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African Americana Library News rss

Hines' Jazz Archive to Berkeley
Dec 9, 2009
Campus musicians receive gift from pianist Earl Hines' estate

Moreland-Springarn Research Center
Nov 11, 2009
Allegations that the research center could close due to an inadequate budget

Black Educator's papers to Emory
Oct 15, 2009
Ulysses S. Byas Was First Post-Desegregation Black School Superintendent

Shakur papers to Woodruff Library
Oct 9, 2009
Tupac's mother donates his writing for research

Octavia Butler collection
Oct 7, 2009
Huntington receives sci-fi writer Octavia Butler's collection

Philadelphia Inquirer

Jun 16, 2009

Posted on Mon, Jun. 1, 2009

(Source: By Marie McCullough, Philadelphia Inquirer, Inquirer Staff Writer, mmccullough@phillynews.com)

 

When Christopher J. Perry launched the Philadelphia Tribune, he faced a readership problem that makes today's newspaper industry woes seem trivial.

The Tribune was founded in 1884, when the city had only 108,000 African Americans, few of them literate.

Blacks "were forbidden to learn to read and write," said Robert W. Bogle, current publisher of the nation's oldest continuously published African American newspaper. "But Chris thought those who were educated could pass the word on."

Bogle and an array of dignitaries including Mayor Nutter and U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter yesterday launched a year-long celebration of the Tribune's 125th anniversary.

After Perry died in 1921 at 67, the publisher's job passed to his son-in-law, E. Washington Rhodes, later appointed the first black assistant U.S. attorney.

Under Rhodes' 49-year tenure, the Tribune successfully campaigned for much-needed black representation - the appointment of the first black Philadelphia Board of Education member, the election of the first black to City Council and to judgeships.

The paper also used its news and editorial pages for civic causes that transcended race. It helped end the 1934 race riots in then-segregated Chester. It joined with black organizations to sponsor Clean Block campaigns and raise funds for the United Way.

The Tribune has consistently offered a viewpoint sometimes missing from mainstream media, whether the story is about being black and single, or financial problems at historically black colleges, or the annual list of Philadelphia's most influential African Americans.