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Black Quotidian: Everyday History in African-American Newspapers

Iowa State Bystander - May 12, 1899

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May - Archived Posts
Click on date to view post:
May 1, 1954: Montgomery hires first African-American police officers, reported in Chicago Defender. Guest post by Caitlin Sullivan, undergraduate student at Manhattan College.
May 1, 1954: NAACP criticizes federal housing plans, reported in Baltimore Afro-American. Guest post by Matthew Lee, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.
May 2, 1957: Court rules Philadelphia’s Girard College must open to black students, reported in the California Eagle. Guest post by Blake Miller, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.
May 3, 1919: WWI passport dispute reported in St. Paul Appeal. Guest post by Andrew Mullinnix, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.
May 3, 1958: New York Amsterdam News reports on socialites canceling wedding. Guest post by Kelly Monfredini, undergraduate student at Manhattan College.
May 4, 1957: Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at rally in New York City, reported in New York Amsterdam News. Guest post by Charles Zazzera, undergraduate student at Manhattan College.
May 4, 1963: Martin Luther King Jr. and protesters sentenced to ten days in Birmingham jail, reported in Baltimore Afro-American. Guest post by Aaron Nostwich, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.
May 5, 1945: Baltimore Afro-American reports on 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (the “Triple Nickels”). Guest post by Daniel Obren, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.
May 6, 1943: California Eagle on discrimination in war industries. Guest post by Niccolo Peterson, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.
May 6, 1922: Dallas Express calls for more roles for African-American actors. Guest post by Ariel Sumendap, undergraduate student at Manhattan College.
May 7, 1963: Washington Afro-American reports on black family fighting to keep land from developers. Guest post by Bryce Rooney, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.
May 8, 1958: California Eagle reports on police brutality. Guest post by Paige Ross, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.
May 8, 1929: Harlem teenager wins New York City oratory competition, reported in New York Amsterdam News. Guest post by Ellie Siwicki, undergraduate student at Manhattan College.
May 9, 1970: Mother claims squatter’s rights in vacant apartment building owned by Columbia University. Guest post by Paige Champman, undergraduate student at Manhattan College.
May 9, 1964: Black debutantes in the Indianapolis Recorder. Guest post by Lauren Sendlebach, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.
May 10, 1947: Baltimore Afro-American profiles Darwin Turner, who was Phi Beta Kappa at fifteen and became a professor at the University of Iowa. Guest post by Andrew Spargo, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.
May 10, 1919: Broad Ax reviews Eighth Regiment military band. Guest post by Katherine Garnett, undergraduate student at Manhattan College.
May 11, 1912: Chicago Defender reports on dispute in Georgia over black chauffeur using employer’s car. Guest post by Denver Studebaker, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.
May 12, 1926: New York Amsterdam News on prohibition movement. Guest post by Filomena Matoshi, undergraduate student at Manhattan College.
May 12, 1899: Iowa State Bystander on lynching of Sam Hose. Guest post by Nathan Volkert, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.
May 13, 1961: Cleveland Call and Post on deejay Eddie O’Jay and music in the city.
May 13, 1921: Baltimore Afro-American on racial disparities in teachers’ pay. Guest post by Jordan Washington, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.
May 14, 1904: Booker T. Washington on African-American education in The Appeal (Minneapolis & St. Paul). Guest post by Shelby Worth, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.
May 15, 1993: New York Amsterdam News celebrates Malcolm X’s birthday. Guest post by Bridget McEvoy, undergraduate student at Manhattan College.
May 16, 1935: Poet Arna Bontemps speaks at Vernon Library Book Club, noted in Los Angeles Sentinel.
May 17, 1932: Teacher and Fisk University graduate Chrystal Tulli direct play, “Ballet Beautiful,” featured in Atlanta Daily World.
May 18, 1954: Atlanta Daily World on the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision.
May 19, 1962: Advertisement for electric clothes dryers in Philadelphia Tribune.
May 20, 1948: Los Angeles Sentinel on lawsuit involving former boxing champion Henry Armstrong.
May 21, 1936: Federal Negro Theater Project production of “Macbeth” at New Lafayette Theatre in Harlem.
May 22, 1970: Atlanta Daily World reports on Essence, a new monthly magazine for black women.
May 23, 1953: Pittsburgh Courier reports that city newspapers adopted a code of classified advertising which eliminates reference to race, religious creed, color, national origin, or ancestry.
May 24, 1961: Chicago Defender reports that the Freedom Riders will continue their campaign against segregated interstate buses in the South.
May 25, 1933: Philadelphia Tribune reports on murder of evangelist G. Wilson Becton.
May 26, 1934: Torch singer Ivy Anderson in Norfolk Journal and Guide.
May 27, 1944: Recruiting black workers to war industries in Cleveland Call and Post.
May 28, 1955: Rebecca Stiles Dodson calls for release of Claudia Jones in Chicago Defender.
May 29, 1926: Pittsburgh Courier reports that U.S. Supreme Court dismisses Corrigan v. Buckley and upholds legality of racially restrictive covenants.
May 30, 1963: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads Freedom Rally in Los Angeles. Guest post by Mark Speltz.
May 31, 1940: Burt’s Shoes advertisement in Atlanta Daily World.
May 12, 1899 Guest post by Nathan Volkert, undergraduate student at Iowa State University.

On May 12, 1899, the Iowa State Bystander published an article regarding lynching after one occurred in Georgia. The article was titled “Lynching Condemned.” The article gathers the voices of editors across the nation from many popular black newspapers all speaking out against the event. (Click to view full page via Library of Congress.)

The event in question is the lynching of Sam Hose (also known as Sam Wilkes), a black man from Georgia. He was accused of killing his employer, Alfred Cranford, and assaulting Cranford’s wife.¹⁰⁵ Instead of getting a fair trial under the law, Hose was taken by a lynch mob, despite pleas of authorities, hanged, maimed, and then burned alive. People from the mob also took parts of the body as souvenirs. The article has many descriptions of the event calling it brutal, unnecessary, barbaric, savage, and from the dark ages just to name a few.

The tension in the article is very apparent. At this time, blacks still faced segregation and racism. The brutal murder of a black man clearly seems to consolidate the anger, fear, and frustrations of the black community across the nation. Something really interesting about this is that none of the excerpts make an effort to defend Sam Hose. Rather, most of them focus on bringing out an anger toward the needlessly violent nature of the mob and take time to condemn lynching as unjust.

Another thing that really made this article stand out is how many different voices are presented in it. Twenty-one different sources are quoted in the article, and the unity across the nation, seen through the numerous sources, urges justice for black citizens. At the same time, however, there are stark contrasts in perspectives, for instance, the Afro-America Citizen asking America to take a stand and give justice such as prison time to the lynch mobs. On the other hand, the Atlanta, Georgia, Voice of Mission urged blacks to not enroll in the army saying America is not fighting for the black population at all.

Another commonality seen throughout the piece is how many of the sources brought religion, especially Christianity, into the discussion. Many seem to be seeking to appeal to religious beliefs and to use this persuasion to provoke action amongst the religious groups. Sources used in the article, such as the Baptist Truth and Christian Recorder, also show how religion is used in popular media to persuade readers to pursue higher standards.

This article is a great example of how a newspaper can fight for social justice. While the horrific events happened in Georgia, newspapers from across the nation reported on it and urged for change. A unity can be seen here fighting for justice for black citizens and to lessen the fears stirring throughout the black communities, especially those in the South. It is also a great example of how horrible some of the conditions were. It is hard to imagine that in 1899 black citizens were still being lynched, burned alive, and even, as the Baltimore, Maryland, Afro-American cited in this article mentioned, the burnt body pieces of the lynched individual being sold as souvenirs. From a better understanding of how poor conditions were for the black community, to seeing a unification of blacks across the nation before the civil rights movement, this article gives extra insight into the past struggles in America.