Thomas Clarence Jervay, Sr., former National Newspaper Publishers Association Chair and activist journalist was born in Wilmington, North Carolina (NC), on November 30, 1914. He was one of eight children of Robert Smith Jervay from Charleston, South Carolina, and Mary Alice McNeil from Columbus County, … Read MoreThomas Clarence Jervay, Sr. (1914-1993)
John H. Murphy was the chairman and head publisher of the influential Afro-American Newspaper Company in Baltimore, Maryland. Murphy was born in Baltimore on March 2, 1916 to Daniel H. Murphy and Sara Murphy Neely. At the age of 12, John Murphy moved to Philadelphia … Read MoreJohn H. Murphy III (1916-2010)
Jay T. Harris is best known as the late 20th century black newspaper executive who led a major daily newspaper, the San Jose Mercury News. Born December 3, 1948 in Washington, D.C., Harris is the son of World War II veteran and IBM employee Richard … Read MoreJay T. Harris, (1948- )
Newspaper owner John Robert Clifford was born September 13, 1848 in Williamsport, West Virginia to Isaac and Saltipa Clifford. During the Civil War he rose to the rank of Corporal in the U.S. Colored Troops, entering U.S. military service in 1864 at the age of … Read MoreJohn Robert “J.R.” Clifford (1848-1933)
Poet, editor, diplomat, and cultural theorist Léon Damas was born on March 28, 1912, in Cayenne, French Guiana. He was the youngest of five children born to parents Ernest and Marie Aline Damas. After his mother’s death in 1913, young Léon and his siblings were … Read MoreLéon-Gontran Damas (1912-1978)
William Lewis Eagleson published the Colored Citizen, the first black-owned newspaper in Kansas. He was born a slave August 9, 1835 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Colored Citizen originated at Fort Scott, Kansas, January 1878. Eagleson moved the paper to Topeka, Kansas in July1878 because … Read MoreWilliam Lewis Eagleson (1835-1899)
William Thomas Scott, also known as W.T. Scott, was a tavern/ hotel owner, newspaper owner/ editor, and politician in the latter half of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century. He was the first African-American selected by the convention of a … Read MoreWilliam Thomas Scott (1839-1917)
William H. Wilson established The Northwest Enterprise, a Seattle, Washington weekly newspaper for the African American community, in 1920 and continued to be its editor until 1935. He also served as a board member of Seattle’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of … Read MoreWilliam H. Wilson (?-?)
Carl Murphy, publisher, was born in Baltimore, Maryland on January 17, 1889. In 1892, his father, John Henry Murphy edited and published the first issue of the paper the Baltimore Afro-American. Murphy went to high school in Baltimore and after graduating attended Howard University receiving … Read MoreCarl Murphy (1889–1967)
James Finley Wilson was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1881 to Reverend James L. Wilson and Nancy Wiley Wilson. From 1922 to 1948, Wilson served consecutive terms as Grand Exalted Ruler of the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of the Elks of the World (I.B.P.O.E. of … Read MoreJames Finley Wilson (1881-1952)
