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[[image - logo of NNPA, the NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION]]

NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
33rd Annual Convention
June 20-23, 1973
Houston Oaks, Houston, Texas
Mrs. Lenore Carter, publisher of the Forward times, will be Hostess

[[image - black & white photograph of man standing at podium in front of microphones]]

Brief History of 145-Year-Old Black Press
By Sherman Briscoe
Executive Dir. NNPA

The voice of one of the longest protests in history is the Black Press of America which celebrated its 145th anniversary last March.

But it has been more than an effective voice of protest that has played a major role in every erg of resistance overcome; it has also stimulated attainments in education and self-improvement to help keep black people abreast of opportunities as they have achieved.

It was in March of 1827 - more than 200 years after slavery had been established in America - that John B. Russwurm and the Rev. Samuel D. Cornish launched Freedom's Journal, the first black newspaper in the United States and the first black voice raised in newsprint against bondage.

The Journal not only spoke out against slavery in the South and ill treatment of freed blacks in the North, but it also emphasized education, self-improvement, industry, and thrift on the part of freedmen.

Within a little over a year, Russwurm, an 1826 graduate of Bowdoin College, became discouraged, left the paper and joined the American Colonization Society. He emigrated to Liberia where he served as superintendent of schools and governor of the Maryland colony until his death in 1851.

Changes Name
The Reverend Mr. Cornish, founder of the first black Presbyterian Church in American, continued briefly with the Journal, changing its name to "The Rights of All."

OFFICERS
PRESIDENT
GARTH C. REEVES
MIAMI TIMES
VICE PRESIDENT
CARLTON GOODLETT
SAN FRANCISCO SUN-REPORTER
SECRETARY
WILLIAM H. LEE
SACRAMENTO OBSERVER
ASSISTANT SECRETARY
MRS. LENORA CARTER
HOUSTON FORWARD TIMES
TREASURER
HOWARD H. MURPHY
AFRO-AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS

DIRECTORS
KENNETH DREW
NEW YORK QUEENS VOICE
JESSE HILL
ATLANTA INQUIRER
D.L. INMAN
THOMASVILLE-TALLAHASSEE NEWS
EMORY O. JACKSON
BIRMINGHAM WORLD
JERELL JONES
MILWAUKEE COURIER
JOHN H. MURPHY III
AFRO-AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS
JOHN H. SENGSTACKE
SENGSTACKE NEWSPAPERS
FRANK L. STANLEY
LOUISVILLE DEFENDER
N.A. SWEETS
ST. LOUIS AMERICAN
HOWARD B. WOODS
ST. LOUIS SENTINEL

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
SHERMAN BRISCOE

CREDO OF THE NEGRO PRESS
The Negro Press believes that America can best lead the world away from radial and national antagonisms when it accords to every man, regardless of race, color, or creed, his human and legal rights. Hating no m an, fearing no m an, the Negro Press strives to help every man in the firm belief that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.

MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. BOX 1546 * WASHINGTON, D.C. 20013