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150th Echo Anniversary Graphic
The Oglethorpe Echo has survived ownership changes, several downturns in the economy and a near-death experience in 2021 to celebrate its 150th anniversary with this week’s edition.
The award-winning Echo is thriving as it remains the primary source of news for Oglethorpe County, thanks in part to its partnership with the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
“The Oglethorpe Echo didn’t die,” said Dink NeSmith, chairman of The Oglethorpe Echo Legacy, Inc. “It was headed for the grave, and now it (has) survived and thrived with the partnership of Grady College.”
The inaugural edition of The Oglethorpe Echo was printed in Crawford on Oct. 9, 1874. The paper almost closed two years ago, when then-publisher Ralph Maxwell Jr., who had a stroke in 2017, felt that his health, among other issues, were getting in the way.
“I just didn’t really have the energy anymore to continue it, and it was in the middle of the pandemic and a lot of business was slow,” he said. “It was both a financial and health reason.”
That’s when NeSmith, a close friend of Maxwell, stepped forward. He learned of the plan to shut down the paper and immediately persuaded Maxwell to "hold on for another month," so he could think of a way to keep the paper in business.
NeSmith developed the idea to donate the newspaper to a nonprofit, which partnered with the University of Georgia. The plan included having UGA journalism students become the editorial staff of The Echo.
Two professors who have extensive newspaper experience serve as the editor and assistant editor.
The paper, which won nine section and individual awards in the Georgia Press Association's annual Better Newspaper Contest, has also expanded how it delivers news and information with a website, e-edition, email newsletter and social media, serving as a national model for innovative news-academic partnerships.
And now, nearly two years after almost shutting down, The Echo celebrates its 150th anniversary as Oglethorpe County’s newspaper.
“I believe it’s as good of a small newspaper as there is in the state of Georgia, perhaps the best,” NeSmith said. “One week, there was a mix-up with the paper at the post office, and it didn’t arrive on Thursday, and a subscriber called and said, ‘I don’t know what we’re going to do today because my girlfriends usually come on Thursday, and we have a glass of wine, and we read The Echo and discuss the news of the week.”
History of The Echo
The Oglethorpe Echo has been owned by a line of prominent individuals, starting with T. Larry Gantt, who established the newspaper and ran it from 1874 to 1881, before selling it to William A. Shackleford.
Shackleford owned and edited The Echo for the next 63 years. His service in the field of newspaper journalism earned him an induction into the Georgia Newspapers Hall of Fame in 1968.
After Shackleford’s tenure, The Echo was owned by successive generations of the Maxwell family, starting with Ralph Maxwell Sr.'s uncle, who ran the paper for 13 years before opting to sell it.
Maxwell Sr. retired from the Navy in 1955 and was searching for a new path. He agreed to work with his uncle for a year to learn the business after attending linotype school for six months to hone his craft — with the intention of eventually taking over the paper.
However, his uncle died from a heart attack 19 days after he began working at The Echo, which meant his ownership of the paper began earlier than he intended.
Maxwell Sr. operated the paper for 25 years until 1981, when his son, Maxwell Jr., came in to take his father’s role. He did so for the next 40 years.
Until the 1960s, they used a linotype machine to print the newspapers. It required them to insert each letter individually, making it an extremely time-consuming process.
Fortunately for the brothers, their father was a mechanic in the Navy who was able to properly work the machines. In 1969, they switched to offset printing, which sped up the process.
The Oglethorpe Echo has remained extremely important to the Maxwells, including Scott Maxwell, the brother of Maxwell Jr.
“To the family, The Echo means legacy, sacrifice and commitment,” Scott said. “We’re proud of the endless hours family members dedicated over the years to providing a weekly issue and grateful to the many citizens who helped us out along the way.”
A new era
Although The Echo was spared from closing in 2021, there were concerns about UGA students and editors stepping in to take over for the Maxwells.
When Ashley Simpson, a resident and member of the Digital Atlas of Historic Oglethorpe County project, heard the paper would be taken over and that UGA was going to have a part in it, she felt “concerned that the introspective aspect of reporting about Oglethorpe County would be lost.”
But to her surprise, and for other residents around the county, UGA’s involvement turned into something positive.
“In a way, you have become part of Oglethorpe County,” Simpson told The Echo reporters. “You probably don’t have an idea of how much goodwill you created. That kind of reporting is what always has been a part of The Oglethorpe Echo. People embedded in the community and understanding the community — not reporting about something, but reporting within it.”
She added: “If you asked me, can you tell the reporters live outside the county? The answer is no. The reporting is that good.”
Some residents, however, said they loved the idea from the beginning.
Beverly Taylor, a retired teacher who was born and raised in Oglethorpe County and was in the first bunch of schools when the county began school integration, was one.
“We knew it was in trouble and that it was going to be shut down, and I was like, ‘They can’t get rid of The Echo, they’ve got to do better,’ ” Taylor said. “And then when I heard what was happening with UGA, I thought that it would be a good thing to save the paper, because otherwise, there probably wouldn’t be a paper here, and every small town needs a paper.”
As far as the future of The Oglethorpe Echo, the focus remains on the people who live in Oglethorpe County and what matters to them.
“The Echo provides not only a recitation of weekly news, but serves as a repository of local history, trends and activities,” Scott Maxwell said. “It registers individual, business and communal accomplishments that give Oglethorpe County a sense of community.”