The Negro Star

''The Negro Star'' was an African American newspaper created by Hollie T. Sims that ran from 1908 to 1953. Sims founded the paper in Greenwood, Mississippi, but moved it to Wichita, Kansas, in 1919 as a result of racial hostility. Bringing national news to Wichita, the ''Star'' was one of few newspapers that provided African Americans news and access to African-American updates during the early to mid-1900s.

History

Hollie Sims originally ran ''The Negro Star'' while he lived in Greenwood, Mississippi. However, the city sheriff and others made Sims unwelcome there after he wrote a tribute to the black soldiers of World War I. Sims and his wife therefore moved their family, along with two other families involved in the ''Star''s production, to Wichita, Kansas in 1919.

Sims and his family were very involved with both the newspaper and the community (among other activities, Sims founded the Wichita chapter of the NAACP). At the time of the move, the ''Star''s assistant editor was W. S. Moore. Sims' brother Hugh also worked at the ''Star'', as did B. H. Neely, who partnered with Sims to form the Kansas Coal and Mercantile Company. For a period in 1934–35, the paper tapped Bennie Williams as a sports editor.

The Sims continued to publish the ''Star'' until 1953; Virginia Sims wrote in January, "Because of Editor Sims 'sic''continued weak condition, we are giving up printing; he ''Star''goes into new hands later this week"., cited in Carroll 2010, p. 255. The paper continued as ''The Post Observer'' until July 1953 and the ''Wichita Post Observer'' until July 1954.

Ownership and memberships

The ''Star'' was a paper that came from Sims's vision to spread news of African American progression. Sims and his wife issued and distributed the ''Star'' from a barn behind their house until Sims died in 1953. However, the paper received nationwide recognition thanks to a membership campaign by the National Negro Business League, which had been founded by Booker T. Washington in 1900 with a mission "to promote the commercial and financial development of the Negro."

The ''Star'' became a member of the National Negro Press Association, a society of African-American editors and publishers associated with the National Business League, in 1908 (the organization was then called the National Colored Press Association). The ''Star'' eventually became a member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association when the National Negro Press Association was incorporated into that group in 1940.

The ''Star'' also belonged to Wichita's Baptist State Convention and Auxiliaries, a collection of Baptist churches, district associations, and auxiliaries.

Coverage

The ''Star'' was circulated in the city of Wichita and its surrounding areas in Sedgwick County, Kansas.

Content

The ''Star'' covered African-American issues across the nation in various topics. As a general-interest newspaper, the ''Star'' habitually published stories covering entertainment, public figures, business promotions and advertisements, societal activity, sporting events, and both local and national criminal activity. Because white newspapers paid little attention to African Americans except as "athletic stars, entertainers, or criminals", African Americans in Wichita could only read about daily news of interest to the black community in the ''Star'' and one other Wichitan paper, the ''People's Elevator''., cited in Carroll 2010, p. 243. Sims wrote in 1922 that "a newspaperman's duty is to serve the public by giving the truth of all matters ..regardless of his own individual opinions or creed.", cited in Carroll 2010, p. 244.

Advertisements for local African-American businesses, shops, and services were written into the paper as a form of marketing in a segregated community. The ''Star'' encouraged African Americans to patronize existing businesses and services, try new ones, and generally support the local economy.

In August 1934, the ''Star'' hired a sports editor and began covering the state baseball tournament in a separate sports page; previously, sports coverage in the paper had been quite spotty. This sports page, consisting of both local articles and reports from the Associated Negro Press wire service, continued until January 1935.

References

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Defunct African-American newspapers
Leflore County, Mississippi
History of Wichita, Kansas
Mass media in Wichita, Kansas
Defunct newspapers published in Kansas
Defunct newspapers published in Mississippi
Newspapers established in 1908
1908 establishments in Mississippi
1919 establishments in Kansas
1953 disestablishments in Kansas
African-American history of Kansas