1st Black Newspaper published

Samuel E. Cornish, a preacher and John Brown Russwurm, a scholar, founded the nation's first black newspaper. They called it Freedom's Journal. The offices for Freedom's Journal moved around This location is 236 Church Street For most of the black community, reading came only after freedom, since it had been forbidden under slavery. To read black voices for the first time was powerful. On the front page of the new paper the editors wrote: "We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us." Inside were stories about slavery, lynchings, and social justice. In addition, the paper featured biographies of black men and women, schools, jobs, and housing opportunities. It also listed weddings, births, and deaths.