20th Century Giants

20 from the CSRA who influenced the nation, world

Web-posted 12/30/99   Maybe it is the fertile clay and sand hills that undulate throughout the Central Savannah River Area. Maybe it is the life-giving waters of the river itself whispering its secrets in the ears of both the dreamers and the practical who live in the CSRA. Whatever it is that inspires them or drives them, men and women of our two-state area, from President Woodrow Wilson to World War II hero James Dyess to legendary soul singer James Brown, have had a profound effect on history. While it would be presumptous to try and create a Top 20 list of such giants, we offer (with the help of Morris Communications publications editor Don Rhodes) a sampler of the many from the CSRA who helped determine the course of this nation and the world during the 20th Century. --Phil Kent, Senior Editorial Writer & Jim Whitaker, Editorial Writer

	Doug Barnard Jr.
		Web-posted 12/30/99   In 1976 the Augusta banker was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He soon was at odds with his Democratic Party leadership, and later co-founded a conservative ``Boll Weevil'' caucus that voted for President Reagan's tax cuts and defense buildup.

	James Brown
		Web-posted 12/30/99   He was born in poverty and became one of the richest men in show business. His unique dance steps, first exhibited in Augusta schools and theaters and on Augusta street corners, came to be copied by Michael Jackson.

	Archibald Butt
		Web-posted 12/30/99   He died a hero when the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in 1912. He was an aide to President Teddy Roosevelt and when William Howard Taft became president in 1908, Major Archibald Butt continued with Taft.

	James F. Byrnes
		Web-posted 12/30/99   He started his political career in Aiken as the court stenographer for South Carolina's 2nd Judicial Circuit. He studied law at night, passed the bar exam in 1903 and began practicing in Aiken.

	Erskine Caldwell
		Web-posted 12/30/99   If nothing else, this author brought the nation's attention to the South -- especially to the Central Savannah River Area -- with his best known work, Tobacco Road.

	Clem Castleberry
		Web-posted 12/30/99   This business entrepreneur came along at a time when the nation was just realizing it didn't have to buy just perishable food products but food could last for months using canned goods.

	Hervey Cleckley and Corbett Thigpen
		Web-posted 12/30/99   These two Augusta psychiatrists first brought the mental disorder of multiple personalities to international public light with the publication of their best-selling book, The Three Faces of Eve.

	Ty Cobb
		Web-posted 12/30/99   As a teen-ager, he came out of north Georgia to start his professional baseball career in 1904 playing for the Augusta Tourists. He soon was snapped up by the Detroit Tigers for which he played throughout his career, except for his last two seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics.

	James Dyess
		Web-posted 12/30/99   A sudden summer storm hit Sullivan's Island, S.C., in 1928 and a young Augusta man dived into violent waters to help rescue a woman caught in the surf.

	Robert Greenblatt
		Web-posted 12/30/99   This noted Augusta physician was internationally-known as an authority on sex and even published a book detailing the sex lives of historical figures.

	Oliver Hardy
		Web-posted 12/30/99   There are probably few people in the history of comedy who have had such worldwide influence as he and his British-born partner, Stan Laurel.

	Joseph Lamar
		Web-posted 12/30/99   This young next-door Augusta neighbor of Woodrow Wilson studied law here, was admitted to the Georgia bar in 1878 and practiced law in the Garden City until 1903.

	Brenda Lee
		Web-posted 12/30/99   Moving to Augusta was one of the best things that happened to Brenda Mae Tarpley, who was given her show business name ``Brenda Lee'' while performing in Augusta.

	Clifford Roberts
		Web-posted 12/30/99   The New York financier, along with golf legend Bobby Jones of Atlanta, put Augusta on the map in the world of golf. He and golf great Bobby Jones had a dream, and they formed a partnership with noted golf course designer Dr. Alistair Mackenzie to plan the Augusta National Golf Club and to establish the Master Golf Tournament.

	Pleasant Stovall
		Web-posted 12/30/99   his Augustan became associate editor of The Augusta Chronicle before moving to Savannah in 1891 and establishing the Savannah Evening Press.

	Strom Thurmond
		Web-posted 12/30/99   The longest-serving member of Congress, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate from South Carolina on a write-in vote in 1954, is an Army veteran (17 decorations, medals and awards), former judge, ex-governor and states' rights presidential candidate (1948). The Democrat-turned Republican put his stamp on modern American politics as the architect of the ``Southern strategy.''

	C.T. Walker
		Web-posted 12/30/99   He became one of the most famous orators of his day, black or white, and was called ``The Black Spurgeon'' because of his oratory skills. American giants such as industrialist John D. Rockefeller and U.S. President Howard Taft went to hear him preach.

	Tom Watson
		Web-posted 12/30/99   One of America's greatest populist leaders, and one of the South's great orators and editorialists, is a native of Thomson. This deep thinker, scholar, author and historian served in the state legislature and was later elected to the U.S. Congress.

	Woodrow Wilson
		Web-posted 12/30/99   The United States' 28th president, is considered to be the first American in the 20th century to be an international leader. Although Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton, Va., his formative years were spent in Augusta.

20 from the CSRA who influenced our two state-region

Web-posted 12/30/99   Change and growth are the words that best sum up the 20th Century in the Central Savannah River Area. The nation throughout the 1900s was confronted by increasingly rapid change and the challenges it brought. Here in the two-state region, we were lucky to have capable men and women -- on both sides of the river -- to lead us in meeting the challenges brought by wars, disasters, innovations in science, industry and medicine, and a growing entertainment and sports industry. There was also a changing culture that brought advances in race relations. There are too many to list -- or to choose the ``top'' names -- but we simply offer a sampling of those area giants who brought us to 2000.

	Nancy Anderson
		Web-posted 12/30/99   Several people changed how we enjoy the downtown area of the Savannah River in the 20th Century.

	Solomon Blatt
		Web-posted 12/30/99   `I've never betrayed their confidence and I never will.'' So said South Carolina state Rep. Solomon Blatt in 1985, at age 90, in explaining why Barnwell district voters sent the son of Russian Jewish immigrants to serve 53 years in the Palmetto State's General Assembly.

	Owen Cheatham
		Web-posted 12/30/99   In the 1960s it was still possible to count on the fingers of one hand the real Cinderella corporations of America whose sage management and economic growth brought stockholders financial returns exceeding their wildest dreams.

	Benjamin L. Dent and Richard A. Dent
		Web-posted 12/30/99   The influence of these two brothers on city and state government is far-reaching. But, even greater, is the way they conducted themselves with dignity and intelligence through difficult times. They easily are two of the most-respected people who ever came out of Augusta's black community.

	Sherman Drawdy
		Web-posted 12/30/99   One of Augusta's most prominent bankers of the 20th Century began his financial career as a bank clerk in Groveland, Fla., at the age of 17. He came to Augusta in 1936 as vice president and comptroller of Georgia Railroad Bank & Trust Co., then the oldest financial institution south of the nation's capital.

	Randall Evans Jr.
		Web-posted 12/30/99   When this resident of Thomson, Ga., died in 1986, he already had retired from the Georgia Court of Appeals after a distinguished career.

	W.C. Ervin
		Web-posted 12/30/99   This Darlington, S.C., native came to Augusta's Paine College in 1929 as business manager.

	J.B. Fuqua
		Web-posted 12/30/99   Before this giant of Georgia broadcasting came along, there was no television in Augusta.

	Tom Hamilton
		Web-posted 12/30/99   He was born in Columbia County in 1885 and graduated from Hephzibah High School in 1902. He became a reporter for the Augusta Herald in 1906 after attending Mercer University.

	Roy V. Harris
		Web-posted 12/30/99   The wily Augusta lawyer never became governor, but was a Georgia ``kingmaker'' for decades until his death in 1985. Harris' state base of power was as speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives -- until 1946 when he was defeated by Chronicle owner William Morris.

	Peter Knox
		Web-posted 12/30/99   It's hard to imagine what life in Augusta would be like without Sacred Heart Cultural Center, the scene of so many weddings, concerts and social and business functions.

	Lucy Craft Laney
		Web-posted 12/30/99   This modest, courageous persevering lady -- who established the forerunner of what is now Augusta's Lucy Laney High School -- is only one of three Georgia black citizens honored by having their portraits hung in Georgia's Capitol building.

	J. Hampton Manning
		Web-posted 12/30/99   Travelers who fly out of Augusta's Bush Field and Daniel Field airports owe a debt of thanks to Manning who died in 1996.

	William Morris
		Web-posted 12/30/99   From his boyhood days as an Augusta Herald carrier to his college years at the University of Georgia, Bill Morris had newspapering and crusading in his blood.

	W.S. Morris III
		Web-posted 1/1/2000   In 1966, the 32-year-old son of William Morris became publisher of The Augusta Chronicle. Now the chief executive officer of Morris Communications Corp., Billy Morris took a handful of Georgia newspapers and expanded the company into a coast-to-coast operation of dailies, weeklies, community shoppers, national magazines and specialized publications.

	Louisa Mustin
		Web-posted 12/30/99   Before her death in an Augusta hospital in 1976, she was regarded as a leading developer of Augusta's arts scene. She overcame polio as a child to graduate from Columbia University and study painting in France for five years.

	Lucius Pitts
		Web-posted 12/30/99   This nationally-known educator established his reputation serving for 10 years as president of Miles College in Birmingham, Ala.

	Carl Sanders
		Web-posted 12/30/99   He was the only Augustan in the 20th Century to be elected governor of Georgia.

	Charles Walker
		Web-posted 12/30/99   It was in 1982 when, overcoming a rocky political start, this young man was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. But Charles Walker's political influence -- and his ability to help his community -- rose after becoming a state senator in 1990.