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Aurelius Southall Scott

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Aurelius Southall Scott
A yearbook photograph of an African-American man wearing a suit and tie; he has short hair and a mustache.
Aurelius Southall Scott, from the 1930 yearbook of Bethune-Cookman College
BornJanuary 26, 1901
Edwards, Mississippi
DiedJune 28, 1978
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Educator, editor, political candidate

Aurelius Southall Scott (January 26, 1901 – June 28, 1978) was an American educator and newspaper editor. Scott made national headlines in 1946, when he ran for public office in Georgia; he was arrested and institutionalized to force an end to his campaign.

Early life

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Aurelius Southall Scott was born in Edwards, Mississippi,[1] one of the nine children of the Rev. William Alexander Scott and Emmeline Southall Scott.[2][3] His father was clergyman and publisher; his mother was a teacher and a typesetter in her husband's publishing business.[4][5] He attended Morehouse College, where he played football and was a member of the debate team, before graduating in 1925.[6] He earned a master's degree at Ohio State University.[7]

Career

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Education and publishing

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Scott taught at Bethune-Cookman College[8] and West Virginia State University.[1] Scott's brother W. A. Scott Jr. founded the Atlanta Daily World newspaper in 1928;[9] when W. A. Scott Jr. was killed in 1934,[10] his brothers fought over the family's publishing business.[11] Aurelius S. Scott was editor of the Birmingham World newspaper, until another brother, Cornelius A. Scott, fired him after a salary disagreement.[12]

In 1961, Aurelius S. Scott founded the University of Love, an Atlanta-based institute.[13]

Politics and institutionalization

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In 1946, Scott ran for Fulton County coroner.[14][15] Fearing that he might become the first black elected official in Georgia since Reconstruction,[16] his white opponents and others (including his brother, editor Cornelius A. Scott) pressured him to withdraw as a candidate.[17][18] When he refused to withdraw,[19] his residency qualification was challenged,[20] and he was arrested, possibly[21] with his brother's cooperation.[22][23] Aurelius Scott reacted violently to the arrest,[24] and was institutionalized at a mental hospital in Nashville, Tennessee,[25] effectively ending his campaign.[26] [27]

Scott's family,[28] the NAACP, the National Urban League, and the American Civil Liberties Union all protested Scott's removal from the ballot and involuntary commitment.[29] "He has done his people great harm," declared the editors of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "apparently out of a desire, by no means confined to the Negro race, for publicity, or notoriety."[30] "Criticism should be aimed at the forces facing Scott rather than at him," commented the National Urban League's Lester B. Granger.[31]

Personal life

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Scott married fellow professor Mazie O. Tyson in 1928;[32] they ran a summer camp together in Ohio, and were on the faculty together at Bethune-Cookman College,[7] before they separated in the 1930s. He married again in 1943, to Ruth Commons.[33] Scott died in July 1978, aged 77 years.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Atlantans Mourn Death of Aurelius S. Scott, 77" Jet (July 27, 1978): 56.
  2. ^ "Scott Family, c1928, in the New Georgia Encyclopedia". Georgia Journeys. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  3. ^ "Mother of Atlanta Newspaper Publishers Dies at Age 98". Jet: 55. July 21, 1977.
  4. ^ Teel, Leonard Ray (2000). "Scott, William Alexander, II (1902-1934), newspaper publisher". American National Biography Online. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1603105. ISBN 978-0-19-860669-7.
  5. ^ "Deaths: Emmeline Scott". The Evening Review. 1977-07-06. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  6. ^ "Atlanta, the Scott Family, and the Creation of a Media Empire". Atlanta Studies. 2018-12-18. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  7. ^ a b The Wildcat (Bethune-Cookman College 1930): 17.
  8. ^ Bethune-Cookman University, The Advocate, Catalogue, Edition of 1930-31 (1930): 12.
  9. ^ "Photos: Atlanta Daily World and the Scott family". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  10. ^ "Brother-in-Law on Trial for Slaying of Ga. Publisher". Baltimore Afro American. February 9, 1935. p. 2. Retrieved February 13, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  11. ^ "Family Fight for Control of Scott Papers". Baltimore Afro American. May 5, 1934. p. 7. Retrieved February 13, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  12. ^ "Long-Distance Calls Result in Loss of Job". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1938-11-12. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "People are Talking About". Jet: 46. July 6, 1961.
  14. ^ "In Race, Maybe". The Spokesman-Review. 1946-10-13. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Squeezed Out". The Des Moines Register. 1946-10-12. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Seeks Georgia Vote". Wisconsin State Journal. 1946-10-18. p. 17. Retrieved 2020-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Georgia Democrats Bar Negro in Race, Then Change Minds". Chicago Tribune. 1946-10-12. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Fresh Wrinkles in Georgia Row". The Spokesman-Review. 1946-10-15. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Georgia Negro to Remain in Race for Coroner in Atlanta". Amarillo Daily News. 1946-10-15. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Miller, J. Erroll (1948). "The Negro in Present Day Politics With Special Reference to Philadelphia". The Journal of Negro History. 33 (3): 339. doi:10.2307/2715478. ISSN 0022-2992. JSTOR 2715478. S2CID 150016657.
  21. ^ "Tales Conflict on Negro Candidate's Move to Hospital". The Gazette. 1946-10-21. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Atlanta Negro Seeking Office Is Arrested". The Courier-Journal. 1946-10-20. p. 11. Retrieved 2020-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Deplores Race". The Knoxville Journal. 1946-10-11. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  24. ^ "Candidate Scott Near Institution Treatment". The Atlanta Constitution. 1946-10-19. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Negro Politico Mental Patient". The Spokesman-Review. 1946-10-20. p. 20. Retrieved 2020-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Scott's Name Taken off Ga. County Ticket". Indianapolis Recorder. November 2, 1946. p. 7. Retrieved February 13, 2020 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  27. ^ Patterson, William L. (1952). We Charge Genocide: The Historic Petition to the United Nations for Relief from a Crime of the United States Government Against the Negro People. Civil Rights Congress. pp. 91–92.
  28. ^ "Family Denies Making Charge Against Scott". Indianapolis Recorder. November 2, 1946. Retrieved February 13, 2020 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  29. ^ "Candidacy of Scott for Ga. Coroner Called Untimely". Jackson Advocate. October 26, 1946. p. 7. Retrieved February 13, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  30. ^ "The Case of Aurelius S. Scott". The Atlanta Constitution. 1946-10-18. p. 12. Retrieved 2020-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "Candidate Kicked Out, Record Erased". Baltimore Afro American. October 19, 1946. p. 24. Retrieved February 13, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  32. ^ "Tyson-Scott Wedding". The Evening Review. 1928-06-16. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ "Prominent Couple Feted". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1943-04-10. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
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