Richard Stubbs Jemison (September 19, 1886 – January 9, 1965) was an early 20th-century American

sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism has its roots in coverage of horse racing and boxing in the early 1800s, mainly targeted towards elites, and into t ...

in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

who was for 11 years the sporting editor of the ''

Atlanta Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in Atlanta metropolitan area, metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Jo ...

''. He wrote extensively on

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, picking many an All-Southern team. Supposedly, he was the first sports editor to include batting stats in his newspaper column. For two years he was president of the

Georgia–Alabama League The Georgia–Alabama League was a minor league baseball league that operated in its two namesake states. The circuit first operated from 1913 to 1917, was revived from 1928 to 1930, then returned to operation for a final time from 1946 through 19 ...

. Jemison himself was an avid

golfer Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit a ball into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player, and bowler.

Early years

Jemison was born on September 19, 1886, in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

, to Robert W. Jemison and Kate Boifeuillet. His uncle was

Edwin Francis Jemison Edwin Francis Jemison (December 1, 1844 – July 1, 1862) was a Confederate soldier who served in the 2nd Louisiana Infantry Regiment from May 1861 until he was killed in action at the Battle of Malvern Hill. Jemison's photograph has become ...

, a

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

veteran who died at the

Battle of Malvern Hill The Battle of Malvern Hill, also known as the Battle of Poindexter's Farm, was fought on July 1, 1862, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, led by Gen. Robert E. Lee, and the Union Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George B. ...

at just 17 years old. Dick's brother J. B. Jemison was later club president of the Thomasville Hornets in 1913.

Atlanta

On watching the flight of Charles K. Hamilton in 1910 he wrote, "The time is not far off when the automobile will be put in the discard for the flying machine, just like the horse was passed up for the automobile."

Sports

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

's first

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n he wrote, "When you mention football to an

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

fan its definition is Bob McWhorter, and vice-versa;" and McWhorter's "value to the Red and Black team cannot be fully expressed in mere words, or even figures." In 1915, Jemison was first to report that Georgia captain-elect Charlie Thompson was ineligible.

Ohio

Jemison also contributed to ''

Motor World An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

''. By 1917 he resigned to enter the automobile business as a salesman and publicity manager for Poole & McCullough Motor Company, which handled the Dort, Winton Six, and Locomobile in Atlanta. He was also once in charge of sales promotion at the Miller Rubber Company. In 1920, he was appointed advertising and sales promotion manager of the Oldfield Tire Co. in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

. He was then national advertising manager for the Ohio State Journal.

Bibliography

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jemison, Dick 1886 births 1965 deaths Writers from Macon, Georgia Sportswriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Sportswriters from Ohio