- Pittsburgh Courier
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The Pittsburgh Courier was an American newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which was published from 1907 to 1965. Once the country's most widely circulated Black newspaper, the legacy and influence of the Pittsburgh Courier is unparalleled.
A pillar of the Black Press, it rose alongside the civil rights movement and was among its most forceful voices.
At its peak, the paper boasted a national circulation of almost 200,000 with over 400 employees in 14 cities. Widely read, the Pittsburgh Courier set the tone on major issues impacting the African-American community and people paid attention. In the 1930s, the Courier urged Black voters to "turn Lincoln's picture to the wall" and vote Democrat, creating a political alliance that endures to this day.
Some famous contributors to the Courier were Joel Augustus Rogers, who worked as a journalist for the Courier in the 1920s, and Sam Milai, editorial cartoonist for the Courier for 33 years. The Courier was the first to spot the talent of a young William Gardner Smith, who was hired by the Courier while still in high school. This was in 1943, some years before he gained fame as an expatriate novelist and journalist living in France.[1]
In 1965, the Courier went into bankruptcy and ceased publishing.
New Pittsburgh Courier
Following the closure of the original Pittsburgh Courier, its assets were acquired in 1966 by John H. Sengstacke, who re-opened it as the New Pittsburgh Courier, intended to carry on in the tradition of the original Courier.
As of 2011, the New Pittsburgh Courier's publisher is Rod Doss, Assistant to the Publisher is Stephan Broadus, and its Managing Editor is Ulish Carter.
References
- ^ Jackson, Jacquelyn. "William Gardner Smith" from Dictionary of Literary Biography. Thomson Gale, Thomson Corporation ©2005-2006
- "The Pittsburgh Courier'". The Black Press. PBS. 2004. http://www.pbs.org/blackpress/news_bios/courier.html. Retrieved 2005-07-24.
External links
- New Pittsburgh Courier Online
- Finding aid to the Percival L. Prattis Papers, executive editor of the Pittsburgh Courier, at the Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
- Finding aid to the Frank E. Bolden Papers, reporter and city editor of the Pittsburgh Courier, the Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Categories:- African American newspapers
- Newspapers published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 1907 establishments in the United States
- Publications disestablished in 1965
- 1966 establishments in the United States
- Publications established in 1907
- Pennsylvania newspaper stubs
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