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William Anderson Pledger (1852 - 1904) was a lawyer, newspaper publisher, and politician in Georgia. He is credited as the first African American lawyer in Atlanta and his political roles and efforts led the way for many who followed.
Pledger was born near Jonesboro in 1852. His mother was a slave and he had a white father. He studied at Atlanta University and then taught in Athens, Georgia. Early in his career he worked on a railroad with Monroe Morton. Members of the 
Henry Lincoln Johnson was his law partner and succeeded him in office.
Pledger actively backed Thomas Reed in the 1896 election cycle, although he was ultimately unsuccessful as William McKinley won the presidency and the Republican nomination.
Pledger was buried in the Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery in Athens, Georgia.
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closed the school he worked at in 1872. A staunch Republican Party
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supporter, Pledger gave stump speech
A political stump speech is a standard speech used by a politician running for office. Typically a candidate who schedules many appearances prepares a short standardized stump speech that is repeated verbatim to each audience, before opening t ...
es and became a party delegate.
He started a series of newspapers. He owned and edited the ''Athens Blade
The ''Athens Blade'' was a short-lived African-American weekly newspaper published in Athens, Georgia
Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about n ...
'' with William Henry Heard
William Henry (Harrison) Heard (June 25, 1850 – September 12, 1937) was a clergyman of the African Methodist Episcopal Church who served as United States Ambassador to Liberia from 1895 through 1898.
Early life, family and education
William H ...
. He moved it to Atlanta and renamed it the ''Atlanta Defiant'' before returning it to Athens.
Henry Lincoln Johnson was his law partner and succeeded him in office.
Pledger actively backed Thomas Reed in the 1896 election cycle, although he was ultimately unsuccessful as William McKinley won the presidency and the Republican nomination.
Pledger was buried in the Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery in Athens, Georgia.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pledger, Bill 1852 births 1904 deaths Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Editors of Georgia (U.S. state) newspapers Georgia (U.S. state) Republicans