American newspaper editor (1859–1943) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jerome Bowers Peterson (1859–1943), was an American newspaper editor in New York City, as well as a consular official for the United States Department of State, and served as customs revenue appointee for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[1][2] Peterson was a co-founding editor of The New York Age newspaper in 1887, and held a consular position to Puerto Cabello, Venezuela in 1904 to 1906.[3][4]
Jerome Bowers Peterson | |
|---|---|
Peterson engraving, 1904 | |
| Born | September 12, 1859 Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States |
| Died | February 19, 1943 (aged 83) Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States |
| Burial place | Cypress Hills Cemetery |
| Other names | J.B. Peterson |
| Occupation(s) | Newspapers editor, U.S. consular official, IRS customs revenue, IRS deputy collector |
| Spouse(s) | Amelia L. White (m. ?–?), Cornelia Steele White (m. ?–1926; her death) |
| Children | 3 |
Jerome Bowers Peterson was born on September 12, 1859 in Brooklyn, New York, United States.[4] He was African American, and some records list him as "mulatto".[5] He lived on Sullivan Street, and attended the Mulberry Street School in Manhattan, an African Free School.[6]
Peterson was a founding owner and editor at The New York Age, a noted African American newspaper in New York City,[4] working alongside editor Timothy Thomas Fortune, and his brother Emanuel Fortune Jr.. Ida B. Wells was invited by Peterson and Timothy Thomas Fortune to advance her anti-lynching campaign at the New York Age newspaper.[7] In 1907, Fred R. Moore purchased The New York Age from Timothy Thomas Fortune and Peterson;[8] and Peterson continued to work in an advisory role for the paper until the 1930s.[4]
Charles William Anderson recommended Peterson to William Loeb Jr., the secretary to President Theodore Roosevelt, for a consular position in 1903 under the United States Department of State.[9][10] Peterson worked as consul to Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, from 1904 to 1906.[4] He was succeeded in the consular position by James W. Johnson.[2]
He was deputy collector of Internal Revenue Service (IRS), under the leadership of Charles W. Anderson. He was appointed deputy collector in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1913.[2] He retired from U.S. federal service in 1931.[11]
He died on February 19, 1943 in Brooklyn.[4][12] His estate papers were archived at Yale University;[12] and he has work at the Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University.[13]
He married in 1893 to Cornelia Steele White; she was the daughter of Philip A. White, a former member of the Brooklyn Board of Education.[14][15] Together they had three children. She died in 1926 in New York City after surgery.[14]
His son, Jerome Sidney Peterson (1903–1987) worked for the New York City Department of Health, and later served as a medical director for the World Health Organization (WHO).[4][16]
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