Black History, Publishing
The Amsterdam News was started on December 4, 1909, by James H. Anderson. The paper began production with an initial capital only $10. Being located in the center of Harlem, The Amsterdam News spoke for the largest black population in the nation. The paper placed an emphasis on reporting black society news, such as weddings. At one time it had a circulation of more than 100,000 subscribers. During the 1940’s The Amsterdam News was one of the four leading newspapers in the nation. (more…)
Publishing
Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass (February 14, 1874 – April 12, 1969) was an American educator, newspaper publisher-editor, and civil rights activist. She also focused on various other issues such as housing rights, voting rights, and labor rights, as well as police brutality and harassment.[1] Bass is believed to be the first African American woman to own and operate a newspaper in the United States; she published the California Eagle from 1912 until 1951.[2] In 1952, Bass became the first African American woman nominated for Vice President, as a candidate of the Progressive Party.
Due to her activities, Bass was repeatedly accused of being part of the Communist Party, for which there was no evidence and which Bass herself repeatedly denied. She was monitored by the FBI, who continued to view her as a potential security threat until she was in her nineties.
Reas more of this article on Wikipedia.
Publishing
Freedom’s Journal was founded on March 16, 1827 as a four-page, four-column standard-sized weekly. The newspaper was also the first black-owned and operated newspaper in the United States, and was established the same year that slavery was abolished in New York State. The paper attempted to respond to racist material published in other forms of media.
Samuel E. Cornish and John B. Russwurm served as editors. Freedom’s Journal was similar to other reform papers in that its contents consisted of current events, anecdotes, and editorials and was used to address contemporary issues such as slavery and “colonization,” a concept which was conceived by members of The American Colonization Society, a mostly white pro-emigration organization founded in 1816 to repatriate free black people to Africa. Freedom’s Journal provided its readers with regional, national, and international news. It sought to improve conditions for newly freed black men and women living in the North. Freedom’s Journal published birth, death and wedding announcements. To encourage black achievement it featured biographies of renowned black figures such as Paul Cuffee, a black Bostonian who owned a trading ship staffed by free black people.
Russwurm became sole editor of Freedom’s Journal following the resignation of Cornish in September 1827, and began to promote the colonization movement. The majority of the public did not support the paper’s radical shift in support of colonization, and in March 1829, Freedom’s Journal ceased publication. Soon after, Russwurm emigrated to the American Colonization Society of Liberia, and became governor of the Maryland Colony.
Publishing
1799-1851. Born to a slave mother and a white American merchant father, Russwurm was educated in Quebec and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1826, making him one of the first black American college graduates. In 1827 he helped establish the first black newspaper in the U.S., Freedom’s Journal, in New York. Two years later, Russwurm closed the paper and moved to Liberia, stating that blacks had no future in the U.S. In Liberia, he served as superintendent of education, edited the Liberia Herald, became governor of the county of Maryland, and recruited American blacks to settle there.
Publishing
Fredrick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in 1818 to a slave family in Talbot County, Maryland. When Douglass was a young man, he moved to Baltimore to work as a house servant for a family. Douglass was educated by the wife of the family. When Douglass turned 21, he escaped into the North by impersonating a sailor. While in the North, Douglass married Anne Murray, an aqaintance from his days in Baltimore. As an educated man, Douglass traveled Great Britain speaking on abolition. The British were so receptive of Douglass’s ideas that they started a fund to buy his freedom in America.
Douglass founded The North Star on December 3, 1847 as a vehicle to promote his political views. One of Douglass’s friends was John Brown, whose name became infamous at Harper’s Ferry. Athough Douglass was a supporter of Brown’s, he denounced his actions in John Brown, an Address. During the Civil War, Douglass’s sons were part of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, which was composed of only African-American soldiers. Frederick Douglass was the father of five children, all by his first marriage to Anne Murray. After her death, he remarried his secretary, Helen Pitts. Douglass took a job as a publisher for the New National Era in Washington D.C, but was soon out of work due to a lack of funding. Three short year later Douglass would pass away.
Publishing
Mary Ann Shadd was the first Black women editor of a newspaper in North America. She worked for racial integration in the United States. With the passage of the fugitive slave act in 1850, she decided that the future of Blacks looked better outside of the United States. Her conviction to the struggle for the rights of Blacks must have been inspired by her father Abraham Shadd, who was an abolitionist and opponent to the American Colonization Society.
Mary Ann Shadd was committed to the education of people of color. At the age of sixteen she went to Wilmington, Delaware to organize a school for children of color. Over the course of eleven years, Shadd taught in schools for black youth in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware. In 1851, she joined the emigrationist movement and with her brother Isaac moved to Toronto, Canada.
Once in Canada, Shadd found herself locked in battle with Henry Bibb. Bibb was a staunch supporter of segregation in contrast to Shadd Ann who sought racial integration. Bibb published a newspaper called the Voice of the Fugitive in which he frequently attacked Shadd’s desire to assimilate. With the motto “Self reliance is the fine road to independence.” Shadd founded the paper Provincial Freeman where she in turn challenged Bibb’s desire for separation. Shadd used the paper to discuss all aspects of Black life in Canada. The paper exposed all aspects of segregation and discrimination in Canada.
In 1855 Shadd was the first woman to speak at the National Negro Convention. Frederick Douglass said that she gave one of the most convincing and telling speeches in favor of Canadian emmigration. Shadd would eventually abandon her belief in emmigration but would maintain a strong desire for Black autonomy and maintain her belief in Black self help. During the Civil War she worked as an enlistment officer.
Shadd eventually obtained a Law degree and continued to write letters and articles for newspapers. She increasingly turned attention to gender equality and actively participated in supporting rights for women. Shadd testified before Congress on women’s suffrage.
During her life she lectured extensively to many groups on subjects including race pride, the Klu Klux Klan, the Republican Party and women’s rights. Frederick Douglass spoke highly of Mary Ann Shadd.
The Amsterdam News was started on December 4, 1909, by James H. Anderson. The paper began production with an initial capital only $10. Being located in the center of Harlem, The Amsterdam News spoke for the largest black population in the nation. The paper placed an emphasis on reporting black society news, such as weddings. At one time it had a circulation of more than 100,000 subscribers. During the 1940’s The Amsterdam News was one of the four leading newspapers in the nation. (more…)