The ''Baltimore Afro-American'', commonly known as ''The Afro'' or ''Afro News'', is a weekly
African-American newspaper
African-American newspapers (also known as the Black press or Black newspapers) are newspaper, news publications in the United States serving African-American communities. Samuel Cornish and John Brown Russwurm started the first African-Americ ...
published in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. It is the flagship newspaper of the ''AFRO-American'' chain and the longest-running
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
family-owned newspaper in the United States, established in 1892.
History
Initially the ''Afro-American'' was known as the ''Home Protector'' which was established and edited by Reverend William Alexander in 1889. With the help of a group of investors, including John R. Cole, Charles H. Richardson, James E. Johnson, and William H. Daly, the ''Home Protector'' became the ''Afro-American'' on August 13, 1892. In the spring of 1895, the Northwestern Family Supply Company (NFSC), assumed control of the ''Afro-American''. Although this seemed to be a turn for the best, that prominent business firm went bankrupt leading to near end of the newspaper. In 1897, the machinery used to print the ''Afro-American'' went up for sale. John H. Murphy Sr., then the head of the printing press at the paper, purchased the newspaper's printing equipment for $200, which he borrowed from his wife, Martha Howard Murphy. Since then, the ''Afro-American'' has been owned and operated by the
Murphy family
Murphy () ( ga, Ua Murchadha) is an Irish surname and the most common surname in the Republic of Ireland.
Origins and variants
The surname is a variant of two Irish surnames: "Ó Murchadha"/"Ó Murchadh" (descendant of "Murchadh"), and "Mac ...
.
John H. Murphy Sr. was born into slavery and served in the Civil War in the United States Colored Troops, reaching the rank of sergeant (NCO). He worked a variety of jobs after the war. Active with the Bethel
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 ...
in Baltimore, a denomination founded in the early 19th century in Philadelphia as the first independent Black religion in the United States. Murphy merged his church publication, ''The Sunday School Helper,'' with two other church publications, ''The Ledger'' and ''The Afro-American.'' With ''The Afro-American'', Murphy promoted unity in the Black community of Baltimore, as well as combating racial discrimination in the city and working for children's education. "He crusaded for racial justice while exposing racism in education, jobs, housing and public accommodations. In 1913, he was elected president of the National Negro Press Association.""John Henry Murphy Sr., MDDC Hall of Fame Class of 2008: AFRO-American's John H. Murphy Sr." MDDC Press Association. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
In 1905, the Afro-American urged its readers to vote against the Poe Amendment, a piece of legislation meant to disenfranchise black voters. When the Strauss Amendment followed in 1908, the paper persisted, attacking advocates of the amendment.
The publication began to grow to reach more cities and to rise in national prominence after his son
Carl J. Murphy
Carl Murphy (January 17, 1889 – February 25, 1967) was an African-American journalist, publisher, civil rights leader, and educator. He was publisher of the ''Afro-American'' newspaper chain of Baltimore, Maryland, expanding its coverage with re ...
took control in 1922, serving as its editor for 45 years. He expanded the paper to have nine national editions, with papers published in 13 major cities. At its peak, the paper published two weekly editions in Baltimore and regional weekly editions in cities including Washington, DC;
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
;
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
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; and
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Great Migration to the North in the first half of the 20th century. In the early 21st century, the ''AFRO-American'' has two city editions: one in Baltimore, and the other for Washington, D.C.
During the 1924 presidential election, the ''Afro-American'' threw their support behind the Progressives established at the Baltimore Federation of Labor Offices and led by Elisabeth Coit Gilman and Broadus Mitchell.
Through the summer of 1932, the ''Baltimore AFRO-American'' published revealing personal letters from prominent African-American scientist and
Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
professor
Percy Lavon Julian
Percy Lavon Julian (April 11, 1899 – April 19, 1975) was an American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. He was the first to synthesize the natural product physostigmine and was a pioneer in ...
. This led to a scandal and the pressure forced Julian to resign from Howard.
Carl Murphy used the editorial pages of The ''AFRO-American'' to push for the hiring of African Americans by Baltimore's police and fire departments; to press for Black representation in the legislature; and for the establishment of a state supported university to educate African Americans.
In the 1930s ''The AFRO-American'' launched a successful campaign known as “The Clean Block” campaign which is still in existence today. The campaign developed into an annual event and was aimed at improving the appearance of, and reducing crime in, inner-city neighborhoods. ''The AFRO-American'' also campaigned against the Southern Railroad's use of Jim Crow cars, and fought to obtain equal pay for Maryland's Black schoolteachers.
During World War II, ''The AFRO-American'' deployed several of its reporters to Europe, the Aleutians, Africa, Japan, and other parts of the South Pacific, and provided its readers with firsthand coverage of the war. One of its reporters (and Carl Murphy's daughter), Elizabeth Murphy Phillips Moss, was the first Black female correspondent.
''The AFRO-American'' collaborated with The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on numerous civil rights cases. In the 1950s the newspaper joined forces with the NAACP in the latter's suit against the University of Maryland Law School for its segregationist admission policies. Their combined efforts eventually led to the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 decision outlawing segregated public schools. ''The AFRO-American'' also supported actor/singer Paul Robeson and sociologist W.E.B. DuBois during the anti-Communist campaigns of the Joseph McCarthy era.
''The AFRO-American'' has employed many notable Black journalists and intellectuals including Langston Hughes, William Worthy and J. Saunders Redding. In the mid 1930s it became the first Black newspaper to employ a female sportswriter when it hired Lillian Johnson and Nell Dodson to serve on its staff. Renowned artist Romare Bearden began his career as a cartoonist at ''The AFRO-American'' in 1936.
Sam Lacy, who was hired as the paper's sports editor in 1943 and who, at the age of 94, still wrote a weekly column for the paper, used his weekly ” A to Z” column to campaign for integration in professional sports. Using their writing to protest racial inequities in professional sports, Lacy and sports writers such as Wendell Smith of The Pittsburgh Courier helped to open doors for Black athletes. Following the death of Carl Murphy in 1967, his daughter Frances L. Murphy II served as chairman and publisher. In 1974, John Murphy III, Carl's nephew, was appointed chairman and eventually became the publisher.
Both John H. Murphy Sr. and his son Carl J. Murphy have been posthumously inducted into the MDDC Press Association's Hall of Fame in recognition of their contributions to journalism and publishing, in 2008 and 2015,Video Narrator, Ben Phillips, grandson: "Carl J. Murphy, Publisher, The AFRO-American Newspapers" 2015 inductee, MDDC Hall of Fame. Retrieved March 23, 2016. respectively.
Today the ''AFRO'' is led by 4th and 5th generation descendants of John H. Murphy Sr. It is in partnership with the Strategic Communications and Journalism Departments of Morgan State University's School of Global Journalism and Communication to provide real-time experience for those who would be journalists and/or public relations specialists.
University collaborative archival project
In November 2007, five students were selected from Baltimore institutions,
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
,
Morgan State University
Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known ...
and
Goucher College
Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/h ...
, to begin work under an
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City in the United States, simply known as Mellon Foundation, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, and endowed with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pitts ...
grant "to uncover and describe the content" of the newspaper's archives, held at its headquarters. These included manuscripts, articles, photographs, and clippings that date to the founding of the paper. "The objectives of the project are to identify important unprocessed collections at the newspaper, inventory and organize the collection, and ultimately create an online database for searching the material."
See also
*
Media in Baltimore
Although Baltimore is only a 45-minute drive northeast of Washington, D.C., it is a major media market in its own right. Its main newspaper, ''The Baltimore Sun'', was sold by its Baltimore owners in 1986 to the Times Mirror Company, which was boug ...
*
List of newspapers in Maryland
This is a list of newspapers in Maryland.
Daily and weekly newspapers (currently published)
Defunct
See also
* List of newspapers in Maryland in the 18th century
* Ethnic press in Baltimore
* Maryland media
** List of radio stations in Mar ...