A History of Black Newspapers in America

RAYMOND JONES RAYMOND.JONES.22@CNU.EDU

Following the civil war and American reconstruction, many African Americans found themselves migrating away from the southern United States to flee the vestiges of slavery and create a new life for themselves and their children. With this “Great Migration” the ideas, customs, and voices of black people were able to be heard for the first time around the entire country.

While there were new opportunities to create and expand the knowledge of the black community, many of the first black newspapers were filled with ads searching for family members sold away in slavery. The more creative and inspiring stories and discussions in black newspapers didn’t come until the late 1800s into the early 1900s.

With the newfound freedom to come together and create, African Americanled newspapers sparked around the country like wildfire in the early 1900s. Paper Publications such as The Appeal in St. Paul, Minnesota, The Boston Courant, The Associated Negro Press, and The Forum in Springfield, Illinois were becoming a great way for African Americans to see that there were people out there with the same problems and views as them. From 1865-1899 there were nearly 1200 black newspapers that spawned in America.