Gems from the Black Press: Race News from The Colorado Statesman

Welcome back to Gems from the Press!

The purpose is to share each week an interesting article from early black publications of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As previously noted,the articles found inside of these long forgotten publications contain rich history that reflect  the early years of African America life in the first decades of freedom. Some are publications of fraternal or benevolent societies, and some were more community based. All provide close ups to history and culture of times long past.

Today's Focus:

"Race News"
From: The Colorado Statesman, June 1900

Source:Ancestry.com. U.S., African American Newspapers, 1829-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.
Original data: Negro Newspapers for the American Council of Learned Studies. Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress.

By 1900, it was becoming common in the press for publications to provide snippets of news pertaining to "the race" in their regular publications. An interesting column appeared in The Colorado Statesman in 1900. These brief often 1-sentence statements still provide an interesting glimpse into the African American community and how it viewed itself and the progress of the community.

This particular issue of the Colorado Statesman, also included interesting articles about noted leaders in the community, such as the leading article about educator Booker T. Washington. 

The column "Race News" caught my attention and I am compelled to share pieces of the column here:

Source:Ancestry.com. U.S., African American Newspapers, 1829-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.
Original data: Negro Newspapers for the American Council of Learned Studies. Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress.

Transcription:

St. Louis has a Negro Tobacco worker's Union

* * * 

There are two savings banks in Richmond VA., owned and operated by colored men.

* * * 

The colored people of Mississippi are preparing the build a cotton factor at Jackson.

* * * 

Mr. L.E. Perry owns and operates a mattress factory at St. Joseph Mo., employing members of his race exclusively.

* * * 

Lieut. Gov. Caldwell  appointed a young Afro-American from the orphan's home at Cincinnati as a page  in the Ohio legislature.

* * * 

There are about 20 colored teachers in the mixed schools of greater New York, and some of them have classes where there is not a single colored child.

* * * 

The United States Commission to the Paris Exposition of 1900 has assigned space in the Social Economy building to be used for the exhibit of the present condition of the Afro-American.

* * * 

It is said that no race rises higher than the morals of its woman. If this be true, our women should put forth every endeaver(sic) to rise to the highest moral standard that is possible for them to rise. By thus rising they will draw the whole race up with them.

* * * 

In the state of Maryland, there are 5,000 colored men engaged in mercantile businesses on their own account. Many are successful farmers in the various counties of the State. Some engaged in blacksmithing, wheelwrights, and carpenters.

* * *
J.H. Hall of South Glastonbury Conn., who owns extensive peach and plum orchards, in Georgia, in testifying before the Industrial Commission one day last week said, "Negro labor employed on his plantations in Georgia was as cheap and efficient  as white labor in New England."

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Columns such as this "Race News" column from this Colorado publication were important to the black population, and in 1900 when this issue was published the national Black community was still only 35 years into freedom from bondage. The appearance of these small pieces of "race news" served not only to inform, but also to inspire. The gleanings of news from around the country provided an overview of the Black community on a national level and some these small articles in the early 20th century, planted seeds that would eventually encourage some to later embark upon the "Great Migration."