“Accepting, at all times, the decision of public sentiment and Legislative Assemblies, and bowing to the majesty of law, it will fearlessly remonstrate against legal and constitutional proscription by appeal to the public sense of justice.”[3]
Shuften’s Editorial on the Race Problem
The editor of the paper was J. T. Shuften, who was ably assisted by Dr. James Lynch. Shuften was credited by The New York World as having written the best article of the time on the “Negro Question.” The paper was short-lived and suspended February, 1866.
Precursors in Southern States
With the beginning of Negro Journalism in the South, papers sprung up in other states: The Colored Tennessean and The True Communicator, of Baltimore, Md., being among the more noted ones. Many of the papers were short-lived; others changed hands and names frequently and continued for several years.
Papers Grow in Influence and Circulation
The year 1868 saw the founding of The Charleston Leader, at Charleston, S. C. By 1870, the Negro press began to make itself felt. The People’s Journal, with a circulation of over 10,000 was being edited by Dr. R. L. Perry. In Mississippi, James J. Spellman and John Lynch began The Colored Citizen. December, 1870, marked the founding of The New Orleans Louisianian, by P. B. S. Pinchback[4], who in 1873 became governor of Louisiana, being the only Negro ever to hold this position.
Editors Highly Educated
August 1861, John J. Freeman started The Progressive American, in New York City, which existed for ten years. The one outstanding achievement of this paper is the fact that as a result of its fight for Negro teachers in the public schools twenty-three were appointed. Between 1865 and 1880, over 30 newspapers of more or less merit came into existence; Negro newspapers were being published in 21 states. The papers of the period were ably edited and were the product of some of the most highly educated Negroes.
[3] Pinchback died in Washington, D. C., Dec. 22, 1921.