February os. 2003
___
(Clje ^ ortlan h (Dbseruer
celebrates Black History Month
Black History Month
The Black Press
First part in a series
Page/u
Without these firsts,
American History wouldn't
be the same.
Brave publishers,
editors started first
African American
newspapers
by
R on W eber
T he P ortland O bserver
It took a lot o f bravery to w rite
new s for A frican A m ericans in the
early 19* Century w hen the first black
new spapers w ere published.
Plain and simple, it wasn ’tallowed.
H ow ever black new spapers and
m agazines did spring up in certain
parts o f the country, especially the
N ortheast. T hey w ere sm uggled
throughout the country at great risk
to not only anyone w ho w as selling
them or giving them aw ay, but at an
even greater risk to the publishers
and editors.
T h eb u sin esso fB lack Press grew
rapidly after theCivil War. A m erica’s
d escendants o f A frica had been
suppressed long enough. W hen­
ever the racist w hites turned their
backs, black w riters w ent to work.
O ld presses sprung up in dark and
dingy basem ents or private back
rooms.
T houghts denouncing racism and
prejudice began being pounded out
by both w hite and black abolition­
ists. Like the rapid sound o f African
drum s, m essages denouncing white
suprem acy and cruelty to blacks
quickly spread across the land o f the
free whites.
A few new spapers and m agazines
had lofty goals that w ere very hard to
read and understand. In alm ost hu­
m orous w ays, early editors sounded
o f f with long dialogues, hoping to
im press th eir read ersh ip , sound
highly intelligent and thus attract
m ore educated readers.
T hough personalities clashed and
loyalties quickly changed, black pa­
pers and m agazines continued to
grow out o f a dem and for equality
and the need for the nation’s black
population to pull together.
Linotype operators punch in copy for the "Chicago Defender’ in
1941, one o f the most influential African American newspapers
in the United States during the 2 0 " Century. By 1947, the
newspaper's circulation exceeded 60,000 and it had 131,000
subscribers nationwide.
On March 16,1827two N ew York
clergym en, John R ussw urm and
S a m u e l C o r n is h s ta r te d th e
Freedom '¡Journal, A m erica’s “first
new spaper w ritten by blacks for
blacks.” The tw o editors felt, ” ... that
a paper devoted to the dissem ina­
tion o f useful know ledge am ong our
brethren, and to their m oral and reli­
gious im provem ent, m ust m eet with
the cordial approbation o f every
friend to hum anity...”
D ue to Russwurm joining the
A m erican Colonization Society in an
attem pt to establish a black colony in
Liberia, the partnership broke up and
th epaperclosed dow n after only two
years and tw o w eeks in business.
A lthough the paper lived a relatively
short life, it w as the first o f its kind
and opened the doors forotherblack
publications.
From 1837to \8A\ "TheC olored
A m erican (W eekly A dvocate) " was
published by Phillip Bel in New York
City. The new spaper established a
goal to "educate its subscribers" by
including inform ation on “principal
railroads, length o fri vers, heights o f
principle m ountains, principal col­
leges in the U.S., and the principal
features o f various countries o f the
nations o f the earth.” O n the M arch
4, 1837 issue, the paper changed
from its original nam e o f the " Weekly
A dvocate ” to "C olored A m erican "
w ith Sam C ornish as the editor. C o r­
nish established a new m otto o f
“ Righteousness Exalted a N ation.”
The paper w as hereafter “ .. .de­
signed to be the organ o f C olored
A m ericans - to be looked on as their
ow n, and devoted to their interests -
through which they can m ake known
their view s to the public - can com ­
m unicate w ith each other and their
friends, and their friends with them;
and to m aintain their w ell-know n
sentim ents on the subjects o f aboli­
tion and colonization, viz. - em anci­
pation w ithout e x p atria tio n -th e ex ­
tirpation o f prejudice - the enact­
m ent o f equal law s and a full and free
investiture o fth e ir rights as men and
citizens.”
“The C olored A m e rica n " w as
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, performed Ihe lin i successivi heart operation in 18 9)
M a d a m e CJ. Walker, first self-made Am erican w om an m illionaire • H ym an i. Thomas, in vented the po ta to chip, originally
know n as the Saratoga chip • M a tth e w A. Henson, first m an to set fo o t ort the N o rth Pole • lessle la ru e M ark, first w om an
to earn a doctorate in bota n y • Isaac M urphy, won the very first Kentucky Derby . Dr. Charles Drew, discovered the
m eth od for preserving blood plasm a • le w e l LaF o n to n t M ankarlou s. first w om an to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme
Court • Yvonne Clark, first wom an Io earn ft 5. in chemical engineering a t Harvard • Louis Arm strong, first to sing in "scat-
tin g " style • Otis Boykin, invented guided missile device • la n e W right, pioneered several advances in the field o f chemother­
apy • Frederick M ckinley /ones, inventor of portable X-ray m achine • W illiam A. H inton, developed first test for syphilis
N o rbe rt Rillieux, developed the first system for refining sugar • S. Boone, invented the first ironing board . Frank C rant,
inventor o f the baseball chinguard • L.D. New m an, inventor o f the hairbrush • Shelby ). Davidson, created the first adding
machine • W illiam W arwick C a rd o io , pioneered the study o f sickle cell anemia • Kurds Blow, first rap artist
You can't talk about Black history w ithou t talking about American history.
Let's remember the African Americans who helped b uild America
Washington Mutual
continued y f on page A 6
PCC: Celebrating Educational
Equality and Excellence
"In tellig en ce plus
character. T h at
is the goal of a
true education."
Martin Luther King Jr.
Portland Community College
joins all citizens in honoring
the memory of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. His dedication
to the pursuit of equality, his
contributions to civil rights
and his insistence on
excellence in character and in
actions shaped our nation's
conscience.
PCC is founded on the
principle of equal educational
opportunity. Like Dr. King, we
too have a dream.
Our dream is to make the
Cascade Campus the nation's
premier urban community
college campus. We are reaching that goal by
building and planning for the future. We hope
the community will focus on the dream with us.
In the next few years, here is what is planned:
■ A new building on the corner of Killingsworth
and Kerby, open to the community, and
housing a gymnasium with seating for 600
people.
■ Three other new buildings, fronting on
Killingsworth and Albina, and improvements
to existing buildings.
■ New, modern science labs in Jackson Hall.
■ Better lighting, beautiful landscaping and
community access to the campus.
■ A healthy balance of campus, commercial
and residential properties in the area.
■ 400 new full-time jobs in the community
during the next four years.
■ Educational opportunities to meet the growing
needs of the community until at least 2010.
Architectural rendering, PCC Cascade Campus 2004
■ PCC's goal is that at least
20 percent of the construction
contracts will go to minority,
women and emerging
small businesses
(MWESB).
Portland
Community
College
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