The ''Texas Freeman'' was a newspaper for African Americans established in 1893 in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. It was established by

Charles N. Love Charles Norton Love (died 1946) was a pioneering newspaper publisher and civil rights activist in Houston, Texas. Love became a leading civil rights activist and advocate for the African American community. The Love's paper, the ''Texas Freeman'' ...

along with his wife Lilla as well as Jack Tibbitto, and Emmett J. Scott who became its editor. It was the city's first African American newspaper. On January 3, 1931, the paper merged with the ''Houston Informer'' to become the ''Houston Informer and Texas Freeman''. The paper criticized

Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

, sought equal pay for African American teachers, advocated for Houston's Carnegie Library for African Americans, pushed for the hiring of African American postal workers, and opposed segregation. C.N. Love was a leading civil rights activist and advocate for the African American community. He was active in the Republican Party. During his career he was a member of the Republican Party's

Black-and-tan faction The black-and-tan faction was a faction in the Republican Party in the South from the 1870s to the 1960s. It replaced the Negro Republican Party faction's name after the 1890s. Southern Republicans were divided into two factions: the lily-white f ...

, then the

lily white faction The lily-white movement was an anti-black political movement within the Republican Party in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a response to the political and socioeconomic gains made by African-Americans foll ...

, and sued to end the prohibition on African Americans voting in

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

primaries as he sought for political representation and opportunities for African Americans. In 1921, Love filed suit against Texas laws barring African Americans from voting. By the time it reached the Supreme Court it was determined to be moot and a political rather than a legal issue (Love v. Griffith).

References

{{Reflist Newspapers published in Houston African-American newspapers African-American history of Texas