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Richard Stubbs Jemison (September 19, 1886 – January 9, 1965) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter in the South who was for eleven years the sporting editor of the Atlanta Constitution. He wrote extensively on baseball and football, 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.

Jemison himself was an avid golfer, basketball player, and bowler.

Early years

Jemison was born on September 19, 1886, in Macon, Georgia, to Robert W. Jemison and Kate Boifeuillet. His uncle was Edwin Francis Jemison, a Confederate veteran who died at the Battle of Malvern Hill 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

On Georgia's first All-American he wrote, "When you mention football to an Athens 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. 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. He was then national advertising manager for the Ohio State Journal.

Bibliography

Jemison, Dick (October 1909). "The History of the Southern League". Baseball Magazine. 3.

Notes

1. Robert's father Henry's family bible is still extant.

References

1. "Sport Writer And Photographer Constitution". Athens Banner. October 26, 1916. p. 1.
2. Intercollegiate Athletic Calendar. Vol. 1. 1917. p. 167.
3. "Constitution's Sporting Editor on Rose's Trophy Commission To Judge Most Valuable Player" (PDF). Atlanta Constitution. April 12, 1914. p. 16 A.
4. "Americus Boosts New Head of Georgia State League" (PDF). Atlanta Constitution. January 24, 1915.
5. Oscar Bane Keeler (1925). The Autobiography of an Average Golfer. p. 162.
6. "The Accountants' Directory and Who's who". 1920.
7. http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/bibb/bibles/jemison.txt
8. Ross III, William. "The Empire State League: South Georgia Baseball in 1913". Retrieved February 11, 2015.
9. Ann Uhry Abrams (2012). Formula for Fortune: How Asa Candler Discovered Coca-cola and Turned It Into the Wealth His Children Enjoyed. iUniverse. p. 131. ISBN 9781462071685.
10. Patrick Garbin. "Bob McWhorter: "Everybody's All-American"". p. 6. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
11. Garbin, Patrick (2008). About Them Dawgs!: Georgia Football's Memorable Teams and Players. Scarecrow Press. p. 24. ISBN 9780810860407.
12. "Jemison Charges That Thompson Is Ineligible". Athens Daily Herald. December 1, 1915. p. 1. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
13. "Prominent Tradesmen Assume New Duties". Motor World Wholesales. 50: 48. 1917.
14. Howard Lawrence Preston (1979). Automobile age Atlanta:the making of a southern metropolis 1900–1935. University of Georgia Press. p. 42. ISBN 9780820304632.
15. ^ "Jemison With Oldfield Tire Company". Class & Industrial Marketing. 10–11: 14. 1920.
16. "Williams Heads Sales X Laboratories". The Accessory and Garage Journal. 10 (1): 71. 1920.
17. "Broadcaster is Dead at 78". The Times Recorder. January 12, 1965. p. 10.

• 1886 births
• 1965 deaths
• Writers from Macon, Georgia
• Sportswriters from Georgia (U.S. state)
• Sportswriters from Ohio