Educating students for more than a century

Henry W. Grady was a prominent Georgia journalist.
Grady College is named after Henry W. Grady, a 1868 graduate of the University of Georgia.

What is now known as the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication started in 1915 when a young English professor, Steadman V. Sanford, thought journalism should be taught at the University of Georgia. The Board of Regents agreed and passed a resolution on June 12, 1915, approving the creation of the School of Journalism.

For seven years, Professor Sanford was in charge of the new school. On June 12, 1921, the Board of Regents changed the name to the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism after the legendary Atlanta journalist and University of Georgia alumnus, Henry Woodfin Grady (1850-1889). A child of the Civil War, Grady served as editor for the Atlanta Constitution, building the newspaper into the one of the most influential publications in the nation, using the pages to urge readers to embrace a “New South” during Reconstruction. Grady often spoke and wrote about the need for the region to shift from an agricultural economy rooted in slavery to an industrial economy rooted in education.

In 1988, the school became the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Today Grady College is a digital-first college offering multiple graduate degrees and five undergraduate majors including advertising, entertainment and media studies, journalism, mass media arts and public relations.

UGA Grady College Centennial

Grady College celebrated its centennial in 2015. In commemoration, Jody Danneman (ABJ ’88) and his company Atlanta Image Arts, created this retrospective look of Grady College through the years.

A written history of Grady College

Dean emertius E. Culpepper Clark wrote “Centennial: A history of the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia” to recognize the college’s centennial. This is one of several interviews Clark recorded talking about historical features from the book.

Additional Resources

  • Dean Emeritus E. Culpepper Clark gives a one-hour presentation on “Henry W. Grady and the New South,” in a program sponsored by the Athens Clarke County Library.
  • Dean Emeritus E. Culpepper Clark provides a one-minute overview of Henry W. Grady