''Richmond Planet'' was an African-American newspaper in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. 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 H. Johnston, E.R. Carter, Walter Fitzhugh, George W. Lewis, James E. Robinson, Henry Hucles, Albert V. Norrell, Benjamin A. Graves, James E. Merriweather, Edward A. Randolph, William H. Andrews and Reuben T. Hill) pooled their meager resources and started America’s oldest Negro newspaper on a career which was destined to play an important part in molding the opinions of Negroes in this city, state and nation. . It was edited first by

Edwin Archer Randolph Edwin Archer Randolph (c. 1850- ''unknown'') was an American lawyer, politician, and journalist from Virginia. In 1880, Randolph became the first African-American to graduate from Yale Law School. In July 1880, Randolph was the first African-Americ ...

and then by

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 ...

from 1884 until his death in 1929. Mitchell was also president of the National Afro-American Press Association and the founder and president of

Mechanics Savings Bank Founded in 1902 by John Mitchell, Jr., Mechanics Savings Bank was a bank in the Jackson Ward neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. Mitchell, who was an African American, also owned and edited the ''Richmond Planet''. In 1905 the bank bought a thr ...

. By 1904 The Planet had reached a weekly circulation of 4,200. The paper continued publication until 1938, when it merged with the Richmond Afro-American. The paper responded to the

Racial Integrity Act of 1924 In 1924, the Virginia General Assembly enacted the Racial Integrity Act. The act reinforced racial segregation by prohibiting interracial marriage and classifying as "white" a person "who has no trace whatsoever of any blood other than Caucasian ...

. The work of photographer James C. Farley was published in the ''Planet''. Farley served on the board of Mitchell Jr.'s Mechanics Savings Bank. John Mitchell Jr. was the paper's junior editor in 1912. The same year the paper covered the opening of Lincoln Memorial Hall on the campus of Temperance, Industrial, and Collegiate Institute in

Claremont, Virginia Claremont is an incorporated town in Surry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 378 at the 2010 census. A granite marker stands as a memorial to the arrival of British settlers in the area. The town was incorporated in 1886, had a p ...

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* - Total pages: 291 * Defunct African-American newspapers Mass media in Richmond, Virginia Defunct newspapers published in Virginia {{Virginia-newspaper-stub