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Newspaper Fitzgerald Enterprise (Fitzgerald, Ga.; Fitzgerald, Georgia) 1895-1912

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About Fitzgerald Enterprise (Fitzgerald, Ga.; Fitzgerald, Georgia) 1895-1912

When Ellis Peiper and Johnathan Peiper published the first eight-page issue of the Fitzgerald Enterprise on December 20, 1895, the “Colony City” of Fitzgerald had no newspaper and consisted of barely more than shacks set out among Georgia’s southern pine forests. Philander H. Fitzgerald, a Union army veteran and newspaper publisher from Indianapolis, envisioned a planned city in the South for fellow veterans, and after successful lobbying by ex-Georgia Governor William Northen, Philander Fitzgerald selected Georgia’s wiregrass region for the “old soldiers’ colony.” As such, the Enterprise reflected the politics of Northerners and Union army veterans who initially settled in the community.

In December 1896, the Peipers sold their publication to Nettie C. Hall, a suffragette and prohibition advocate, and beloved member of the community. Hall’s commitment to Fitzgerald’s growth, local-reporting prowess, and concern for area railroad workers earned her the moniker “Mother Enterprise,” and she remained associated with the paper until her death in 1908. In September 1899, Hall sold the Enterprise to Jesse Mercer, who continued the paper’s support for prohibition and expanded railroads, but he shifted its overall politics toward the Democratic Party. Although the publication wasn’t a fire-breathing segregationist sheet like others in the state, Mercer’s Enterprise fell in line with “reform Democrats” of the early 1900s, which included support for segregation and disenfranchisement of black voters. In 1906, Fitzgerald failed to become the seat of Irwin County, which prompted Mercer to relentlessly crusade for the establishment of Ben Hill County, including lobbying trips to Atlanta. Jesse Mercer’s role as a public official, however, meant he spent time away from the Enterprise offices, and he often relied on locals to manage the paper’s day-to-day matters. In December 1911, Mercer leased the printing plant to Ross E. Hammock and Harry W. Burnett, who managed the paper until its sale in 1912.

On April 16, 1912, Isidor Gelders, owner of the Fitzgerald Leader, announced the purchase and absorption of the Fitzgerald Enterprise, thus creating the Leader-Enterprise. The paper expanded to a tri-weekly publishing cycle, and it quickly became Ben Hill County’s largest newspaper. The Leader-Enterprise, after absorbing the Fitzgerald Press in November 1915 and undergoing several minor title changes, became the Fitzgerald Leader Enterprise and Press a masthead which existed until 1964.

Gelders advocated for consolidation of rural schools, higher teacher salaries, and free tuition for students; and, as a leader for Fitzgerald’s Jewish community, he published news relevant to its concerns. During the “Dixie Highway” movement of the 1910s, Gelders featured front-page editorials and notices pushing for the improvement of Fitzgerald’s own roads. As a large cotton-producing community, the boll weevil became an increasingly dire problem in the county, and the Leader Enterprise and Press published all available news for combating the beetle.

Isidor Gelders and his wife, Maud Gelders, co-edited the Leader Enterprise and Press until Isidor Gelders transferred ownership to his son. The senior Gelders, however, continued to contribute editorials, including a long series in the early 1950s telling the history of Fitzgerald, Georgia, and Ben Hill County. Albert Gelders managed the paper until September 1964, when he sold the publication to the Fitzgerald Herald, which merged the titles into the Fitzgerald Herald and the Fitzgerald Leader. Managed by the Pryor family, another name with a long history in Fitzgerald, the paper continues to circulate today as the Herald-Leader.

Provided By: Digital Library of Georgia, a project of GALILEO located at the University of Georgia Libraries

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Fitzgerald Enterprise (Fitzgerald, Ga.; Fitzgerald, Georgia) 1895-1912

Dates of Publication

  • 1895-1912

Created / Published

  • Fitzgerald, Georgia. : Nettie C. Hall, -1912.
  • Fitzgerald, Ga. : Fitzgerald Publishing Company
  • Fitzgerald, Georgia : Fitzgerald Printing Company

Headings

  • -  Fitzgerald (Ga.)--Newspapers
  • -  Ben Hill County (Ga.)--Newspapers
  • -  Irwin County (Ga.)--Newspapers
  • -  United States--Georgia--Ben Hill--Fitzgerald

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Triweekly, June 13, 1903-April 13, 1912
  • -  Began in December 1895.
  • -  Ceased with volume XVII, number 51 (April 13, 1912).
  • -  Also on microfilm: Athens, Ga. : University of Georgia Libraries.
  • -  Merged with: Fitzgerald leader (Fitzgerald, Ga. : 1910), to form: Leader-enterprise (Fitzgerald, Ga.).
  • -  Vol. 2, no. 5 (January 15th, 1897) (microfilm surrogate); title from masthead.
  • -  Volume XVII, number 51 (April 13, 1912) (microfilm surrogate).
  • -  Fitzgerald leader (Fitzgerald, Ga. : 1910) (DLC)sn 89053299 (OCoLC)19965841
  • -  Leader-enterprise (Fitzgerald, Ga.) (DLC)sn 85038489 (OCoLC)12608604

Medium

  • volumes

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn89053307

OCLC Number

  • 19965838

ISSN Number

  • 2995-9675

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Fitzgerald Enterprise Fitzgerald, Ga.; Fitzgerald, Georgia -1912. (Fitzgerald, GA), Jan. 1 1895. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn89053307/.

APA citation style:

(1895, January 1) Fitzgerald Enterprise Fitzgerald, Ga.; Fitzgerald, Georgia -1912. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn89053307/.

MLA citation style:

Fitzgerald Enterprise Fitzgerald, Ga.; Fitzgerald, Georgia -1912. (Fitzgerald, GA) 1 Jan. 1895. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn89053307/.