"The New York Amsteadam News" {December 4,1909}

The four page newspaper was established by James H.Anderson in the heart of

Harlem with an initial capital of $10.00.Amsteadam News was the mouthpiece for one of the largest African-American communities in the United States.It covered the African American community's social news such as weddings,engagements,births,and charity events.In its heyday,it had a circulation of over 100,000.By the mid-1940s it was one of the four leading African American newspaper in the country,along with with the Pittsburgh Courier,The Afro-America,& The Chicago Defender.The Amsteadam News was named after the avenue on which James H.Anderson lived.ounce known as San Juan Hill.The business offices were relocated to Harlem in 1910.During this early period,between the 1910s& 1920s,renowned African American journalist such as Timothy Thomas Fortune wrote for and edited the paper.In 1926,Sadie Warren,the wife of Edward Warren,one of its first publishers,purchased the paper.It was resold 10 years later  two West Indian physicians,Clelan Bethan Powell & Philip M.H.Savory,who served as editor-publisher & secretary-treasurer.
Under their management,the now semi-weekly paper became the first African American newspaper to have of its departments unionized.The The Amsteadam News then began to focus on not only local,but also national,events,Many prominent African American including W.E.B.Du Bois,Roy Wilkins,
Adam Clayton Powell,Jr.,contributed columns and articles.When Marvel Cooke joined
the staff,she became the paper's first female news reporter.The Amsteadam News supported many civil rights in the armed forces.
In the 1950s and 1960s,it chronicled events of the civil rights movement such as the Montgomery Bus boycott,the freedom riders bus-burning incident,and numerous riots.The paper was the first to
focus attention on Malcolmn X,and in 1958 published his column "God's Angry Man."In 1971,the paper was purchased for $2.3 million dollar by a group of investors who included Percy E.Sutton,Wilbert A.Tatumn,and several business associates.
In July 1996,Wilbert bought outthe last remaining investor,putting the future of the paper in the hands of the Tatum family.In December 1997,he stepped down as published and editor-in-chief and passed the torch to his daughter,Elinor Ruth Tatum,who was 26 at the time.Wilbert remains at the paper as published emeritus and chairman of the board.