Negro Journalism
An Essay on the History and Present
Conditions of the Negro Press
[Illustration]
By
GEORGE W. GORE, JR.
Junior in Course in Journalism
De Pauw University
[Illustration]
Greencastle, Indiana
1922
Price 35 Cents
Copyright, 1922
By George W. Gore
PREFACE
This pamphlet does not pretend to be a detailed or scholarly discussion
of the subject. Lack of experience and funds have limited the author to
a mere outlining or suggesting of the field. In fact, this essay is only
the expansion of a term paper submitted in fulfillment of a semester
requirement in the Course in Journalism.
The main purpose of this essay is to show the various stages of
development through which the Negro press has evolved with a view of
furnishing a background for the better understanding of its present
status. It is written, too, to present the problems and inherent
possibilities of Negro Journalism; to point out the progress which is
being made today; and to suggest future possibilities. If this attempt,
amateur and incomplete as it may be, in any measure awakens an interest
in the achievements and efforts of Negro newspapers and magazines it has
served its purpose.
For the period up to 1890, the author frequently has referred to _The
Afro-American Press_ and Its Editors by I. Garland Penn—a work which
is an authority on the subject for the period covered by it. A large
part of the biographical data and information on present day newspapers
was obtained from the Negro Year Book and communications. I especially
wish to thank those editors and publishers who so kindly gave me the
information which I desired.
I am also very grateful to The Chicago Defender and The Southern Workman
of Hampton, Va., for the loan of some cuts.
Especially do I wish to acknowledge the valuable assistance and helpful
criticism of my instructor, Prof. L. E. Mitchell, director of the Course
in Journalism, in DePauw University.
GEORGE W. GORE, JR.
Greencastle, Indiana.
CONTENTS
Transcriber’s Note: Chapter numbering in this table of contents doesn’t
correspond to the chapter numbering in the text (due, it seems, to a
late insertion of the preface as an extra chapter).
I. PREFACE—
II. EARLY ATTEMPTS (1827-1847)—
1. Discussion of nine pioneer papers.
2. Biographic sketches of their editors.
III. THE ABOLITIONIST PRESS (1847-1865)—
1. Discussion of eleven papers.
2. Biographic sketches of editors.
IV. THE RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD (OR THE PERIOD OF FREEDOM) (1865-1880)—
1. Discussion of principal papers and their editors.
2. Statistics as to paper published.
V. THE TRANSITION PERIOD (1880-1900)—
1. Discussion of papers established that still exist.
2. The Associated Correspondents of Race Newspapers.
VI. THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA (1900-)—
1. Journalism regarded as a vocation.
2. Discussion of organization, staffs, circulation and
advertisements.
3. News service and syndicates.
VII. PRESENT DAY NEWSPAPERS—
1. Discussion of mechanical equipment, news handling, etc.
2. Circulation and staffs.
3. Twelve best Negro newspapers.
VIII. DAILY NEGRO NEWSPAPERS—
1. Early attempts.
2. Daily editions for special periods.
3. Present day dailies.
IX. NEGRO MAGAZINES—
1. Precursors.
2. Discussions of the development.
3. Present day publications—characteristics, size, circulation,
and aim.
X. JOURNALISM AND NEGRO SCHOOLS—
1. High School and College papers.
2. College courses in Journalism—Howard, Fisk, and Wilberforce.
3. Training in printing—Tuskegee and Hampton.
XI. A FORECAST OF THE FUTURE—
1. Development, opportunity for advancement, and achievement.
XII. APPENDIX—LIST OF NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES PUBLISHED TODAY.
A History of Negro Journalism In the United States
CHAPTER I
EARLY NEGRO NEWSPAPERS
[Sidenote: FREEDOM’S JOURNAL]
Seven years after Benjamin Lundy began _The Genius of Universal
Emancipation_, and four years before William Lloyd Garrison started to
publish _The Liberator_, Negro Journalism in America was born. The first
publication was _Freedom’s Journal_[1], issued March 16, 1827. It was
in form a medium-sized, neat-looking, well-printed weekly, about nine
by twelve inches. _Freedom’s Journal_ was a thorough-going abolitionist
sheet, having been called into being to defend the Negro against the vile
attacks of a New York editor of Jewish descent who had pro-slavery and
Negro-hating tendencies. This new organ had for its motto, “Righteousness
Exalteth a Nation,” and its columns were filled with long dissertations
on the immorality of slavery.
[Sidenote: JOHN RUSSWURM FIRST EDITOR]
The editor, John Russwurm, one of the first Negroes to graduate from a
college in the United States, graduated from Bowdoin College in 1826.
Russwurm was born in Jamaica in 1799. He published _The Journal_ until
1829, when he went to Liberia, where he became editor of _The Liberia
Herald_.
[Sidenote: THE COLORED AMERICAN]
A period of about eight years elapsed before the founding of a second
Negro newspaper. In January, 1837, Rev. Samuel Cornish began the
publishing of _The Weekly Advocate_. The name was changed in March,
however, to _The Colored American_, and under that name it continued to
be issued weekly until 1842. The first editor, Rev. Cornish, was one
of the leading Negro journalists of the period. He had been associated
with _Freedom’s Journal_, and throughout a period of twenty years he was
actively connected with some newspaper.
[Sidenote: ADVOCATED EMANCIPATION]
The subscription price of _The Colored American_ was two dollars per year
in advance. Its objects were, according to its flag, “the moral, social
and political elevation of the free Colored people; and the peaceful
emancipation of the enslaved.” The paper was well received by the
American press of the period, and many favorable comments on it appeared
from time to time.
[Sidenote: THE ELEVATOR]
The first two Negro newspapers had their headquarters in New York City,
but their successor was established in Albany, N. Y. _The Elevator_ came
into being in 1842, with Stephen Myers as its publisher. The paper was
strongly backed by the Abolitionists. Among its influential supporters
and backers was Horace Greeley of _The New York Tribune_.
[Sidenote: THE NATIONAL WATCHMAN]
Contemporaneous with _The Elevator_ appeared _The National Watchman and
Clarion_, which was established in Troy, N. Y., in the latter part of
1842. Its publisher and editor was William G. Allen. It was short-lived,
as was also _The People’s Press_ which was published by Thomas Hamilton
in New York City the following year.
[Sidenote: THE MYSTERY]
Following the lead taken by the empire state, Pennsylvania became a
field of activity for the Negro journalist. In 1843, _The Mystery_ was
published at Pittsburgh by Dr. Martin Delaney, a graduate of Harvard
College. At first it was conducted as the personal property of its
editor, but as such it survived only nine months when it became necessary
to transfer its ownership to a joint-stock company. After the change
Delaney was retained in the capacity of editor.
Delaney was the first Negro editor to be sued for libel. He was fined for
his statements; but his popularity was so great that the fine was paid by
popular subscription.
_The Mystery_ ceased publication under that name in 1848, at which time
it was purchased by the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
[Sidenote: STATEMENT BY N. Y. SUN, ORIGIN OF THE RAM’S HORN]
As the result of a statement by the editor of _The New York Sun_, “The
_Sun_ shines for all white men and not for colored men,” in January,
1847, _The Ram’s Horn_ was begun. Its editor was Willis Hodges, who
according to _The Afro-American Press and Its Editor_[2], furnished the
money necessary to publish the first issue by whitewashing in New York
City for two months. Within a short period of time the circulation of
the paper reached two thousand five hundred copies. The subscription
price was $1.50 to subscribers within the state, and $1 a year to those
outside the state. Its motto was—“We are men, and therefore interested in
whatever concerns men.” The publication was a five column folio, printed
on both sides. It suspended publication in June 1848.
[1] March 21, 1828, the name was changed to _Rights of All_.
[2] Published by I. Garland Penn in 1891.