Philip Alexander Bell

Philip Alexander Bell (1808–1889) was an American newspaper editor and abolitionist.

Philip Alexander Bell
Born	1808 New York City, U.S.
Died	1889 (aged 80–81) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Newspaper editor
Years active	1830-1889
Known for	Opposition to slavery, support for black citizenship and suffrage in the United States
Notable work	Weekly Advocate, Pacific Appeal, The Elevator

Born in New York City to an African American family, he was educated at the African Free School^[1] and became politically active at the 1832 Colored Convention. He began his newspaper career with for William Lloyd Garrison's anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator^[1] and became an outspoken voice on a variety of social and political of issues of the day including abolition, suffrage, and the protection of fugitive slaves.

In 1837, he founded The Weekly Advocate newspaper, edited by Samuel Cornish. The paper was later renamed The Colored American and co-owned by Charles Bennett Ray. In 1860, he moved to San Francisco where he became co-editor of the African-American newspaper The Pacific Appeal, working alongside Peter Anderson. After the Civil War he founded and edited The San Francisco Elevator during the Reconstruction Era.^[2][3][4][5]

Bell died on April 24, 1889.^[6]

See also

• List of African-American abolitionists