This blog post features the Serial & Government Publications Division Junior Fellow from the Library’s 2024 Junior Fellows Program. This summer, Junior Fellow Zoe Harrison researched and wrote essays about African American newspaper titles available in the Chronicling America* Historic American Newspapers database. In 2021, the Library began to digitize a collection of miscellaneous 19th and early 20th century newspapers from the Black American press. Harrison wrote ten well-researched newspaper history essays that represented significant titles from this collection.
In this interview with Robin Pike, Head, Digital Collection Services Section, Harrison shares her research interests and background, her internship experience, and more about the project, “Researching the Black Press in Chronicling America.”
Tell us a little about your background. What led you to apply for a Library of Congress Junior Fellows internship?
I recently graduated from the University of Arizona with two M.A. degrees in Library & Information Science and U.S. History. I started in the history M.A. program, studying the death culture and funerary customs of Southern Black communities, before deciding to simultaneously complete an M.A. in Library and Information Science. My experience working with my university librarians sparked my interest in library school because I was desperate to learn more about how to make the history I was reading and writing more accessible to people outside of universities.
As a graduate assistant at University of Arizona Libraries, I had the opportunity to work with the Library of Congress’ Teaching with Primary Sources program making literacy tools that assisted students and faculty with finding primary sources for coursework. My supervisor on that project suggested I apply for this internship, given my interest in Black history and newspapers.
What project did you work on this summer?
I worked on the “Researching the Black Press in Chronicling America” project with the support of the Serial and Government Publications division.
For this project, I researched African American newspapers of the 19th and early 20th centuries to write 10 essays documenting the history of these newspapers. I used the Chronicling American Historic American Newspaper database and various secondary sources to find information for the essays. These essays will provide information about the newspaper’s content, purpose, publication history, and significantly involved publishers, editors, and writers.
I wrote essays for these newspapers:
- Oakland Sunshine (Oakland, CA)
- The Free Man’s Press (Austin, TX)
- The Northern Star and Freemen’s Advocate (Albany, NY)
- The New York Freeman (New York, NY)
- The Washington Tribune (Washington, DC)
- The Conservator (Chicago, IL)
- The Plaindealer (Detroit, MI)
- The Northwestern Recorder (Milwaukee, WI)
- The New Age (Portland, OR)
- The World (Seattle, WA)
Why did you choose to research these newspaper titles?
I took a geographic approach to selecting newspapers and chose titles belonging to perimeter states of the U.S. The previous Junior Fellow working on this project focused a lot on the Midwest, so I wanted to differentiate my newspaper selection and expand the project’s coverage geographically.
I conducted little preliminary research on these newspapers before selecting them because I wanted to be surprised about what I found. I inadvertently selected many newspapers that were the first Black newspaper in their given town or state, but, more interestingly, I found many notable newspaper publishers, editors, and writers.
For example, the Northern Star and Freemen’s Advocate was owned and operated by Stephen Myers, an established abolitionist in New York. Together with his wife, Harriet Myers (nee Johnson), they facilitated the Albany Underground Railroad station and helped many escaped enslaved people find freedom in the North.
What is the most interesting thing that you have found?
I really enjoyed finding communication between various newspaper editors and journalists, especially when arguments were published in the press. The newspapers I researched were often supportive of each other and publicly encouraged readers to seek out other newspapers, but some were critical of other’s political and social activities.
The World, published in Seattle, WA, around the turn of the 20th century, was owned and operated by Daniel Walter Griffin, who featured prominently—though not always positively—in Washington newspapers. I could not find a lot of biographical information about Griffin, as he was a man of many names. Though credited as D.W. Griffin in the World, he was also referred to as Daniel Walter Griffin, Walter Griffin, and Daniel Webster Griffin when mentioned in other Washington newspapers. Most of the information I could find was printed in the Seattle Republican. Editor Horace Cayton was critical of other Black newspapers in the state, and Griffin was quite often the target of his public criticism.
The World was just one of Griffin’s newspapers, and he was known to start newspapers quite frequently, much to the dismay of Cayton. The Seattle Republican often warned readers of Griffin’s financial schemes and his public outbursts. He was routinely featured in Washington newspaper society columns for his violent antics, until 1907 when he seemingly vanished. On October 11, 1907, the Seattle Republican noted his unusual absence stating, “the question in Seattle is where is Dan Griffin….”
Is there anything else you would like to share about these newspapers or your research?
I really enjoyed the work I was able to do this summer! Researching these newspapers has expanded my own knowledge of Black print culture and modes of communication, and I am able to end this internship with a greater appreciation for newspapers. I’m also very grateful I was able to make this aspect of Black history that much more accessible to Library of Congress users. There is so much we can learn about 19th and 20th century Black communities, and so much that their stories have to offer us in the present. I hope that these essays spur further research on the Black Press and the communities that supported it.
Resources
African American Digitized Newspapers in Chronicling America
African American Newspapers Guide
*The Chronicling America historic newspapers online collection is a product of the National Digital Newspaper Program and jointly sponsored by the Library and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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