Bell South

Bell South Telephone Company

Macon, Ga

Henry Grady’s New South program encapsulated the idea of industrial growth and development throughout the south. Henry Grady believed that by increasing industry in the region, the south’s postwar social and economic problems could be solved.  

The Bell South Telephone Company, started by Alexander Graham Bell in the late 1800’s, contributed the kind of industrial development that Henry Grady vied so strongly for. As a company extending throughout the south, by the early twentieth century Bell South had lines connecting nearly all towns in every southern gulf state. Extending telephone lines allowed people across different states to communicate more easily and produced opportunities for companies to broaden their businesses. The installation of these lines, however, required many laborers to work dangerous jobs that sometimes led to death. Even though the working conditions were sometimes brutal, we think Bell South Telephone Company was mostly advantageous to the south, as it facilitated widespread economic development, allowed social mobility and resulted in the gradual decline of severe inequality that had previously plagued the south.

In 1898, Macon implemented a new system from the Southern Bell Telephone Company called a switchboard. The switchboard was state-of-the-art technology at the time. It devised a system that improved connections and limited operator interaction, bringing communication to Macon with ease. The switchboard and the improvements it brought to the lines illuminated growth and development. In 1898, the Southern Bell company was improving Macon’s telephone system and adding the best telephone operating program in the country. In this way, Macon itself was growing economically as more people were able to buy lines as the city expanded as a whole. The Southern Bell company was also developing economically as the company’s updating and enhancing of its systems brought about expansion of the business. 

Operating systems were typically run by a group of women who sat at the phone board and connected different phone lines. These phone lines gave women more job opportunities, which helped with social equality and mobility.

In 1897, Southern Bell and other telephone companies were extending telephone connections to major cities across the south. Macon was being persuaded to participate in the widespread connection of southern lines. These extensive communications were significant to the economic development of the south because they allowed corporations to span across much larger areas, thus attracting a larger field of business. Southern Bell Company recognized the importance and value of these connections, but they refused to participate after failing to buy out the Valdosta Company. This type of attempt to buy out smaller, more regional corporations and consolidate them into a much larger, more extensive business was very typical in the late 19th century because it allowed profits to be concentrated in one corporation instead of scattered throughout the local organizations.

In the early 1900’s, the Southern Bell Telephone Company began stretching lines farther than ever before in Macon. In addition to the many lines running throughout the city, the company also started building lines that reached the rural parts of Macon. These additions were made for the benefit of southern farmers outside of the city. With the lines, farmers could increase their commercial business and production by communicating with buyers at a larger distance. This communication developed the businesses of farmers and allowed them to grow economically. With these economic benefits, greater social mobility and equality were also brought to farmers. Farmers could more easily be in contact with those inside the city or farther away. They were no longer isolated from the industrial hub of the city and with their growing businesses they had the opportunity to better their social positions in the community.

Men on the phone lines worked in very dangerous conditions, working unprotected with electricity and working up on tall poles without equipment. There were many injuries that resulted from phone line injuries and many workers lost their jobs because they had no insurance.

Works Cited:

“An Improved System.”Macon Telegraph [Macon] 11 Oct. 1898: 8. Georgia Historic

               Newspapers. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.

               <http://telegraph.galileo.usg.edu/telegraph/view?docId=news/mdt1898/mdt1898-

               2456.xml&query=Southern bell Telephone company&brand=telegraph-brand>.

“Good Wires to Reach.” Macon Telegraph. [Macon] 10 June 1897: 6. Georgia Historic

              Newspapers. Web. 13 Feb. 2015.

             

               <http://telegraph.galileo.usg.edu/telegraph/view?docId=news/mdt1897/mdt1897-

 

               1483.xml&query=southern%20telephone&brand=telegraph-brand>

“Lightning Deals Death to Workmen.” Macon Telegraph. [Macon] 8 July 1902: 1. Georgia Historic                 

               Newspapers. Web.16 Feb. 2015.

              <http://telegraph.galileo.usg.edu/telegraph/view?docId=news/mdt1902/mdt1902-

              0065.xml&query=southern%20bell%20new%20lines&brand=telegraph-brand>.

Man on Telephone Pole. Digital image. Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.

“The New Directories of Telephone Subscribers.” Macon Telegraph [Macon] 24 Dec. 

                1908.8.Georgia Historic Newspapers. Web. 17 Feb. 2015.

                <http://telegraph.galileo.usg.edu/telegraph/view?docId=news/mdt1908/mdt1908-0860. 

                  xml&query=%22southern%20bell%22%20telephone&brand=telegraph-brand>.

Women operating lines. Digital image. Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.