Hodding Carter
Encyclopedia
William Hodding Carter, II (February 3, 1907 – April 4, 1972) was a prominent Southern
U.S. progressive journalist
and author
. Carter was born in Hammond
, the largest community in Tangipahoa Parish, in southeastern Louisiana
, to William Hodding Carter, I
(1881–1955), and the former Irma Dutartre. Among other distinctions in his career, Carter was a Nieman Fellow.
Carter died in Greenville of a heart attack
at the age of sixty-five. He is interred in the Greenville Cemetery.
class of 1923. Carter attended Bowdoin College
in Brunswick, Maine
, (1927) and the Graduate School of Journalism
, Columbia University
(1928). He returned to Louisiana upon graduating. According to Ann Waldron
, Carter was an outspoken white supremacist
, yet he began to alter his thinking when he came back home to the South to live.
fellow
at Tulane University
in New Orleans (1928–1929), Carter worked as reporter for the following: the New Orleans Item-Tribune (1929), United Press in New Orleans (1930), and the Associated Press
in Jackson
, Mississippi
(1931–32).
With his wife, Betty nee
Werlein (1910–2000) of New Orleans, Carter founded the Hammond Daily Courier, in 1932. The paper was noted for its opposition to popular Louisiana
governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr.
, but its support for the national Democratic Party
.
In 1939, Carter moved to Greenville
, a Mississippi Delta
city and the seat of Washington County
, where he launched his successful Greenville Delta Democrat-Times, a newspaper later published, first, by his oldest son, William Hodding Carter, III
, and, later, by his second son, Philip Dutartre Carter (born 1939).
He won the Pulitzer Prize
in 1946 for his editorials, in particular a series lambasting the ill-treatment of Japanese-American (Nisei
) soldiers returning from World War II
. He was a professor
for a single semester at Tulane.
s in the Greenville Delta Democrat-Times regarding social and economic intolerance in the Deep South that won him widespread acclaim and the moniker "Spokesman of the New South
."
Carter wrote a caustic article for Look magazine
which detailed the menacing spread of a chapter of the White Citizens' Council
. The article was attacked on the floor of the Mississippi House of Representatives
as a, "Willful lie by a nigger-loving editor." Carter responded in a front-page editorial:
.
Carter was strongly opposed to the Munich Conference which ceded Czechoslovakia
to Adolf Hitler
. Carter rushed into World War II
service. While stationed at Camp Blanding
in Florida
, he lost the sight in his right eye during a training exercise. He thereafter served in the Intelligence Division and continued his journalistic activities by editing the Middle East
division of Yank
and Stars and Stripes
in Cairo
, Egypt
, and writing three books.
Late in life, Carter attended the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in 1965.
On a flight home, Carter learned of Kennedy's death and was devastated. A passenger on the plane said, "Well, we got that son-of-a-bitch, didn't we?" Carter responded, "Who are you talking about?" The passenger said, "You know damn well who I'm talking about", to which Carter responded by saying "You're just a son-of-a-bitch", and then punching the passenger in the mouth.
, in a book review of The Race Beat (2006
) for The Nation
discusses how Carter and other Southern journalists were "moderate defenders", of the South. That is, they were apologists for the South during the pre-civil rights
era. Alterman says, "'Enlightened'" Southern editors, especially. . . Mississippi's Hodding Carter, Jr., sold [Northerners] a Chalabi-like dream of steady, nonviolent progress that belied the violent savagery that lay in wait for those who stepped out of line." One of the reasons segregation had been a success, Alterman explains, is "...the way newspapers had neglected it."
Ann Waldron, in her book Hodding Carter: The Reconstruction of a Racist makes the case that Carter crusaded for racial equality, but hedged on condemning segregation
and after the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education
decision, he attacked intransigent White Citizens' Council, but supported only gradual integration
.
In defense of Carter, Claude Sitton, in a review of Waldron's book in the New York Times says, "[R]eaders of today will ask how an editor who opposed enactment of a federal antilynching law as unnecessary and public school desegregation in Mississippi
as unwise can be called a champion of racial justice
. The answer, which she gives in the book's introduction, lies in the context of the times. . . . Absent his efforts and those of other Southern editors of courage and like mind, change would have come far more slowly and at far greater cost."
in Starkville
, where Carter's personal papers are housed.
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
U.S. progressive journalist
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. Carter was born in Hammond
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
, the largest community in Tangipahoa Parish, in southeastern Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, to William Hodding Carter, I
William Hodding Carter, I
William Hodding Carter, I , was a businessman, Democratic politician, and farmer from Hammond, the largest community in Tangipahoa Parish, one of the "Florida parishes" east of Baton Rouge in southeastern Louisiana...
(1881–1955), and the former Irma Dutartre. Among other distinctions in his career, Carter was a Nieman Fellow.
Carter died in Greenville of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
at the age of sixty-five. He is interred in the Greenville Cemetery.
Education
Carter was valedictorian of the Hammond High SchoolHammond High School (Louisiana)
Hammond Magnet High School, founded in 1866, is a public high school located in an unincorporated part of the 7th Ward of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States, east of Hammond. It is the second largest high school in the Tangipahoa Parish Public School System...
class of 1923. Carter attended Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...
in Brunswick, Maine
Brunswick, Maine
Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 20,278 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, , and the...
, (1927) and the Graduate School of Journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
(1928). He returned to Louisiana upon graduating. According to Ann Waldron
Ann Waldron
Ann Wood Waldron was an American author who initially focused on writing for children and young adults, then turned to biographies of authors from the South, and ultimately shifted in her late 70s to writing murder mysteries set at Princeton University.-Early life:Ann Wood was born on December 14,...
, Carter was an outspoken white supremacist
White supremacy
White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites.White supremacy, as with racial...
, yet he began to alter his thinking when he came back home to the South to live.
Career background
After a year as a teachingTeacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in New Orleans (1928–1929), Carter worked as reporter for the following: the New Orleans Item-Tribune (1929), United Press in New Orleans (1930), and the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
in Jackson
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
(1931–32).
With his wife, Betty nee
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Werlein (1910–2000) of New Orleans, Carter founded the Hammond Daily Courier, in 1932. The paper was noted for its opposition to popular Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr.
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
, but its support for the national Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
.
In 1939, Carter moved to Greenville
Greenville, Mississippi
Greenville is a city in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 48,633 at the 2000 census, but according to the 2009 census bureau estimates, it has since declined to 42,764, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. It is the county seat of Washington...
, a Mississippi Delta
Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. The region has been called "The Most Southern Place on Earth" because of its unique racial, cultural, and economic history...
city and the seat of Washington County
Washington County, Mississippi
-National protected areas:*Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge*Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge *Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:...
, where he launched his successful Greenville Delta Democrat-Times, a newspaper later published, first, by his oldest son, William Hodding Carter, III
Hodding Carter III
Hodding Carter, III , is an American journalist and politician best known for his role as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs in the Jimmy Carter administration.-Biography:...
, and, later, by his second son, Philip Dutartre Carter (born 1939).
He won the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in 1946 for his editorials, in particular a series lambasting the ill-treatment of Japanese-American (Nisei
Nisei
During the early years of World War II, Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated from their homes in the Pacific coast states because military leaders and public opinion combined to fan unproven fears of sabotage...
) soldiers returning from World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He was a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
for a single semester at Tulane.
Fighting intolerance
He also wrote editorialEditorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
s in the Greenville Delta Democrat-Times regarding social and economic intolerance in the Deep South that won him widespread acclaim and the moniker "Spokesman of the New South
New South
New South, New South Democracy or New South Creed is a phrase that has been used intermittently since the American Civil War to describe the American South, after 1877. The term "New South" is used in contrast to the Old South of the plantation system of the antebellum period.The term has been used...
."
Carter wrote a caustic article for Look magazine
Look (American magazine)
Look was a bi-weekly, general-interest magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa from 1937 to 1971, with more of an emphasis on photographs than articles...
which detailed the menacing spread of a chapter of the White Citizens' Council
White Citizens' Council
The White Citizens' Council was an American white supremacist organization formed on July 11, 1954. After 1956, it was known as the Citizens' Councils of America...
. The article was attacked on the floor of the Mississippi House of Representatives
Mississippi House of Representatives
The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi....
as a, "Willful lie by a nigger-loving editor." Carter responded in a front-page editorial:
By vote of 89 to 19, the Mississippi House of RepresentativesMississippi House of RepresentativesThe Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi....
has resolved the editor of this newspaper into a liar because of an article I wrote. If this charge were true, it would make me well qualified to serve in that body. It is not true. So to even things up, I hereby resolve by a vote of one to nothing that there are eighty-nine liars in the state legislature.
Personal background
The Carters married on October 14, 1931. In addition to Hodding and Philip, they had a younger son, Thomas Hennen Carter (1945–1964). Thomas killed himself playing a game of Russian rouletteRussian roulette
Russian roulette is a potentially lethal game of chance in which participants place a single round in a revolver, spin the cylinder, place the muzzle against their head and pull the trigger...
.
Carter was strongly opposed to the Munich Conference which ceded Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. Carter rushed into World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
service. While stationed at Camp Blanding
Camp Blanding
Camp Blanding Joint Training Center is the primary military reservation and training base for the Florida National Guard, both the Florida Army National Guard and certain non-flying activities of the Florida Air National Guard. The installation is located in Clay County, Florida near the city of...
in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, he lost the sight in his right eye during a training exercise. He thereafter served in the Intelligence Division and continued his journalistic activities by editing the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
division of Yank
Yank, the Army Weekly
Yank, the Army Weekly was a weekly magazine published by the United States military during World War II. The idea for the magazine came from Egbert White, who had worked on Stars and Stripes during World War I. He proposed the idea to the Army in early 1942, and accepted a commission as Lieutenant...
and Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes (newspaper)
Stars and Stripes is a news source that operates from inside the United States Department of Defense but is editorially separate from it. The First Amendment protection which Stars and Stripes enjoys is safeguarded by Congress to whom an independent ombudsman, who serves the readers' interests,...
in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, and writing three books.
Late in life, Carter attended the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in 1965.
Politics and the Kennedys
Carter was an unabashed supporter of the Kennedys and their quest for the American presidency. He had dinner with Bobby Kennedy and his family the night before RFK was assassinated. He was also working for him "campaigning, making talks, and writing ghost speeches."On a flight home, Carter learned of Kennedy's death and was devastated. A passenger on the plane said, "Well, we got that son-of-a-bitch, didn't we?" Carter responded, "Who are you talking about?" The passenger said, "You know damn well who I'm talking about", to which Carter responded by saying "You're just a son-of-a-bitch", and then punching the passenger in the mouth.
Criticism
Columnist Eric AltermanEric Alterman
Eric Alterman is an American English teacher, historian, journalist, author, media critic, blogger, and educator. His political weblog named Altercation was hosted by MSNBC.com from 2002 until 2006, moved to Media Matters for America until December 2008, and is now hosted by The...
, in a book review of The Race Beat (2006
2006 in literature
The year 2006 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Literature:*Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun*Chris Adrian - The Children's Hospital *Martin Amis - House of Meetings...
) for The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
discusses how Carter and other Southern journalists were "moderate defenders", of the South. That is, they were apologists for the South during the pre-civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
era. Alterman says, "'Enlightened'" Southern editors, especially. . . Mississippi's Hodding Carter, Jr., sold [Northerners] a Chalabi-like dream of steady, nonviolent progress that belied the violent savagery that lay in wait for those who stepped out of line." One of the reasons segregation had been a success, Alterman explains, is "...the way newspapers had neglected it."
Ann Waldron, in her book Hodding Carter: The Reconstruction of a Racist makes the case that Carter crusaded for racial equality, but hedged on condemning segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
and after the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
decision, he attacked intransigent White Citizens' Council, but supported only gradual integration
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
.
In defense of Carter, Claude Sitton, in a review of Waldron's book in the New York Times says, "[R]eaders of today will ask how an editor who opposed enactment of a federal antilynching law as unnecessary and public school desegregation in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
as unwise can be called a champion of racial justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
. The answer, which she gives in the book's introduction, lies in the context of the times. . . . Absent his efforts and those of other Southern editors of courage and like mind, change would have come far more slowly and at far greater cost."
Memorable quotes
- "Television news is like a lightning flash. It makes a loud noise, lights up everything around it, leaves everything else in darkness and then is suddenly gone."
- "There are two things we should give our children: one is roots and the other is wings." (Borrowed from the Reverend Henry Ward BeecherHenry Ward BeecherHenry Ward Beecher was a prominent Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, abolitionist, and speaker in the mid to late 19th century...
.)
Research
For additional materials by and about Hodding Carter, Jr., the researcher is referred to Mitchell Library at Mississippi State UniversityMississippi State University
The Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science commonly known as Mississippi State University is a land-grant university located in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, United States, partially in the town of Starkville and partially in an unincorporated area...
in Starkville
Starkville, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 21,869 people, 9,462 households, and 4,721 families residing in the city. The population density was 851.4 people per square mile . There were 10,191 housing units at an average density of 396.7 per square mile...
, where Carter's personal papers are housed.
Carter's books
- The Winds of Fear (1945)
- Southern Legacy (1950)
- Gulf Coast Country (1951) (with Anthony Ragusin)
- John Law Wasn't So Wrong: The Story of Louisiana's Horn of Plenty (Baton Rouge, La.: Esso Standard Oil Company, 1952).
- Where Main Street Meets the River (New York: Rinehart & Co., 1953)
- Robert E. Lee and the Road of Honor (1954)
- So Great a Good (1955)
- Marquis de Lafayette: Bright Sword for Freedom (1958)
- The Angry Scar: The Story of Reconstruction (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1959)
- First Person Rural (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1963)
- The Ballad of Catfoot Grimes and Other Verses (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1964)
- So the Heffners Left McComb (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1965)
- The Commandos of World War II (1966)
- Their Words Were Bullets: The Southern Press in War, Reconstruction, and Peace Mercer University Memorial Lectures, No. 12 (Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, 1969)
External links
- Oral History Interview with Hodding Carter from Oral Histories of the American South
- Hodding Carter at the Library of America.
- Hodding Carter at OutsideOutsideOutside may refer to:* Wilderness* Outside , an outdoors magazine* Outside , a short film written and directed by Jenn Kao and starring Courtney Ford* Outside, a book by Marguerite Duras...
magazine