''The Chicago Crusader'', known from 1940 to the 1950s as ''The Crusader'' and from the 1950s to 1981 as ''The New Crusader'', is a weekly

African-American newspaper African-American newspapers (also known as the Black press or Black newspapers) are news publications in the United States serving African-American communities. Samuel Cornish and John Brown Russwurm started the first African-American period ...

serving

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. It is one of two newspapers in the Crusader Newspaper Group, the other being the '' Gary Crusader''. Founded by Balm L. Leavell and Joseph H. Jefferson in 1940 and published by Balm Leavell until his death in 1968, ''The Chicago Crusader'' has subsequently been operated by his widow Dorothy Leavell. It is Chicago's longest-running African-American weekly.

History

When it was established in 1940, ''The Crusader'' occupied a single page and was operated out of an apartment in the Ida B. Wells Homes on Chicago's South Side. In this early period, it served as the official organ of the Negro Labor Relations League, an organization established in 1937 to challenge the racial discrimination in employment in Chicago. The newspaper later moved to its current location on King Drive in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood. By the late 1960s, its circulation had risen to 31,000. ''The Crusader''s historical significance includes running a column titled "Muhammad Speaks", by

Elijah Muhammad Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Robert Poole; October 7, 1897 – February 25, 1975) was an African American religious leader, black separatist, and self-proclaimed Messenger of Allah, who led the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1934 until his deat ...

of the Nation of Islam (NOI), in the 1950s prior to the creation of the NOI's own '' Muhammad Speaks'' newspaper. It was one of very few newspapers to run the column, another being the ''

Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African-American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acqu ...

''. During the same period, ''The Crusader'' also published a column on "Women of Islam" by Tynnetta Muhammad (under the name Tyneta Denear), who later published a column by the same title in ''Muhammad Speaks''. When the Nation of Islam established ''Muhammad Speaks'', it hired Dan Burley, who had formerly worked for ''The Crusader'' as well as 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 Jim ...

'', to edit it. In 1960, the newspaper extended a formal invitation to the imprisoned Kenyan independence leader Jomo Kenyatta to speak in Chicago. Dorothy Leavell joined the newspaper as its office manager in 1961, marrying Balm Leavell soon after. She became the newspaper's business manager in 1964, and upon her husband's death she took charge of the entire operation. Dorothy Leavell has served in prominent roles in many African-American publishing organizations and was inducted into the National Black Journalists Hall of Fame in 2016. She took over Chicago's alternative weekly, the '' Chicago Reader'' in 2018.

Works cited

References

External links

Official siteChronicling AmericaPublishing trailblazer Chicago Crusader celebrates 75th anniversary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago Crusader, The African-American history in Chicago African-American newspapers Newspapers published in Chicago Newspapers established in 1940 1940 establishments in Illinois

History

See also

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References

External links