George R. Dale

George Reynolds Dale, Sr. (February 5, 1867 – March 27, 1936) was an American newspaper editor and politician. He was the editor of the Muncie Post-Democrat from 1920 to 1936 and the mayor of Muncie, Indiana, from 1930 to 1935, a member of the Democratic Party. He started several newspapers and battled bootleggers and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

Born in Monticello, Indiana, Dale produced his first newspapers in Hartford City and Montpelier. He moved to Muncie, where he founded the Muncie Post, at the invitation of mayor Rollin Bunch, whom he would later oppose. After this paper shuttered, he founded the weekly Muncie Post-Democrat in 1921, with a left-wing, pro-labor stance. The paper's reporting on bootleggers, as well as accusations of corruption against the leader of the county's Republican Party, led to attacks on Dale.

Dale's Post-Democrat frequently opposed the KKK. He mocked the group and published lists of its local members and businesses. In 1923, the paper accused a judge, Clarence W. Dearth, of being affiliated with the group, for which the judge charged Dale with libel and contempt of the court. The Indiana Supreme Court upheld these charges before Dale was pardoned by Governor Edward L. Jackson. Many Indiana citizens and several national newspapers supported Dale, claiming that the charges had violated the right to freedom of the press. Dale gained national fame for this incident.

Dale won the 1929 election for mayor of Muncie. Days after his inauguration, he replaced the city's police and fire departments. City councilors opposed Dale. They impeached him for an alcohol conviction, but he was restored to the office and pardoned for the conviction. During the New Deal, Dale used federal funds for public works projects. Dale lost his re-election bid at the end of his five-year term. He edited the Post-Democrat until his death in 1936. Historical assessment of Dale has been positive, focusing on his resistance of the KKK.