Henry Hardin "Zipp" Newman (May 24, 1894 – March 3, 1977) was an 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 ...

known as the "Dean of Southern Sports Writers."

Early life and education

Newman was born on May 24, 1894, in Smith Mills, Kentucky to Henry Haynes Newman and Henriette Beauregard Haynes. He came to

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, at a young age. He attended Powell Elementary School, Central High School, and Birmingham-Southern College. In high school he reported ran to 100-yard dash in ten seconds flat, and so he carried the nickname "Zipp."

Career

In 1919, Newman became the South's youngest sports editor at the ''

Birmingham News ''The Birmingham News'' was the principal newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, United States in the latter half of the 20th century and the first quarter of the 21st. The paper was owned by Advance Publications and was a daily newspaper from its f ...

'' and was to become the Dean of Southern sports writers. For 44 years, he was the official scorer for baseball's "AA" Southern League. Newman was a correspondent for ''

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'' for many years, and became first associated with the Birmingham News in 1912. He started restricting his duties in 1959 when he became sports editor emeritus, but continued to write his column. Newman was elected to the

Alabama Sports Hall of Fame The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) is a state museum located in Birmingham, Alabama, dedicated to communicating the state’s athletic history. The museum displays over 5,000 objects related to athletes who were born in Alabama or earned fam ...

in 1975, and started the institution as its first executive secretary. Newman once said, "Football is a religion in the Southland, played by the boys and relived daily by their families." When Travis Tidwell led Auburn defeated Alabama in 1949, Newman wrote "There has never been a sweeter Auburn victory in all the 58 years of football on the Plains than the Tigers 14-13 win over Alabama."

Bibliography

*''The House of Barons: Record of the Barons'' since 1900, (1948) *''50 Years of Professional Baseball in Alabama'', 1950 *''The Impact of Southern Football'', 1969

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Zipp 1894 births 1977 deaths Sportspeople from Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham–Southern College alumni People from Henderson County, Kentucky Sportswriters from Alabama Journalists from Alabama 20th-century American journalists American male journalists