Ralph Waldo Tyler (1860–1921) was an African-American journalist, war correspondent, and government official. He was the only accredited black foreign correspondent specifically reporting on African-American servicemen stationed in France during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. His career began in his hometown of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, in the late 1880s, where he held several journalistic positions including editor of the ''

Afro-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 enslav ...

''; co-founding the short-lived African-American newspaper, ''The Free American''; contributing a Black news column and serving as society editor at the white-owned '' Columbus Evening Dispatch,'' and writing for '' The Ohio State Journal''.Lorenz, Alfred Lawrence. 2005. "Ralph W. Tyler: The Unknown Correspondent of World War I," ''Journalism History'' 31:1 Spring : 3–12. Early on, his journalistic skills placed him in constant dialog with black political and business leaders in the Midwest who were engaged in improving the social standing of African Americans at the height of the

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 ...

.''George A. Myer's Papers, 1890–1929.'' Processed 1999. Papers. Archives/Library: Ohio Historical Society In 1906, Tyler actively campaigned for an appointment as United States consul to Brazil. His political activities drew the attention of prominent national Black figures. In 1907, upon the advice of

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

, Tyler was appointed by President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

to fill the post of Auditor of the

Department of the Navy Navy Department or Department of the Navy may refer to: * United States Department of the Navy, * Navy Department (Ministry of Defence), in the United Kingdom, 1964-1997 * Confederate States Department of the Navy, 1861-1865 * Department of the ...

. He held this post until 1913, when during the first year of Woodrow Wilson's presidency—overlooking the advice of his colleagues—Tyler published an article in the ''

Washington Evening Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the Washington ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday Star ...

'' criticizing the President's segregationist policies, such as the segregation of government offices. Soon afterward, Tyler's governmental post under Wilson ended. Booker T. Washington and his Secretary, Emmett J. Scott, next recommended Tyler to be the National Organizer of 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 was ...

(NNBL), an organization founded by Washington to engage in documenting the state of black businesses to promote an organized and active League membership.National Negro Business League. 1913–1914. Papers. The Schomburg Center for Black Culture Tyler learned about the social conditions and concerns of blacks throughout the country. His role at the NNBL entailed visiting and addressing local branches of the NNBL. His findings were reported in a 1914 syndicated column of the American Press Association, and his travels through the Southern U.S. enabled him to undertake a personal study of the Great Migration then in progress by blacks out of the rural South for the North and Midwest. These reports were eventually published in various U.S. magazines, journals, and newspapers. In 1917, Tyler left this post to serve as secretary in another organization founded by Washington, the National Colored Soldiers' Comfort Committee, which provided financial support for black soldiers and their families. Following this position, Tyler was selected as the only African-American journalist to be stationed overseas during World War I to report on black soldiers at the front. Although approximately 30,000 black combat troops and 160,000 Army laborers were stationed in the 92 and 93rd divisions in France, the mainstream press largely overlooked their contributions. Thus, in 1918 a committee of black journalists and civic leaders overseen by Emmett J. Scott, (aka,

Emmett Jay Scott Emmett Jay Scott (February 13, 1873 – December 12, 1957) was a journalist, founding newspaper editor, government official and envoy, educator, and author. He was Booker T. Washington's closest adviser at the Tuskegee Institute. He was responsib ...

) was formed to address the problem and Tyler was selected to report on the black troops serving in the War. At the time, Scott was employed by the U.S. as the Special Assistant for Race Relations to the Secretary of War, Newton Baker. Concurrently, there was also a growing concern among U.S. government officials that blacks, who were experiencing ongoing racism in the civilian population as well as overseas in France, would be swayed by German propaganda to turn against the U.S. war efforts. Scott was able to convince Baker to send Tyler to report on the developments of Black soldiers with the stipulation that Tyler's reports would be screened by Baker and the Committee on Public Information (CPI) then by Scott before they were circulated in the U.S. press. Tyler later said that he accepted the position without salary and he would only be paid his expenses so that he would be able to speak freely on what he witnessed once he returned home. He was stationed in the northeast

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

region of France with the all Black soldiered 92nd division of General John J. Pershing's brigade. Reporting from the trenches at the front in Northeastern Metz, France, Tyler's reports were screened by the U.S. Committee on Public Information, sent back to the U.S., and edited and distributed by Scott to newspapers and journals nationally. Later Scott published several of Tyler's reports in ''Scott's Official History of the American Negro in The World War'' (1919). Back in the States, Tyler's reports provided first-hand accounts of the heroic deeds of black soldiers and boosted the morale of the troops overseas. He also documented discrimination that the black troops faced at the hands of white American organizations and service personnel, and contrasted it with the relatively unbiased treatment they received from the French. Following the war, Tyler returned to Ohio where he worked in journalism, becoming editor of the ''Cleveland Advocate'' in 1919, associate editor of the ''Columbus Ohio State Monitor'', and contributing articles to newspapers in New York and Chicago. Numerous letters of Tyler's personal correspondence can be found at the

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

. The

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library of the New York Public Library (NYPL) and an archive repository for information on people of African descent worldwide. Located at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue) b ...

holds Tyler's business letters and reports from his post as National Director of the National Negro Business League.

References

Further reading