Dawson is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Terrell County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,414 at the 2020 census. Incorporated on December 22, 1857, the city is named for Senator William Crosby Dawson. Dawson is part of the

Albany, Georgia Albany ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the county seat of Dougherty County, Georgia, Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in Southwest Geo ...

metropolitan statistical area.

History

Dawson was founded in 1856 as seat of the newly formed Terrell County. It was incorporated as a town in 1857 and as a city in 1872. Terrell was an important site in the 1960s, when the county in which it is located was labeled "Terrible Terrell" by the

SNCC The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and later, the Student National Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emer ...

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

helped raise money to rebuild three black churches that were burned in the area. In 1976, five African-American youths were charged with the murder of a white customer in a roadside convenience store. The crime and pretrial proceedings garnered national attention. The five young men, one of whom was a juvenile, charged in the case were known as " The Dawson Five". The court dropped the charges against the group of five; Roosevelt Watson, Henderson Watson, J.D. Davenport, Johnnie B. Jackson, and George Poor, when it found evidence of

police misconduct Police misconduct is inappropriate conduct and illegal actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. Types of misconduct include among others: sexual offences, false confession, coerced false confession, intimidation, ...

, including coerced confessions, intimidation and improper identification procedures.

Geography

Dawson is located in

Southwest Georgia Southwest Georgia is a fourteen-county region in the U.S. state of Georgia, bordering Alabama and Florida. Colloquially referred to as SOWEGA, the region is anchored by Albany—its most populous city and the region's sole metropolitan statistica ...

along U.S. Route 82 and Georgia State Route 520 (Columbus Highway), which leads southeast 8 mi (13 km) to Sasser and northwest 9 mi (14 km) to Parrott. U.S. 82 leads west 21 mi (34 km) to

Cuthbert Cuthbert of Lindisfarne () ( – 20 March 687) was a saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Hiberno-Scottish mission, Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monastery, monasteries of Melrose Abbey#Histo ...

and 47 mi (76 km) to

Eufaula, Alabama Eufaula is the largest city in Barbour County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census the city's population was 13,137. History The site along the Chattahoochee River that is now modern-day Eufaula was occupied by three Muscogee Cre ...

. Albany is 24 mi (39 km) southeast and Columbus is 63 mi (101 km) northwest. The city is located at (31.773969, -84.440870). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 4,414 people, 1,577 households, and 1,080 families residing in the city.

Education

Terrell County School District

The Terrell County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. The district has 98 full-time teachers and over 1,764 students. *Cooper-Carver Elementary School *Terrell County Middle High School

Private education

* Terrell Academy - Founded as a

segregation academy Segregation academies are private schools in the Southern United States that were founded in the mid-20th century by white parents to avoid having their children attend Racial segregation in the United States, desegregated public schools. They ...

in response to the racial desegregation of public schools.

Higher education

Nearby Albany has two colleges to which students may easily commute:

Albany State University Albany State University is a Public university, public Historically Black College and University, historically black university in Albany, Georgia, United States. In 2017, Darton State College and Albany State University consolidated to become ...

, and Albany Technical College. To the west, in

, is historic Andrew College. Also nearby is Georgia Southwestern State UniversityGeorgia Southwestern State University
, Retrieved June 27, 2010. in Americus.

Notable people

Lucius D. Battle Lucius Durham Battle (June 1, 1918 – May 13, 2008) was a career Foreign Service officer who served with distinction in Washington, Europe and Southwest Asia. Early life Battle was born on June 1, 1918, in Dawson, Georgia, and his family la ...

(1918–2008), ambassador to Egypt * James Brazier (c. 1926–1958), African American murdered by police in Dawson * Lawrence Edward Carter Jr. (1941-), historian, professor, author, and civil rights expert. Dean of the

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

International Chapel at Morehouse. * Erle Cocke Jr. (1921–2000) businessman, U.S. National Guard general *

Wayland Flowers Wayland Parrott Flowers Jr. (November 26, 1939 – October 11, 1988) was an American actor, comedian and puppeteer. Flowers was best known for the comedy act he created with his puppet Madame. His performances as "Wayland Flowers and Madam ...

(1939–1988), puppeteer best known for his puppet known as "Madame" * Bessie Jones (1902–1984), gospel and folk singer * Dawson Five, five black Dawson residents who were wrongly charged with the 1976 murder of a white man; due to

forced confession A forced confession is a confession obtained from a suspect or a prisoner by means of torture (including enhanced interrogation techniques) or other forms of duress. Depending on the level of coercion used, a forced confession is not valid in rev ...

and other

, the case was dropped in 1977. * Benjamin J. Davis Jr. (1903–1964), attorney who defended man trying to organize a union from insurrection charges; elected as New York City Councilman after move to New York; Communist Party leader in 1930s * Robert J. Jones - Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; former President of the State University of New York at Albany *

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

(1941–1967), singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, and talent scout, considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

, and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

. *

Cole Swindell Colden Rainey Swindell (born June 30, 1983) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has written singles for Craig Campbell (singer), Craig Campbell, Thomas Rhett, Scotty McCreery, and Luke Bryan, and has released four albums for W ...

(born 1983) American country music singer and songwriter * Walter Washington - elected as first mayor of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

after the city was granted home rule by Congress

References

External links

Life and Death: Dawson, Georgia - 1977 - 27 minutes - WGBH Boston
{{authority control Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Terrell County, Georgia Populated places established in 1857 County seats in Georgia (U.S. state) Albany metropolitan area, Georgia 1857 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)