The ''Mystery'' (or the ''Pittsburgh Mystery'') was a

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

n African American newspaper founded in 1843 by

Martin Delany Martin Robison Delany (May 6, 1812January 24, 1885) was an abolitionist, journalist, physician, soldier, and writer, and arguably the first proponent of black nationalism. Delany is credited with the Pan-African slogan of "Africa for Africans." ...

, a black activist and physician. It was a paper centered on the

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

movement, and attempted to foster feelings of pride in black life and culture, including black spiritual life. Delany left the paper in 1847 to work at another African American newspaper, the ''

North Star Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that ...

''. The paper either died that year, or it was purchased by the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...

. If it was purchased, it survives today as the '' Christian Recorder''.

Publication

The ''Mystery'' (also known as the ''Pittsburgh Mystery'') was founded in 1843 in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, a black activist and physician, two years after a conference for

free people of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (French: ''gens de couleur libres''; Spanish: ''gente de color libre'') were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not ...

in the city. He was the editor and principal contributor to all of its issues, which were printed with a Biblical quotation: "And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians". The title was a reference to its mission of, as historian Tunde Adeleke says, "enlighten ngblacks on the 'mystery' of their condition—i.e., means of elevation". The paper was made of four pages, and its main focus was

abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

(the eradication of slavery) and the celebration of black life and culture, including black spiritual life. It included news about developments in the abolitionist movement, coverage of events of interest to the black community, editorials—almost all written by Delany—and ads, including one advertisement for Delany's medical practice. The paper also supported developing pride in an ancestral connection to Africa. It was financially supported by Pittsburgh's black community, especially its women. The ''Mystery'' original reporting was reprinted in other abolitionist and black newspapers, including the '' Palladium of Liberty'' and the '' Liberator''. Its reporting was more moderate than some of its competitors, including '' The Mirror of Liberty'' from New York. Delany resigned financial control of the ''Mystery'' in 1844; the paper had trouble staying financially stable, and the group that took over was composed of black men from Pittsburgh. In 1846, the paper's motto changed from its Biblical quotation to "Hereditary bondsmen! Know ye not who would be free, themselves strike the blow?". Delany left the paper in 1847 to work with

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 ...

at the ''

'', another African American newspaper. At least one source, historian of African American studies James T. Campbell, says the paper died that year. If it did not, then it was purchased by the

in 1848, rebranded around that time as the ''Christian Herald'', and later rebranded again as the '' Christian Recorder'', its current name. Delany died in 1885 after settling in North Carolina and aligning with its segregationist Democratic Party. By 2003, only two issues of the paper had been located.

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* * * * * * {{refend Abolitionist newspapers published in the United States African-American history in Pittsburgh Defunct African-American newspapers Defunct newspapers published in Pittsburgh Publications established in 1843