The ''Ledger-Enquirer'' is a newspaper headquartered in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It was founded in 1828 as the ''Columbus Enquirer'' by Mirabeau B. Lamar who later played a pivotal role in the founding of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Me ...

and served as its third President. The newspaper is a two-time recipient of the

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journalis ...

.The Pulitzer Prizes for 1926
pulitzer.org; retrieved September 2008The Pulitzer Prizes for 1955
pulitzer.org. retrieved September 2008

History

In 1874, the ''Columbus Enquirer'', until then a weekly publication, merged with Columbus's first daily newspaper, the ''Daily Sun'', to form the ''Columbus Enquirer-Sun''.
web.library.emory.edu from web.archive.org; retrieved May 2021 The paper was published under this name for many years before eventually reverting to the name ''Columbus Enquirer''. The paper was purchased by R. W. Page in 1930. For many years the morning ''Columbus Enquirer'' and the afternoon ''Columbus Ledger'', a paper founded in 1886, and also owned by R. W. Page, published a combined Sunday paper known as the ''Sunday Ledger-Enquirer''. Knight Newspapers acquired the company in 1973, and in 1988 the papers merged the daily edition as well, adopting the name ''Columbus Ledger-Enquirer''. Knight Ridder was acquired by

The McClatchy Company The McClatchy Company, commonly referred to as simply McClatchy, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law and based in Sacramento, California. It operates 29 daily newspapers in fourteen states an ...

in 2006.The McClatchy Company - About
, mcclatchy.com; retrieved September 2008

1926 Pulitzer Prize

The ''Columbus Enquirer-Sun'' was awarded the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service "for the service which it rendered in its brave and energetic fight against the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...

; against the enactment of a law barring the teaching of

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

; against dishonest and incompetent public officials and for justice to the

Negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

and against

lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

1955 Pulitzer Prize

The ''Columbus Ledger'' and ''Sunday Ledger-Enquirer'' were awarded the 1955 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for their "complete news coverage and fearless editorial attack on widespread corruption in neighboring

Phenix City, Alabama Phenix City is a city in Lee and Russell counties in the U.S. state of Alabama, and the county seat of Russell County. As of the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 38,817. Phenix City lies immediately west across the Chattahoochee R ...

, which were effective in destroying a corrupt and racket-ridden city government. The newspaper exhibited 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."

References

External links

*
The McClatchy Company's subsidiary profile of the ''Ledger-Enquirer''''Columbus Enquirer'' Archive
Digital Library of Georgia {{PulitzerPrize PublicService 1951–1975 Newspapers published in Georgia (U.S. state) McClatchy publications Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers Mass media in Columbus, Georgia Pulitzer Prize for Public Service winners

History

1926 Pulitzer Prize

1955 Pulitzer Prize

See also

References

External links