The Journal of Freedom was the first African American newspaper in North Carolina. It was founded on September 30, 1865, and dissolved the next month. Edward P. Brooks, a white journalist and former member of the Union Army, was its editor.
Background and publication
editEdward P. Brooks was a white[1] journalist who worked at the Daily Progress of Raleigh and as a correspondent for The New York Times and served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.[2]
The Journal of Freedom was first published as a weekly newspaper on September 30, 1865, by Edward P. Brooks in Raleigh.[1] The paper was established for the freedpeople of the state – black North Carolinans who were recently freed from slavery in the aftermath of the Civil War – and it was the first African American newspaper in North Carolina.[1] It advocated for the civil rights of African Americans,[1] especially universal suffrage for men.[3] It was Republican in its political orientation.[3] The political mission of the paper was opposed by the Daily Progress; the writer of one article stated "we are opposed to the extension of the right of suffrage to the blacks", while it also wished Brooks financial success "as a friend".[4]
Subscriptions to the paper cost $4 per year,[2] and it had perhaps 1,000 subscribers.[5] It was supported by those attending the 1865 North Carolina freedmen convention.[1] The convention called for freedpeople to support the paper, but it dissolved on October 28, 1865.[1] It was succeeded by several other newspapers for North Carolina's black community, including the Raleigh Enterprise (founded in 1866), the African Expositor (1877), and the Journal of Freedom (1879).[3]
References
editCitations
edit- ^ a b c d e f Alexander 1985, p. 77.
- ^ a b National Republican 1865, p. 2.
- ^ a b c Suggs & Duncan 1983, p. 258.
- ^ Daily Progress 1865, p. 2.
- ^ Macomb Journal 1865, p. 2.
Bibliography
editScholarship
edit- Alexander, Roberta Sue (1985). North Carolina faces the freedmen: Race relations during presidential reconstruction, 1865–67. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822306283.
- Suggs, Henry Lewis; Duncan, Bernadine Moses (1983). "North Carolina". In Suggs, Henry Lewis (ed.). The black press in the South: 1865–1979. Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies. Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313222443.
Newspapers
edit- "A new paper". Daily Progress. September 26, 1865. p. 2.
- "[Untitled]". Macomb Journal. October 13, 1865. p. 2.
- "Negro suffrage in North Carolina". National Republican. October 3, 1865. p. 2.