Percy Dale East Explained

Percy Dale East
Birth Date:	21 November 1921
Birth Place:	Columbia, Mississippi, U.S.
Death Place:	Fairhope, Alabama, U.S.
Occupation:	Journalist
Years Active:	1951–1971

Percy Dale East (1921–1971) was an American journalist who founded and edited Petal, Mississippi's weekly newspaper, The Petal Paper.^[1] He is known for his use of satire to criticize white supremacy in Jim Crow-era Mississippi.^[2]

East was born in 1921 and was adopted as a baby by Jim and Birdie East from Columbia, Mississippi.^[3] He started working as a journalist for Mississippi labor union newspapers in 1951, before founding the Petal Paper in 1953. The paper's political views were unpopular in the local community of Petal, Mississippi but East received financial support from figures including Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry Golden, and Harry Belafonte.^[4]

Published works

• Book: East, P. D. . 1960 . The Magnolia Jungle: The Life, Times, and Education of a Southern Editor . New York . Simon and Schuster . 686720.

Further reading

• McLaughlin . Thomas B. . 1984 . 'The Hell You Say, Brother': The Experiences of P.D. East in Mississippi . Princeton University . 12814458.
• Book: Huey . Gary . 1985 . Rebel with a Cause: P.D. East, Southern Liberalism, and the Civil Rights Movement 1953-1971 . Scholarly Resources Inc . Wilmington, Delaware . 978-0-8420-2228-6.
• Eagles . Charles W. . Charles W. Eagles . June 1986 . Gary Huey. Rebel with a Cause: P. D. East, Southern Liberalism, and the Civil Rights Movement, 1953–1971 . The American Historical Review . 91 . 3 . 762–763 . 10.1086/ahr/91.3.762.
• Featherston . James S. . 1987 . Rebel With a Cause: P.D. East, Southern Liberalism, and the Civil Rights Movement, 1953-1971 . American Journalism . 4 . 1 . 44–45 . 10.1080/08821127.1987.10731096.
• Kades . Deborah G. . 1992 . Covering the Second Fort Sumter: Newspapers and the Little Rock Crisis . M.A. . University of Wisconsin-Madison . 127– . 608836779.
• Encyclopedia: East, P.D., and the Petal Paper . Ownby . Ted . Wilson . Charles Reagan . Abadie . Ann J. . Lindsey . Odie . Thomas, Jr . James G. . 2017 . The Mississippi Encyclopedia . University Press of Mississippi . 372–373 . 978-1-4968-1159-2.

Notes and References

1. Book: Houck . Davis W. . Dixon . David E. . 2006 . Rhetoric, Religion and the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1965 . 1 . Baylor University Press . 209 . 978-1-932792-54-6.
2. Browning . William . September 2018 . The Fearless Wit of Forrest County . Smithsonian . 66–76.
3. Book: A Place Called Mississippi . 1997 . University Press of Mississippi . 9781617033391 . Barnwell . Marion . 183.
4. Book: The Mississippi Encyclopedia . 2017 . University Press of Mississippi . 9781496811592 . 373.