By Heather Taylor

Carter , a first cousin of former President Jimmy Carter , was born and raised in Plains , Georgia . He was a 1938 graduate of the University of Georgia ’ s Grady College of Journalism , where he was editor of The Red & Black student newspaper . After graduating , he joined The Atlanta Journal and taught journalism in the evenings at Georgia State College in Atlanta .

According to “ Copy !,” a history of the Fund , Carter developed a “ careers in journalism ” program at Georgia State College that caught the eye of Wall Street Journal editor Barney Kilgore who was looking for someone to lead the Newspaper Fund , a foundation the Journal formed to supply the next generation of bright , talented journalists .

From 1959 to 1962 , Carter launched several Fund initiatives that educated thousands of journalism students and their teachers .

During Carter ’ s tenure the Fund supported the creation of the high school journalism workshops , a high school journalism course curriculum , a handbook for high school newspaper editors , an award for National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year and a vocational guide called , “ Do You Belong in Journalism ?”

In 1960 , Carter began promoting newspaper careers through a summer reporting internship program for college students . The Fund ’ s paid , professional internship programs would become its signature program for the next six decades .

When Carter left the Fund in 1962 to become managing editor of The National Observer , he left a remarkable legacy . During his two and a half years , 875 high school and college teachers received fellowships , 53 college students received paid summer internships and distribution of the vocational guide exceeded 10,000 .