of his authority snarled at a photographer for The Ledger-Enquirer newspapers: "You'd better not take that picture." He added. "It's the paper's fault that the city is in the shape it's in." For its work in Phenix City, however, The Ledger received a Pulitzer Prize- most-coveted award an American newspaper can receive. The citation for the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Public Service, dated May 2, 1955, reads: "For disinterested and meritorious public service rendered by a United States newspaper, published daily, Sunday or at least once a week, during the year, a gold medal. "Awarded to the Columbus (Ga.) Ledger and Sunday Ledger-Enquirer for its complete news coverage and fearless editorial attack on widespread corruption in neighboring Phenix City, which were effective in destroying a corrupt and racket-ridden city government. This newspaper exhibted an early awareness of the evils of lax law enforcement before the situation in Phenix City erupted into murder. It covered the whole unfolding story of the final prosecution of the wrong-doers with skill, perception, force and courage." The award-winning exhibit contained 180 pages of photostats showing various exposes through the years, including news stories and page one cartoons and editorials. Brown commented aqout the award on the day it was received. "This recognition, which we have received with mixed emotions of jubilancy and humility, reflects the magnificent teamwork of the entire staff of The Columbus Ledger." The Ledger's Managing Editor Carlton Johnson, then city editor, directed coverage of the Phenix City story for several months before leaving for Harvard University as a Nieman Fellow. Brown commented that it would be impossible to single out the efforts of an individual newsman since all contributed. "And as they contributed, it was without thought of or desire for recognition. The sterling performances were really routine to the staff members, carrying out nothing more than the expected execution of journalistic assignments," he said. Special Sesquicentennial Supplement IV Ledger-Enquirer, Sunday , May 7, 1978. Pg S-7. In top photo, Phenix City attorney Albert L. Patterson, second from left, was murdered in June of 1954 in an alley next to his office. He is shown here with Tim Burns (L) the Rev. Roland Smith (R) and Hugh Bentley. In bottom photo, Robert W. Brown, second from right, was editor of the Ledger when it won the Pulitzer. He is shown with Maynard Ashworth (L), publisher, editor Edge Reid, and R.W. Page Corp. president, the late Alvah Chapman Sr. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/russell/photos/onpheixc6517gph.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 9.7 Kb