"Baltimore Afro-American"{August 13,1892)

This African American owned and operated newspaper has crusaded for

racial equality and economic advancement for African Americans for more than a century.
John Henry Murphy Sr.,started the paper when he merged his church publication,The Sunday School Helper with two other church publications.The Ledger and The Afro-American.By 1922,John moved the newpaper from a one-page weekly church publication into the most widely circulated African American newspaper along the Atlantic coast.Following John's death that year his five sons continued to manage The Afro-American.The Afro American rose to national prominence while under the editorial control of Carl Murphy who was its editorpublisher for 45 years.The newspaper was circulated in Baltimore,Washington,D.C.,Philadelphia,Richmond,& Newark.At one time there were as many as 13 editions circulated across the country.The Afro-Amercan's status as an African American newspaper profoundly affected social change on a national scale.The editorial pages of The Afro-American were used to push for the hiring of African Americans by Baltimore's police & fire departments;to press for African American representation in the legislature;and for the establishment of a state supported university to educate African Americans.
In the 1930s the Afro-American launched a successful campaign known as "The Clean Block" campaign,which is still in existence today.The campaign developed into an annual event and was aimed at improving the appearance of,and reducing crime in,inner-city neighborhoods.The Afro-American also campaigned against the Southern Railroad's use of Jim Crow cars,
and fought to obtain equal pay for Maryland's African American schoolteachers.During World War II,the Afro-American stationed several of its reporters in Europe,the Aleutians,Africa,Japan,and other parts of  the South Pacific,and provided its readers with first coverage of the war.In the 1950s the newspaper joined forces with the NAACP in the latter's suit against the University of  Maryland Law School for its segregationists admission policies.Their combined efforts eventually led to the U.S. Supreme's Courts 1954 decision outlawing segregated public schools.The Afro-American has employed many notable African American journalists and intellectuals including Langston Hughes,William Worthy & J Saunders Redding,& artists Romare Bearden began his career as a cartoonist there in 1936.
Following Carl Murphy's death in 1967,his daughter Frances LMurphy II served as chairman and publisher.In 1974,John Murphy III,Carl's nephew,was appointed chairman and eventually became the publisher.Fourth generations members of the Murphy family,John J.Oliver,Jr.and Frances M.Draper,continue to manage the paper in recent years.