African-American newspapers
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African-American newspapers (also known as the Black press or Black newspapers) are news publications in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
serving
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
communities. Samuel Cornish and
John Brown Russwurm John Brown Russwurm (October 1, 1799 – June 9, 1851) was an abolitionist, newspaper publisher, and colonizer of Liberia, where he moved from the United States. He was born in Jamaica to an English father and enslaved mother. As a child he t ...
started the first African-American periodical called ''
Freedom's Journal ''Freedom's Journal'' was the first African-American owned and operated newspaper published in the United States. Founded by Rev. John Wilk and other free Black men in New York City, it was published weekly starting with the 16 March 1827 issue. ...
'' in 1827. During the antebellum South, other African-American newspapers sprang forth, such as '' The North Star'' founded in 1847 by
Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...
. As African Americans moved to urban centers around the country, virtually every large city with a significant African-American population soon had newspapers directed towards African Americans. These newspapers gained audiences outside African-American circles. In the 21st century, papers (like newspapers of all sorts) have shut down, merged, or shrunk in response to the dominance of the Internet in terms of providing free news and information, and providing cheap advertising.


History


Origins

Most of the early African-American publications, such as ''Freedom's Journal,'' were published in the North and then distributed, often covertly, to African Americans throughout the country. By the 20th century, daily papers appeared in
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...
,
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
,
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
and Washington, D.C.


19th century

Some notable black newspapers of the 19th century were ''Freedom's Journal'' (1827–1829),
Philip Alexander Bell Philip Alexander Bell (1808–1889) was a 19th-century American newspaper editor and abolitionist. Born in New York City, he was educated at the African Free School and became politically active at the 1832 Colored Convention. He began his new ...
's '' Colored American'' (1837–1841), the ''North Star'' (1847–1860), the '' National Era'', '' Frederick Douglass' Paper'' (1851–1863), the '' Douglass Monthly'' (1859–1863), '' The People's Advocate'', founded by John Wesley Cromwell and Travers Benjamin Pinn (1876–1891), '' The Christian Recorder'' (1861–1902). In the 1860s, the newspapers '' The Elevator'' and the '' Pacific Appeal'' emerged in California as a result of black participation in the Gold Rush. In 1885, Daniel Rudd formed the '' Ohio Tribune'', said to be the first
newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...
"printed by and for
Black Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensla ...
", which he later expanded into the '' American Catholic Tribune'', purported to the first Black-owned national newspaper. ''The American Freedman'' was a New York-based paper that served as an outlet to inspire African Americans to use the Reconstruction period as a time for social and political advancement. This newspaper did so by publishing articles that reference African-American mobilization during the Reconstruction period that had not only local support but had gained support from the global community as well. Many African-American newspapers struggled to keep their circulation going due to the low rate of literacy among African Americans. Many freed African Americans had low incomes and could not afford to purchase subscriptions but shared the publications with one another. The national Afro-American Press Association was formed in 1890 in Indianapolis.


20th century

African-American newspapers flourished in the major cities, with publishers playing a major role in politics and business affairs. Representative leaders included
Robert Sengstacke Abbott Robert Sengstacke Abbott (December 24, 1870 – February 29, 1940) was an American lawyer, newspaper publisher and editor. Abbott founded '' The Chicago Defender'' in 1905, which grew to have the highest circulation of any black-owned newspaper ...
(1870–1940) and John H. Sengstacke (1912–1997) publishers of the ''
Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against J ...
'';
John Mitchell Jr. John Mitchell Jr. (July 11, 1863 – December 3, 1929) was an American businessman, newspaper editor, African American civil rights activist, and politician in Richmond, Virginia, particularly in Richmond's Jackson Ward, which became known as ...
(1863–1929), editor of the ''
Richmond Planet ''Richmond Planet'' was an African-American newspaper in Richmond, Virginia. The paper was founded in 1882 gathering in an upper room of a building located near the corner of Third and Broad streets thirteen former slaves (James H. Hayes, James ...
'' and president of the National Afro-American Press Association;
Anthony Overton Anthony Overton Jr. (March 21, 1865 – July 2, 1946), was an American banker and manufacturer. He was the first African American to lead a major business conglomerate.Harvard Business School. American Business Leaders of the Twentieth CenturyAnth ...
(1865–1946), publisher of the '' Chicago Bee'', Garth C. Reeves Sr. (1919–2019), publisher emeritus of the ''
Miami Times ''The Miami Times'' is South Florida's African-American newspaper. The paper was established in 1923 by a Bahamian immigrant, Henry E. Sigismund Reeves. Sigismund Reeves founded the weekly paper, which he printed on a small hand press in his h ...
'' and
Robert Lee Vann Robert Lee Vann (August 27, 1879 – October 24, 1940) was an African-American newspaper publisher and editor. He was the publisher and editor of the ''Pittsburgh Courier'' from 1910 until his death. Biography He was born in Ahoskie, North Ca ...
(1879–1940), the publisher and editor of the '' Pittsburgh Courier''. In the 1940s the number of newspapers grew from 150 to 250. From 1881 to 1909, the National Colored Press Association (American Press Association) operated as a trade association. The
National Negro Business League The National Negro Business League (NNBL) was an American organization founded in Boston in 1900 by Booker T. Washington to promote the interests of African-American businesses. The mission and main goal of the National Negro Business League wa ...
-affiliated National Negro Press Association filled that role from 1909 to 1939. The Chicago-based
Associated Negro Press The Associated Negro Press (ANP) was an American news service founded in 1919 in Chicago, Illinois by Claude Albert Barnett. The ANP had correspondents, writers, reporters in all major centers of the black population in the United States of Amer ...
(1919–1964) was a subscription
news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswir ...
"with correspondents and stringers in all major centers of black population". In 1940, Sengstacke led African American newspaper publishers in forming the trade association known in the 21st century as the National Newspaper Publishers Association. During the 1930s and 1940s, the Black southern press both aided and, to an extent, hindered the equal payment movement of Black teachers in the southern United States. Newspaper coverage of the movement served to publicize the cause. However, the way in which the movement was portrayed, and those whose struggles were highlighted in the press, displaced Black women to the background of a movement they spearheaded. A woman's issue, and a Black woman's issue, was being covered by the press. However, reporting diminished the roles of the women fighting for teacher salary equalization and “diminished the presence of the teachers’ salary equalization fight” in national debates over equality in education. There were many specialized black publications, such as those of Marcus Garvey and John H. Johnson. These men broke a wall that let black people into society. The '' Roanoke Tribune'' was founded in 1939 by Fleming Alexander, and recently celebrated its 75th anniversary. The ''Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder'' is Minnesota's oldest black newspaper and one of the United States' oldest ongoing minority publication, second only to ''The Jewish World''.


21st century

Many Black newspapers that began publishing in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s went out of business because they could not attract enough advertising. They were also victims of their own substantial efforts to eradicate racism and promote civil rights. , about 200 Black newspapers remained. With the decline of print media and proliferation of internet access, more black news websites emerged, most notably '' Black Voice News'', '' The Grio'', '' The Root'', and ''Black Voices''.


See also

* African-American businesses *
List of African-American newspapers and media outlets This is a list of African-American newspapers and media outlets. For more detail on a given newspaper, see its entry in the List of African-American newspapers for its state, which is linked at See also: By state, below. Print Online * Atl ...
* List of newspapers in the United States


References


Further reading

* Bacon, Jacqueline.
Freedom's journal: the first African-American newspaper
' (Lexington Books, 2007) * Belles, A. Gilbert.
The Black Press in Illinois
" ''Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society'' (1975): 344–352
online
* Bradshaw, Katherine A.
Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press
" ''Journalism History'' 41.1 (2015): 53+ * * Bullock, Penelope L. ''The Afro-American Periodical Press, 1838–1909'' (LSU Press, 1981). * * Burma, John H. "An analysis of the present Negro Press." ''Social forces'' (1947): 172–180
in JSTOR
* Dann, Martin E. ''The Black Press, 1827–1890: The Quest for National Identity'' (1972). * Davis, Ralph N. "The Negro Newspapers and the War." ''Sociology and Social Research'' 27 (1943): 378–380. * * (includes US) * Eldridge, Lawrence Allen. ''Chronicles of a Two-front War: Civil Rights and Vietnam in the African American Press'' (University of Missouri Press, 2012) * * Finkle, Lee. ''Forum for protest: The black press during World War II'' (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1975) * * Gershenhorn, Jerry. ''Louis Austin and the Carolina Times: A Life in the Long Black Freedom Struggle''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2018. * Guskin, Emily, Paul Moore, and Amy Mitchell. "African American media: Evolving in the new era." in ''The State of the News Media 2011'' (2011). * Henritze, Barbara K. ''Bibliographic Checklist of African American Newspapers'' (Genealogical Publishing Com, 1995) * Hogan, Lawrence D. ''A black national news service: the Associated Negro Press and Claude Barnett, 1919–1945'' (Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1984) * Jones, Allen W. "The Black Press in The" New South": Jesse C. Duke's Struggle for Justice and Equality." ''Journal of Negro History'' 64.3 (1979): 215–228
in JSTOR
* La Brie, Henry G. ''A survey of Black newspapers in America'' (Mercer House Press, 1973). * Meier, August. "Booker T. Washington and the Negro Press: With Special Reference to the Colored American Magazine." ''Journal of Negro History'' (1953): 67–90
in JSTOR
* Morris, James McGrath. ''Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press'' (New York: Amistad, 2015). xii, 466 pp. * Oak, Vishnu Vitthal. ''The Negro Newspaper'' (Greenwood, 1970) * Odum-Hinmon, Maria E. "The Cautious Crusader: How the Atlanta Daily World Covered the Struggle for African American Rights from 1945 to 1985." (PhD Dissertation University of Maryland, 2005)

* * * Prides, Armistead S. ''A Register and History of Negro Newspapers in the United States: 1827–1950.'' (1950) * Simmons, Charles A. ''The African American press: a history of news coverage during national crises, with special reference to four black newspapers, 1827–1965'' (McFarland, 2006). * Stevens, John D. "Conflict-cooperation content in 14 Black newspapers." ''Journalism Quarterly'' 47#3 (1970): 566–568. * Strickland, Arvarh E., and Robert E. Weems, eds. ''The African American Experience: An Historiographical and Bibliographical Guide'' (Greenwood, 2001), pp. 216–230, with long bibliography * Suggs, Henry Lewis, ed. ''The Black press in the south, 1865–1979'' (Praeger, 1983). * Suggs, Henry Lewis, ed. ''The Black Press in the Middle West, 1865–1985'' (Greenwood Press, 1996). 416 pp. * Wade-Gayles, Gloria. "Black Women Journalists in the South, 1880–1905: An Approach to the Study of Black Women's History." ''Callaloo'' 11/13 (1981): 138–152
in JSTOR
* Washburn, Patrick S. ''The African American Newspaper: Voice of Freedom'' (Northwestern University Press, 2006); covers 1827–1900; emphasis on ''Pittsburgh Courier'' and the ''Chicago Defender'' * Washburn, Patrick Scott. ''A question of sedition: The federal government's investigation of the black press during World War II'' (Oxford University Press, 1986). * Wolseley, Roland Edgar. ''The black press, USA'' (Wiley-Blackwell, 1990).


Primary sources

* Dunnigan, Alice. ''Alone Atop the Hill: The Autobiography of Alice Dunnigan, Pioneer of the National Black Press'' (University of Georgia Press, 2015) * La Brie, Henry G. III, ''Black Pulitzers and Hearsts'', oral history collection at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
's
Butler Library Butler Library is located on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University at 535 West 114th Street, in Manhattan, New York City. It is the university's largest single library with over 2 million volumes, as well as one of the larges ...
with over 80 interviews with Black publishers and editors


External links


List of black-owned newspapers in the United States



Black Press USA: List of local newspapers
{{DEFAULTSORT:African American Newspapers
Newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...
Newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...
Newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...