Newspapers serving African American communities
"Black press" redirects here. For the Canadian publisher, see
Black Press
.
African American newspapers
(also known as
the Black press
or
Black newspapers
) are
news publications
in the
United States
serving
African American
communities.
Samuel Cornish
and
John Brown Russwurm
started the first African American periodical,
Freedom's Journal
,
in 1827. During the
Antebellum South
, other African American newspapers sprang up, such as
The North Star
,
founded in 1847 by
Frederick Douglass
.
As African Americans moved to urban centers beginning during the
Reconstruction era
, virtually every large city with a significant African American population had newspapers directed towards African Americans. These newspapers gained audiences outside African American circles. Demographic changes continued with
the Great Migration
from southern states to northern states from 1910 to 1930 and during
the Second Great Migration
from 1941 to 1970. In the 21st century, papers (like newspapers of all sorts)
have shut down, merged, or shrunk
in response to the dominance of the Internet in terms of providing free news and information, and providing cheap advertising.
[1]
[2]
History
[
edit
]
Origins
[
edit
]
Most of the early African American publications, such as
Freedom's Journal,
were published in the North and then distributed, often covertly, to African Americans throughout the country.
[3]
The newspaper often covered regional, national, and international news. It also addressed the issues of American slavery and The
American Colonization Society
which involved the repatriation of free blacks back to Africa.
[4]
19th century
[
edit
]
Some notable black newspapers of the 19th century were
Freedom's Journal
(1827?1829),
Philip Alexander Bell
's
Colored American
(1837?1841), the
North Star
(1847?1860), the
National Era
,
The Aliened American
in Cleveland (1853?1855),
Frederick Douglass' Paper
(1851?1863), the
Douglass Monthly
(1859?1863),
The People's Advocate
, founded by
John Wesley Cromwell
and
Travers Benjamin Pinn
(1876?1891), and
The Christian Recorder
(1861?1902).
[5]
In the 1860s, the newspapers
The Elevator
and the
Pacific Appeal
emerged in California as a result of black participation in
the Gold Rush.
[6]
The American Freedman
was a New York-based paper that served as an outlet to inspire African Americans to use the
Reconstruction era
as a time for social and political advancement. This newspaper did so by publishing articles that referenced African American mobilization during that era that had not only local support but had gained support from the global community as well.
[
citation needed
]
The name
The Colored Citizen
was used by various newspapers established in the 1860s and later.
In 1885,
Daniel Rudd
formed the
Ohio Tribune
, said to be the first
newspaper
"printed by and for
Black Americans
", which he later expanded into the
American Catholic Tribune
, purported to the first
Black-owned
national newspaper.
[7]
The Cleveland Gazette
was established in the 1880s and continued for decades.
The national
Afro-American Press Association
was formed in 1890 in
Indianapolis, Indiana
.
[8]
In 1894,
Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin
founded
The Woman's Era
, the first nationally distributed newspaper published by and for African American women in the United States.
[10]
[11]
The Woman's Era
began as the official publication of the
National Association of Colored Women
, and grew in import and impact with the founding of the
National Federation of Afro American Women
in 1895. It was also one of the first newspapers, along with
the National Association Notes
, to create journalism career opportunities for Southern black women.
[12]
Many African American newspapers struggled to keep their circulation going due to the low rate of literacy among African Americans. Many freed African Americans had low incomes and could not afford to purchase subscriptions but shared the publications with one another.
[13]
20th century
[
edit
]
African American newspapers flourished in the major cities, with publishers playing a major role in politics and business affairs. By the 20th century, daily papers appeared in
Norfolk
,
Chicago
,
Baltimore
and
Washington, D.C.
[14]
Representative leaders included
Robert Sengstacke Abbott
(1870?1940) and
John H. Sengstacke
(1912?1997), publishers of the
Chicago Defender
;
John Mitchell Jr.
(1863?1929), editor of the
Richmond Planet
and president of the National Afro-American Press Association;
Anthony Overton
(1865?1946), publisher of the
Chicago Bee
;
Garth C. Reeves Sr.
(1919?2019), publisher emeritus of the
Miami Times
;
and
Robert Lee Vann
(1879?1940), the publisher and editor of the
Pittsburgh Courier
.
[15]
In the 1940s, the number of newspapers grew from 150 to 250.
[16]
From 1881 to 1909, the
National Colored Press Association
(American Press Association) operated as a trade association. The
National Negro Business League
-affiliated National Negro Press Association filled that role from 1909 to 1939.
[17]
The Chicago-based
Associated Negro Press
(1919?1964) was a subscription
news agency
"with correspondents and stringers in all major centers of black population".
[18]
In 1940, Sengstacke led African American newspaper publishers in forming the trade association known in the 21st century as the
National Newspaper Publishers Association
.
[19]
During the 1930s and 1940s, the Black southern press both aided and, to an extent, hindered the equal payment movement of Black teachers in the southern United States. Newspaper coverage of the movement served to publicize the cause. However, the way in which the movement was portrayed, and those whose struggles were highlighted in the press, displaced Black women to the background of a movement they spearheaded. A woman's issue, and a Black woman's issue, was being covered by the press. However, reporting diminished the roles of the women fighting for teacher salary equalization and “diminished the presence of the teachers’ salary equalization fight” in national debates over equality in education.
[20]
There were many specialized black publications, such as those of
Marcus Garvey
and
John H. Johnson
. These men broke a wall that let black people into society. The
Roanoke Tribune
was founded in 1939 by
Fleming Alexander
, and recently celebrated its 75th anniversary. The
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
is Minnesota's oldest black-owned newspaper
[21]
and one of the United States' oldest ongoing minority publication, second only to
The Jewish World
.
[
citation needed
]
21st century
[
edit
]
Many Black newspapers that began publishing in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s went out of business because they could not attract enough advertising. They were also victims of their own substantial efforts to eradicate racism and promote civil rights.
[
citation needed
]
As of 2002
[update]
, about 200 Black newspapers remained. With the decline of print media and proliferation of internet access, more black news websites emerged, most notably
Black Voice News
,
The Grio
,
The Root
, and
Black Voices
.
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Arvarh E. Strickland and Robert E. Weems, eds.
The African American Experience: An Historiographical and Bibliographical Guide
(Greenwood, 2001), pp. 216?230.
ISBN
978-0313298387
- ^
Simmons, Charles A.
The African American press: a history of news coverage during national crises, with special reference to four black newspapers, 1827?1965
. McFarland, 2006, p. 2.
ISBN
978-0786403875
- ^
Jacqueline Bacon, "The history of Freedom's Journal: A study in empowerment and community."
Journal of African American History
88.1 (2003): 1?20.
in JSTOR
Archived
2016-11-07 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Honoring African American Contributions: The Newspapers"
. 30 July 2020.
Archived
from the original on 2023-08-13
. Retrieved
2023-08-13
.
- ^
Knowlton, Steven.
"LibGuides: African American Studies: Newspapers: 19th century"
.
Libguides.princeton.edu
.
Archived
from the original on November 5, 2016
. Retrieved
October 25,
2017
.
- ^
"History 313: Manual ? Chapter 3"
. Archived from
the original
on 2016-04-01
. Retrieved
2016-07-27
.
- ^
"Daniel Rudd"
.
Star Quest Production Network (SQPN)
. 2020-02-03.
Archived
from the original on 2020-06-11
. Retrieved
2020-10-20
.
- ^
Nina Mjagkij, ed. (2001),
Organizing Black America: an Encyclopedia of African American Associations
, Garland,
ISBN
978-0815323099
- ^
Stabel, Meredith (2021).
Radicals, Volume 2: Memoir, Essays, and Oratory: Audacious Writings by American Women, 1830-1930
. University of Iowa Press. p. 173.
doi
:
10.2307/j.ctv1m9x358
.
ISBN
978-1-60938-768-6
.
JSTOR
j.ctv1m9x358
.
- ^
"The Woman's Era"
. Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin
. Retrieved
2024-02-12
– via Lewis H. Beck Center at Emory University.
- ^
Wade-Gayles, Gloria (1981).
"Black Women Journalists in the South, 1880-1905: An Approach to the Study of Black Women's History"
.
Callaloo
(11/13): 138?152.
doi
:
10.2307/3043847
.
ISSN
0161-2492
.
JSTOR
3043847
.
- ^
Rhodes, Jane (1998).
Mary Ann Shadd Carry: The Black Press and Protest in the Nineteenth Century
. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 120?123.
ISBN
0253213509
.
- ^
Jacqueline Bacon,
Freedom's journal: the first African-American newspaper
(2007).
- ^
Patrick S. Washburn,
The African American Newspaper: Voice of Freedom
(2006).
- ^
Mott, Frank Luther (1950).
American Journalism: The history of newspapers in the United States 1690?1950
. Macmillan. p. 794.
- ^
"National Colored Press Association"
.
nkaa.uky.edu
.
Archived
from the original on 2022-02-07
. Retrieved
2022-02-07
.
- ^
"Associated Negro Press"
,
Encyclopedia of Chicago
, Chicago Historical Society,
archived
from the original on June 8, 2008
, retrieved
March 20,
2017
- ^
Osgood, Harley (2018-09-30).
"The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) (1940? )"
.
Black Past
.
Archived
from the original on 2022-02-07
. Retrieved
2022-02-07
.
- ^
Aiello, Thomas (February 2018).
"
'Do We Have Any Men to Follow in Her Footsteps?': The Black Southern Press and the Fight for Teacher Salary Equalization"
.
History of Education Quarterly
.
58
(1): 94?121.
doi
:
10.1017/heq.2017.50
.
ISSN
0018-2680
.
- ^
"About"
.
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
. Retrieved
2024-02-12
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Bacon, Jacqueline.
Freedom's journal: the first African-American newspaper
(Lexington Books, 2007)
- Belles, A. Gilbert. "
The Black Press in Illinois
Archived
2018-11-17 at the
Wayback Machine
."
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society
(1975): 344?352.
online
- Bradshaw, Katherine A. "
Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press
Archived
2019-05-02 at the
Wayback Machine
."
Journalism History
41.1 (2015): 53+
- Brown, Warren Henry (1946).
Check list of Negro newspapers in the United States (1827?1946)
. Jefferson City, Mo.:
Lincoln University
School of Journalism.
OCLC
36983520
.
- Bullock, Penelope L.
The Afro-American Periodical Press, 1838?1909
(LSU Press, 1981).
- Buni, Andrew (1974).
Robert L. Vann of the Pittsburgh courier: politics and Black journalism
. University of Pittsburgh Press. Archived from
the original
on 2013-10-29.
- Burma, John H. "An analysis of the present Negro Press."
Social forces
(1947): 172?180.
in JSTOR
Archived
2019-05-22 at the
Wayback Machine
- Dann, Martin E.
The Black Press, 1827?1890: The Quest for National Identity
(1972).
- Davis, Ralph N. "The Negro Newspapers and the War."
Sociology and Social Research
27 (1943): 378?380.
- Detweiler, Frederick German
(1922).
The Negro Press in the United States
. University of Chicago Press.
ISBN
978-0-7426-4265-2
.
- Dijk, Teun A. van
(1995).
"Selective Bibliography on Ethnic Minorities, Racism and the Mass Media"
.
Electronic Journal of Communication
.
ISSN
1183-5656
.
Archived
from the original on 2019-10-05
. Retrieved
2017-04-05
.
(includes US)
- Eldridge, Lawrence Allen.
Chronicles of a Two-front War: Civil Rights and Vietnam in the African American Press
(University of Missouri Press, 2012)
- Finkelman, Paul, ed. (2006). "Newspapers".
Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619?1895
. Vol. 2. Oxford University Press.
ISBN
978-0195167771
.
- Finkle, Lee.
Forum for protest: The black press during World War II
(Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1975)
- Gonzalez, Juan; Joseph Torres (2011).
News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media
. Verso Books.
ISBN
978-1844679423
.
- Gershenhorn, Jerry.
Louis Austin and the Carolina Times: A Life in the Long Black Freedom Struggle
. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2018.
- Guskin, Emily, Paul Moore, and Amy Mitchell. "African American media: Evolving in the new era." in
The State of the News Media 2011
(2011).
- Henritze, Barbara K.
Bibliographic Checklist of African American Newspapers
(Genealogical Publishing Com, 1995)
- Hogan, Lawrence D.
A black national news service: the Associated Negro Press and Claude Barnett, 1919?1945
(Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1984)
[
ISBN missing
]
- Jones, Allen W. "The Black Press in The" New South": Jesse C. Duke's Struggle for Justice and Equality."
Journal of Negro History
64.3 (1979): 215?228.
in JSTOR
Archived
2016-11-07 at the
Wayback Machine
- La Brie, Henry G.
A survey of Black newspapers in America
(Mercer House Press, 1973).
[
ISBN missing
]
- Meier, August. "Booker T. Washington and the Negro Press: With Special Reference to the Colored American Magazine."
Journal of Negro History
(1953): 67?90.
in JSTOR
Archived
2021-04-25 at the
Wayback Machine
- Morris, James McGrath.
Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press
(New York: Amistad, 2015). xii, 466 pp.
[
ISBN missing
]
- Oak, Vishnu Vitthal.
The Negro Newspaper
(Greenwood, 1970)
- Odum-Hinmon, Maria E. "The Cautious Crusader: How the Atlanta Daily World Covered the Struggle for African American Rights from 1945 to 1985." (PhD Dissertation University of Maryland, 2005).
[1]
Archived
2023-12-07 at the
Wayback Machine
- Penn, Irvine Garland
(1891).
The Afro-American Press and Its Editors
. Massachusetts: Willey and Co.
- Pride, Armistead Scott; Clint C. Wilson (1997).
History of the Black Press
. Howard University Press.
ISBN
978-0882581927
.
- Prides, Armistead S.
A Register and History of Negro Newspapers in the United States: 1827?1950.
(1950)
- Simmons, Charles A.
The African American press: a history of news coverage during national crises, with special reference to four black newspapers, 1827?1965
(McFarland, 2006).
- Stevens, John D. "Conflict-cooperation content in 14 Black newspapers."
Journalism Quarterly
47#3 (1970): 566?568.
- Strickland, Arvarh E., and Robert E. Weems, eds.
The African American Experience: An Historiographical and Bibliographical Guide
(Greenwood, 2001), pp. 216?230, with long bibliography
- Suggs, Henry Lewis, ed.
The Black press in the south, 1865?1979
(Praeger, 1983).
- Suggs, Henry Lewis, ed.
The Black Press in the Middle West, 1865?1985
(Greenwood Press, 1996). 416 pp.
- Wade-Gayles, Gloria. "Black Women Journalists in the South, 1880?1905: An Approach to the Study of Black Women's History."
Callaloo
11/13 (1981): 138?152.
in JSTOR
Archived
2019-04-28 at the
Wayback Machine
- Washburn, Patrick S.
The African American Newspaper: Voice of Freedom
(Northwestern University Press, 2006); covers 1827?1900; emphasis on
Pittsburgh Courier
and the
Chicago Defender
- Washburn, Patrick Scott.
A question of sedition: The federal government's investigation of the black press during World War II
(Oxford University Press, 1986).
- Wolseley, Roland Edgar.
The black press, USA
(Wiley-Blackwell, 1990).
Primary sources
[
edit
]
- Dunnigan, Alice.
Alone Atop the Hill: The Autobiography of Alice Dunnigan, Pioneer of the National Black Press
(University of Georgia Press, 2015)
- La Brie, Henry G. III,
Black Pulitzers and Hearsts
, oral history collection at
Columbia University
's
Butler Library
with over 80 interviews with Black publishers and editors
External links
[
edit
]
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