Ball, W. W. (William Watts), 1868-1952

Journalist, author, and newspaper editor of The News and Courier (Charleston, S.C.) from 1927 to 1951; native of Laurens County, S.C. [in vicinity of Watts Mill, later Wattsville, S.C.].

William Watts Ball (1868-1952) was a conservative newspaper editor, author, and born in Laurens, South Carolina. He attended South Carolina College, graduating in 1887, and shortly thereafter purchased the Laurens Advertiser newspaper. He worked at newspapers throughout South Carolina in the late 1800s and early 1900s, finally becoming managing editor of the Charleston News and Courier in 1927. In addition to his journalism work, Ball also owned stock in at least three textile mills. He was a vocal social conservative who celebrated aristocracy and opposed any form of democratic radicalism and labor organizing. He was also an outspoken white supremist. His South Carolina history, The State That Forgot: South Carolina's Surrender to Democracy (1932), denounced Reconstruction and praised the Red Shirt campaign of 1876. Ball also backed Strom Thurmond and the Dixiecrat Party in 1948.

Newspaper editor and author.