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Robert Sengstacke Abbott and the Black Press : Primary Sources

Robert Sengstacke Abbott, a pioneer of America's black press, was born on St. Simons Island, Georgia. This Research Guide is an introduction to his life and and serves as a starting point for more research on the history of the black press in America.

Research Tip

A primary source is a document or object that was written or created by someone who was a participant or witness to the event. Examples of primary sources include diaries, letters, speeches, autobiographies, news footage of an event as it happened, or artifacts (such as pottery, or a quilt). Ask yourself, "Did the writer or creator witness or experience the event?"

 

Archives

Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History

  • Includes personal papers, organizational records, oral histories, photographs, as well as audio-visual resources

 

Freedom's Journal

Samuel E. Cornish and John B. Russwurm

The first black newspaper in America was Freedom's Journal, a weekly published by Samuel E. Cornish and John B. Russwurm on March, 16 1827.

Georgia's Black Newspapers

  • Albany-Macon Times
  • Atlanta Daily World
  • The Atlanta Inquirer
  • The Atlanta Tribune
  • AUC Digest
  • The Atlanta Voice
  • The Columbus Times
  • Fort Valley Herald
  • Georgia Sentinel
  • The Herald
  • Metro County Courier
  • The Savannah Tribune

 

Photograph: The Atlanta Daily World building in 1979. Photograph by James R. Lockhart; courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.