Just 48 years after Russwurm and Cornish founded the Black Press, the Savannah Tribune was born.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia
On March 16, 1827, 195 years ago, Freedom’s Journal opened its doors in New York City.
At the time, the city emerged as the publishing capital of the world, and free African Americans John Russwurm and Samuel Cornish determined that it was time to “plead our own cause.”
“For too long, others had spoken for us,” the trailblazers proclaimed.
As the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) observes the 195th anniversary of Freedom’s Journal and the founding of the Black Press, attention focuses on the historical outlets that have remained the voice for the voiceless.
The NNPA is the trade association of the 230 African American-owned newspapers and media companies in the United States,
The newspaper began in 1875 when three African American civic and business leaders – John H. Deveaux, Louis B. Toomer, and Louis Pleasant, recognized the need for a newspaper dedicated to serving the African American community in Savannah, a city about 260 miles west of Atlanta.
The men established The Colored Tribune before renaming the paper in 1876.
“The Savannah Tribune is a pioneer among weekly newspapers. It is one of the oldest Black-owned and operated publications in America,” Publisher Shirley James wrote in an email to NNPA Newswire.
“Since its establishment, The Savannah Tribune has always been in the forefront of positive efforts to improve the plight of African Americans and lift the entire community,” James remarked.
James recounted that John Deveaux served as Editor and Business Manager until 1889, when he earned an appointment as Collector of Customs in Brunswick, Georgia.
Sol C. Johnson then took the helm, purchasing the paper in 1909 and remaining until 1954.
Upon his death, James said Johnson’s goddaughter, Willa Ayers Johnson, followed as the first female publisher.
She continued the publication until September 30, 1960, when competition with news about African Americans in majority-white newspapers negatively impacted the Black Press nationwide.
However, The Savannah Tribune was re-established in September 1973 by banker Robert E. James, Shirley James’ husband, who assumed full ownership and became publisher and editor in 1983.
Shirley James counts as the second female publisher in The Savannah Tribune’s history.
“The Savannah Tribune’s ongoing mission best in excerpts from John Deveaux’s first editorial,” James asserted.
She concluded by noting the writings of Deveaux:
“A newspaper being in the age of civilization an absolute necessity to the welfare and progress of any class on people, The Colored Tribune will, as the name indicates, be devoted to the advancement and elevation of the colored race.
“We come out in this small unpretending sheet hoping to lay the foundation upon which shall arise a journal that will be an ornament to our race and be a medium of communication and instruction for the people.
“The character of The Tribune will be the defense of the rights of the colored people, and their elevation to the highest plane of citizenship, and to this, all other considerations shall be secondary.”
