Black History, Publishing
Four boys outside Courier
The Pittsburgh Courier was established in 1907 by Edwin Harleston, a security guard and writer. The newspaper gained fame after Robert Lee Vann took over the paper in 1910 and eventually became the nations most widely circulated black newspaper at almost 200,000.
The Courier was always an organ for the wellbeing of the average African-American. It would call for housing improvements and the opening of black hospitals. The Pittsburgh Courier also sought to improve the black peoples’ financial and political skills. (more…)
Black History, Medicine, Publishing
Miles V Lunk
Miles Vandahurst Lynk was born near the small town of Brownsville, TN on June 3, 1871 in Haywood County. He was the first-born son of former slaves who made their living off of a small family farm. At the age of six, Miles Lynk’s father was killed in an accident and the young boy was forced to take on adult responsibilities in helping his mother on the farm.
In spite of the hard times, Lynk’s mother insisted that her son attend the rural black schools in the region at least five months a year. She spent much of her time tutoring him herself. She covered the gaps in his education with what books she could acquire and the young boy became a voracious reader. They made enough money from the farm to hire a private tutor and Miles’ was able to study advanced academic subjects and gained an able education. (more…)
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.
