List of African American newspapers in Indiana

Various African American newspapers have been published in Indiana. The Evansville weekly Our Age, which was in circulation by 1878, is the first known African American newspaper in Indiana.^[1] Alternatively, some sources assign the title of first to the Indianapolis Leader^[2] or the Logansport Colored Visitor,^[3] both of which were first published in August 1879.

Front page of the Indianapolis Leader, one of Indiana's first African American newspapers.

Newspaper rack with issues of the Gary Crusader in 2020.

A 1996 survey of Indiana's African American newspapers found that two-thirds were founded before the Great Migration began in 1915.^[2] Only a quarter of the newspapers surveyed lasted for more than five years.^[2] Despite the high rate of attrition, African American newspapers continued to be established in Indiana throughout the 20th century^[2] and into the 21st.

More than half the African American newspapers in Indiana have been published in Indianapolis and Evansville.^[2] In the northern part of the state, the greatest number of such newspapers have been published in Gary.^[2]

The following list contains some newspapers published only on an irregular or sporadic basis, or for which no information on frequency is available. Many of these shorter-lived newspapers, particularly in the 19th century, were political broadsheets produced only in connection with a specific election.

African American newspapers published in Indiana today include the Gary Crusader, the Indianapolis Recorder, the Fort Wayne Ink Spot, and Evansville's Our Times Newspaper.

Northern Indiana

Northern Indiana is the northern third of the state, home to the industrial Calumet Region as well as small cities further east such as South Bend, Fort Wayne and Logansport.

City	Title	Beginning	End	Frequency	Call numbers	Remarks
East Chicago	The Forum	1950[4]	?	Weekly[4]
East Chicago	East Chicago Voice Citizen Voice	1962[5]	1970s	Weekly[5]		Edited by Thorton Smith.[6]
Elkhart	Spirit Publications	1975[7]	?[7]	Weekly[7]	LCCN sn87056390 OCLC 16835457	Attested through at least 1976.[7]
Fort Wayne	Coffee Break	1960s[8]	1960s[8]	Weekly[8]	LCCN sn87056700 OCLC 16886111	Published by Joe H. Andrews. Extant issues date from 1968 and 1969.[8]
Fort Wayne	Frost Illustrated	1968[9]	2017[9]	Weekly[10]	LCCN sn87055965 OCLC 15626550
Fort Wayne	Ink	2001[11]	2009[12]	Weekly
Fort Wayne	Fort Wayne Ink Spot	2018	current	Biweekly[13]		Official site
Fort Wayne	The Fort Wayne Observer	1900s[14]	1900s[14]	Weekly[14]	LCCN sn90068952 OCLC 22481729	Attested from 1955.[14]
Gary	Gary American The Gary Colored American (1927–1928)[15]	1927	?	Weekly,[16] later biweekly	LCCN sn86058053 OCLC 13231213 Gary Colored American: LCCN sn86058052 OCLC 13231111
Gary	The Commonwealth	1924[17]	1934[17]	Weekly[17]	LCCN sn87055673 OCLC 15117675
Gary	The Gary Crusader	1961	current	Weekly[18]	LCCN sn83025624 OCLC 18766769, 2400666, 9694324 ISSN 1930-7012	Official site Published by Dorothy Leavell.[19]
Gary	Gary Dispatch, later Lake County Journal	1921[20]	1924[20]	Weekly[21] or irregular[20]
Gary	Gary Info	1963[22]	?	Weekly[23]	LCCN sn87055756, sn94085049 OCLC 15504502, 32260852	Published by Imogene Harris.[24]
Gary	Lake County Observer	1946[25]	1950[25]	Irregular[25]
Gary	Gary Sun[26] National Defender And Sun[27]	1905[25]	1931[25] or 1929[26]	Weekly[25]	LCCN sn83025598, sn87056403, sn87056497, sn87056498 OCLC 16626132, 16626135, 16626142, 9647337	Moved to Gary from Milwaukee in 1910s, became a national women's magazine around 1923[25]
Logansport	The Colored Visitor	1879[28]	1879[28]	Twice monthly[28] or irregular[25]	LCCN 2011254353, sn82016213 OCLC 2639492, 747720174, 9202276
Marion	Community Express	1980[29]	1981 (uncertain)[29]	Weekly[29]	LCCN sn87055065 OCLC 15080420	Published by James Carter.[30]
South Bend	South Bend Forum	1923[31]	1900s[31]	Weekly[31]	LCCN 2014254043 OCLC 879304902
South Bend	South Bend Herald-Times	1950s[32]	1900s[32]		LCCN sn95063990 OCLC 32881294
South Bend	South Bend Journal	1928[33]	?	Weekly[33]		Edited by William D. LaMarr.[33]
South Bend	The Reformer	1967[34]	1971	Weekly		Free online archive
South Bend	Observer	1913[25]

Central Indiana

Central Indiana takes up the central third of the state, including the state capital Indianapolis as well as numerous small cities including Anderson, Muncie and Terre Haute.

City	Title	Beginning	End	Frequency	Call numbers	Remarks
Anderson	The Shining Star	1922[35]	1927 (uncertain)[18]	Weekly[35][36] or irregular[18]	LCCN sn86058388 OCLC 13317294
Indianapolis	The Anthem	1991[37]	?	Weekly[37]
Indianapolis	Argus	1886[25]	1887[25]
Indianapolis	Black Focus Newsweekly	1996[38]	?	Weekly[38]
Indianapolis	Courier	1893[25]	1890s[25]
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Freeman	1884[39] or 1888[40]	1926[41]	Weekly	LCCN 2011254382, sn82016211 OCLC 22091308, 25863079, 764798092, 9201961	First illustrated Black newspaper in the United States[42]
Indianapolis	Indiana Herald (1957–)[43] Hoosier Herald (1949–1957) Indianapolis Herald-Tribune (1957–1960)[10] Indiana Herald-Times[44] Indianapolis Herald-Times[45]	1949[37]	2010s[46]	Weekly[25]	LCCN sn84025903, sn84025904, sn84025905, sn84025906 OCLC 10637578, 10637588, 10637599, 2407308, 2701350	Operated from 1958 to 1983 by Opal L. Tandy[46]
Indianapolis	Indy Word	1989[47]	?[47]	14 times a year[47]
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Leader	1879	1890	Weekly	LCCN 2013272083, sn84027490 OCLC 11257023, 4826989, 862978579 ISSN 2332-2527, 2332-2535	Free online archive Published by J.D. Bagby.[48]
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Ledger	1912[49] or 1913[25]	1921?[50] or 1925?[25]	Weekly[25]	LCCN 2012254025, sn85047649 OCLC 4815339, 664611244 ISSN 2574-4534, 2688-5131	Described by one historian as "undoubtedly subsidized by the Klan".[51] Edited by William H. Jackson.[50]
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Post Midwestern Post[49]	1943[52]	1947?[53]	Weekly[49]	LCCN sn87056553, sn87056554 OCLC 16403875, 16404030	May have become the Hoosier Herald.[25] Published by Lowell M. Trice.[53]
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Recorder	1896[25] or 1897[54]	current	Weekly[25]	LCCN sn82014475, sn84025902, 2014254306 OCLC 476120122, 10645111, 22865220, 33106332, 8797400, 8956731	Official site Indiana's longest-lived Black newspaper[2]
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Daily Standard	1922[55]
Indianapolis	Urban Times	1996 (uncertain)[56]	?	Weekly[56]	OCLC 37162902	Published by Richard Bottoms.[57] Distinct from Indianapolis monthly of same name established 2005[58]
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Visions	1982 (uncertain)[54]	1986[25]	Weekly,[54] later monthly[25]		Edited by Jane Saxton. Published by Philip Saxton.[59]
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Voice	1957[54]	1958 (uncertain)[54]	Weekly[54]	LCCN sn85047653 OCLC 4826884
Indianapolis	Indianapolis World, originally Indianapolis Colored World	1883 (uncertain)[54]	1932[54]	Weekly[54] ("generally"[25])	LCCN sn82016212, 2012254026 OCLC 773197937, 2636827, 8950537, 9202154
Indianapolis	Indianapolis World Telegram The World Telegram World-Telegram	1929[54] or 1939[25]	1940[25]	Weekly[54] or irregular[25]	LCCN sn87056532 OCLC 16264042	Published by G.L. Porter.[60]
Muncie	The Muncie Times	1991[61]	2011[61]	Twice monthly[62] or biweekly[63]	LCCN sn95067519 OCLC 28815803	Ceased publication after death of founder and publisher Bea Moten-Foster in 2011.
Richmond	Richmond Blade	1918[25]	1922[25]	Weekly[64] or irregular[25]	LCCN sn86058212 OCLC 13053364	Motto: "Hew to the line; let the quips fall where they may."[65]
Richmond	Interview	1906[25]
Richmond	Indiana Register	1906[25]	1908[25]
Terre Haute	Afro-American Journal	1895[25]	1896[25]	Irregular
Terre Haute	The Eagle	1906[25]		Irregular
Terre Haute	The Right Way	1896[25]	1898[25]	Irregular
Terre Haute	The Times	1909[25]	1912[25]	Irregular
Terre Haute	Vanguard News	August 5, 1994[66]	February 4-18, 1995[66]	Biweekly, then monthly		Edited by Phillip Norton. "It is about black people taking care of business. The business of and for black people. We will also contribute to the development of a viable black community” [66]

Southern Indiana

Southern Indiana makes up the southern third of the state, and is home to the Indiana's third-largest city Evansville, as well as smaller cities along the Ohio River.

City	Title	Beginning	End	Frequency	Call numbers	Remarks
Evansville	Argus	1938[18]	1943[18]	Weekly[18]	LCCN sn86058884 OCLC 14583411
Evansville	Chronicle	1882[18]		Irregular[18]
Evansville	Clarion	1914[18]	1915[18]	Irregular[18]
Evansville	Consolidated News	1943[67]	1956 (uncertain)[67]	Weekly[67] or irregular[18]	LCCN sn86058885 OCLC 14583388
Evansville	Graphic	1891[18]		Irregular[18]
Evansville	Guide	1908[18]		Irregular[18]
Evansville	Inner City Reporter	1981[68]	1984[18]	Biweekly[68] or monthly[18]	LCCN sn87056168 OCLC 16308896
Evansville	Negro Press	1911[18]		Irregular		Political campaign tract[2]
Evansville	Our Age, later Our Weekly Age[69]	1875?[70] or 1878[71]	?	Weekly[71]		Published by Edwin Horn, who later co-founded the Indianapolis World.[71] Published through at least 1880.[69]
Evansville	Our Times Newspaper	1983[18]	current	Biweekly[72] or semimonthly[18]	LCCN sn95067518 OCLC 27649117	Official site
Evansville	Pilot	1888[18]		Irregular
Evansville	The Right Way	1880[18]		Irregular
Evansville	The Transcript	1905[18]		Irregular[18]
Evansville	The Watch Tower	1880s[18]		Irregular[18]
New Albany	New Albany Weekly Review	1881[73]	1880s[74]	Weekly[73]	LCCN sn86058076, 2013254360 OCLC 13351985, 849418982

See also

• List of African American newspapers and media outlets
• List of African American newspapers in Illinois
• List of African American newspapers in Michigan
• List of African American newspapers in Ohio
• List of newspapers in Indiana

Works cited

• Adams, Grace (2005). BAPWD, Black Authors & Published Writers Directory.
• Bigham, Darrel E. (1996). "The Black Press in Indiana, 1879-1985". In Suggs, Henry Lewis (ed.). The Black Press in the Middle West, 1865-1985. Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313255793.
• Danky, James Philip; Hady, Maureen E., eds. (1998). African-American newspapers and periodicals : a national bibliography. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674007888.
• Pride, Armistead Scott; Wilson, Clint C. (1997). A History of the Black Press. Howard University Press. ISBN 9780882581927.
• Schneider, Mark Robert (2002). We Return Fighting: The Civil Rights Movement in the Jazz Age. UPNE. p. 344. ISBN 9781555534905.

References

1. Smith, Jessie Carney (2012). Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events. Visible Ink Press. p. 409. ISBN 9781578593699.
2. Bigham 1996, p. 53.
3. "African-American/Black History and Genealogy Research". Indiana State Library. Retrieved 2019-12-10. The Colored Visitor (first black newspaper published in Indiana)
4. Danky 1998, p. 234.
5. Danky 1998, p. 154, 203.
6. Danky 1998, p. 203, ¶ 2116.
7. "About Spirit publications. (Elkhart, Ind.) 1975-19??". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
8. "About Coffee break. (Fort Wayne, Ind.) 196?-196?". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
9. Rozier, William Bryant (2018-03-06). "Frost Giant". Fort Wayne Ink Spot. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
10. Danky 1998, p. 243.
11. Adams 2005, p. 185.
12. Kolkman, Jr., Richard (2013-01-07). "Escape to Fort Wayne". Fort Wayne Reader. Vince Robinson and Terri Miller published INK newspaper (2001-2009)
13. "About". Fort Wayne Ink Spot. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
14. "About The Fort Wayne observer. (Fort Wayne, Ind. [Indiana]) 19??-19??". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
15. "About The Gary colored American. [volume] (Gary, Ind.) 1927-1928". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
16. "About The Gary American. [volume] (Gary, Ind.) 1928-current". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
17. Danky 1998, p. 167.
18. Bigham 1996, p. 51.
19. Danky 1998, p. 246, ¶ 2584.
20. Bigham 1996, pp. 51–52.
21. Schneider 2002, p. 344.
22. Bigham 1996, p. 68.
23. Bigham 1996, p. 52, 68.
24. Danky 1998, p. 296, ¶ 3112.
25. Bigham 1996, p. 52.
26. Danky 1998, p. 246, ¶ 2585.
27. "About National defender and sun. (Gary, Ind. ;) 1905-1923". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
28. Danky 1998, p. 163.
29. Danky 1998, p. 169.
30. Danky 1998, p. 169, ¶ 1756.
31. "About South Bend forum. [online resource] (South Bend, Ind.) 1923-19??". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
32. "About South Bend herald-times. [volume] (South Bend, Ind.) 195?-19??". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
33. Danky 1998, p. 523.
34. Fosmoe, Margaret (2014-06-23). "'60s black newspaper to be available online". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
35. "About The shining star. [volume] (Anderson, Ind.) 1922-19??". Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
36. Bigham 1996, p. 58.
37. Danky 1998, p. 45.
38. Danky 1998, p. 83.
39. Danky 1998, p. 241, ¶ 2522.
40. Bigham 1996, p. 54.
41. Bigham 1996, p. 65.
42. Bigham 1996, p. 55.
43. Danky 1998, p. 294, ¶ 3097.
44. "About Indiana herald-times. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1957-1960". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
45. "About Indianapolis herald-times. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1957-1957". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
46. Baskin, Andrew (2015). "Tandy, Opal L.". The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia. p. 493. ISBN 9780813160665.
47. Danky 1998, p. 295, ¶ 3110.
48. Danky 1998, p. 294, ¶ 3098.
49. Danky 1998, p. 294.
50. Danky 1998, p. 294, ¶ 3099.
51. Thornbrough, Emma Lou (1961). "Segregation in Indiana During the Klan Era of the 1920's". Journal of American History. 47 (4): 612. doi:10.2307/1889600. JSTOR 1889600.
52. Danky 1998, p. 294-295.
53. Danky 1998, p. 294, ¶ 3100.
54. Danky 1998, p. 295.
55. Gore, George William (1922). Negro Journalism: An Essay on the History and Present Conditions of the Negro Press. University Microfilms. p. 20.
56. Danky 1998, p. 585.
57. Danky 1998, p. 585, ¶ 6121.
58. "About". Urban Times. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 2019-12-09. Urban Times grew out of The Lockerbie Letter, which Bill edited and produced from 1996 to 2005 before creating the multi-neighborhood newsmagazine that is Urban Times.
59. Danky 1998, p. 295, ¶ 3102.
60. Danky 1998, p. 621, ¶ 6495.
61. "Muncie Times Newspaper". Ball State Digital Media Repository. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
62. Danky 1998, p. 379.
63. "About The Muncie times. [volume] (Muncie, IN) 1991-current". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
64. Danky 1998, p. 493.
65. "About The Richmond blade. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1918-192?". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
66. "Inventory: Vanguard News". Vigo County Public Library. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
67. "About Consolidated news. (Evansville, ind.) 1943-1956". Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
68. "About Inner city reporter. (Evansville, Ind.) 1981-????". Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
69. "Indianapolis Leader". Indianapolis Leader. Vol. 1, no. 33. 1880-03-28. p. 1. We received this week 'Our Weekly Age,' E. F. Horn's paper, formerly 'Our Age,' of Evansville. It is a neat, spicy little folio, and we hope its shadow may never grow less.
70. Buckley, Gail Lumet (2002). The Hornes: An American Family. Applause. p. 38. ISBN 9781557835642.
71. Pride & Wilson 1997, p. 102.
72. "About Our times. (Evansville, IN) 19??-current". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
73. Danky 1998, p. 608.
74. "About The weekly review. [volume] (New Albany, Ind.) 1881-188?". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-01-01.