A. J. Smitherman

Last updated
A. J. Smitherman
Born
Andrew Jackson Smitherman

December 27, 1883
Childersburg, Alabama
DiedJune, 1961 (age 78)
Buffalo, New York
Education Juris Doctor
Alma mater University of Kansas
Northwestern University
La Salle University
Occupation(s)Founder and publisher: Muskogee Star, Tulsa Star, and Buffalo Star
Years active1908-1961
Political party Republican Party (before 1911)
Democratic Party (after 1911)
SpouseOllie B. Murphy

Andrew Jackson Smitherman (December 1883 - June 1961) was an American lawyer, journalist, and civil rights activist.

Contents

Smitherman began his journalism career in 1908 in Muskogee, Oklahoma where he wrote for the Muskogee Cimiter before founding the Muskogee Star in 1912. He later founded the Tulsa Star after moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1913. [1] Smitherman was a community leader of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma until the Tulsa Race Massacre. After the massacre, Smitherman was falsely [2] accused of inciting a riot, and left the state where he would eventually settle in Buffalo, New York and found the Buffalo Star in 1932.

Early life and education

Andrew Jackson Smitherman was born in Childersburg, Alabama on Dec. 27, 1883. He was the second of eleven children. His father owned a coal business and his mother was a schoolteacher. [3] His family moved to Indian Territory when he was a child. After finishing secondary school, he attended the University of Kansas and Northwestern University. He earned his Juris Doctor from La Salle University and studied in Chicago and Boston. [4]

Journalism

Smitherman began his journalism career at William Twine's Muskogee Cimiter in 1908. [5] In 1909, he became vice-president of the Associated Negro Press and in 1910 he became the president of the association, a position he would hold until 1921. [4] In 1912 he established his own paper the Muskogee Star. In 1913, Smitherman moved to Tulsa, where he founded the Tulsa Star which would continue to publish until the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921.

The Star was a Democratic Party aligned newspaper, which was uncommon for African American newspapers of the time which tended to lean Republican. Smitherman advocated self-reliance and resistance to the mob violence and lynchings African-Americans faced. [5] In 1919, he was selected as a delegate to meet Woodrow Wilson during his visit to Oklahoma City. [4] After an outbreak of lynchings in Oklahoma in 1920 Governor James B. A. Robertson organized an interracial conference and invited Smitherman to be one of the African American leaders involved. [6] In response to violence against African Americans, Smitherman argued for black communities to arm themselves and organize to prevent lynchings. [4]

Tulsa Race Massacre

The Tulsa Star encouraged readers to take up arms to defend prisoners at risk of being lynched. [4] Smitherman wrote in the Star that the lynching of Roy Belton, "explodes the theory that a prisoner is safe on the top of the Court House from mob violence." [4] When residents reacting to the arrest of Dick Rowland gathered at the offices of the Tulsa Star, Smitherson is alleged to have directed them to go to the courthouse, where violence initially broke out. [4]

During the ensuing Tulsa Race Massacre on June 1, 1921, the printing press and editorial offices of the Tulsa Star were destroyed. Smitherson's home was also destroyed. He was forced to leave Tulsa in the aftermath of the massacre, and fled to Massachusetts with his wife and five children after prosecutors attempted to prosecute him for inciting a riot in relation to the massacre. [2] [4] In 1925, he moved to Buffalo, New York where he would found the Buffalo Star in 1932. [6] [7] Other states did not comply with Oklahoma's requests for extradition, and the indictment was dismissed posthumously in 2007. [8]

Death and legacy

Smitherson died in Buffalo, New York in June 1961. [6] [7]

Smitherson was posthumously inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2020-2021. [9] [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

In the broader context of racism in the United States, mass racial violence in the United States consists of ethnic conflicts and race riots, along with such events as:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulsa race massacre</span> 1921 mass violence in Oklahoma, U.S.

The Tulsa race massacre, also known as the Tulsa race riot or the Black Wall Street massacre, was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist massacre that took place between May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deputies and armed by city government officials, attacked black residents and destroyed homes and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The event is considered one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history. The attackers burned and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of the neighborhood—at the time one of the wealthiest black communities in the United States, colloquially known as "Black Wall Street".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muskogee, Oklahoma</span> City in Oklahoma, United States

Muskogee is the 13th-largest city in Oklahoma and is the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately 48 miles (77 km) southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0% decrease from 39,223 in 2010.

Greenwood is a historic freedom colony in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As one of the most prominent concentrations of African-American businesses in the United States during the early 20th century, it was popularly known as America's "Black Wall Street". It was burned to the ground in the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, in which a local white mob gathered and attacked the area. Between 75 and 300 Americans were killed, hundreds more were injured, and the homes of 5000 were destroyed, leaving them homeless. The massacre was one of the largest in the history of U.S. race relations, destroying the once-thriving Greenwood community.

Charles William Kerr was an American Presbyterian minister from Pennsylvania who served as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1900 to 1941. Kerr was the first permanent Protestant Christian pastor to serve in Tulsa. He led the church through dramatic growth and change resulting from the discovery of oil in this area.

<i>Tulsa World</i> Daily newspaper in Tulsa, Oklahoma

The Tulsa World is an American daily newspaper. It serves the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. The printed edition is the second-most circulated newspaper in the state, after The Oklahoman.

Roy Belton was a 19-year-old white man arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma with a female accomplice for the August 21, 1920 hijacking and shooting of a white man, local taxi driver Homer Nida. He was taken from the county jail by a group of armed men, after a confrontation with the sheriff, and taken to an isolated area where he was lynched.

Dick Rowland or Roland was an African American teenage shoeshiner whose arrest for assault in May 1921 was the impetus for the Tulsa race massacre. Rowland was 19 years old at the time. The alleged victim of the assault was a white 17-year-old elevator operator Sarah Page. She had declined to advocate for and/or assist any prosecution. According to conflicting reports, the arrest was prompted after Rowland tripped in Page's elevator on his way to a segregated bathroom, and a white store clerk reported the incident as an "assault" or a rape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. Tate Brady</span> Early Tulsa, Oklahoma, businessman and community leader

Wyatt Tate Brady was an American merchant, politician, former Ku Klux Klan member, and a founder of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Lloyd Jones</span> Tulsa, Oklahoma, newspaper man

Richard Lloyd Jones was an American journalist who was the long-time editor and publisher of the now defunct Tulsa Tribune. He was noted for his controversial positions on political issues. The son of a notable Unitarian missionary, Jenkin Lloyd Jones, he was a co-founder of All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Quraysh Ali Lansana is an American poet, book editor, civil rights historian, and professor. He has authored 20 books in poetry, nonfiction and children’s literature. In 2022, he was a Tulsa Artist Fellow and Director of the Center for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, where he was also Lecturer in Africana Studies and English. Lansana is also credited as creator and executive producer of "Focus: Black Oklahoma," a monthly radio program on the public radio station KOSU.

The Oklahoma Eagle is a Tulsa-based Black-owned newspaper published by James O. Goodwin. Established in 1922, it has been called the voice of Black Tulsa and is a successor to the Tulsa Star newspaper, which burned in the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. The Oklahoma Eagle publishes news about the Black community and reported on the 1921 Tulsa race massacre at a time when many white-owned newspapers in Tulsa refused to acknowledge it. TheOklahoma Eagle is also Oklahoma's longest-running Black-owned newspaper. The Oklahoma Eagle serves a print subscriber base throughout six Northeastern Oklahoma counties, statewide, in 36 U.S. states and territories, and abroad. It claims that it is the tenth oldest Black-owned newspaper in the United States still publishing today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A.C. Jackson</span> African-American surgeon

A.C. Jackson was an African American surgeon who was murdered during the Tulsa race massacre in 1921 and is known as the most prominent victim of the massacre. Jackson was a leading member of the Oklahoma medical community and the African-American community in Tulsa, Oklahoma until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Americans in Oklahoma</span> Ethnic group in Oklahoma

African Americans in Oklahoma or Black Oklahomans are residents of the state of Oklahoma who are of African American ancestry. African Americans have a rich history in Oklahoma. An estimated 7.8% of Oklahomans are Black.

Minor league baseball teams were based in Muskogee, Oklahoma in various seasons between 1905 and 1957. The final team, the Muskogee Giants, played as members of the Western Association (1951–1954) and the Sooner State League (1955–1957). Earlier Muskogee teams played as members of the Missouri Valley League (1905), South Central League (1906), Oklahoma-Arkansas-Kansas League (1907–1908), Western Association (1909–1911), Oklahoma State League (1912), Western Association, Southwestern League (1921–1923), Western Association (1924–1932), Western League (1933), Western Association and Sooner State League (1955–1957). Muskogee never captured a league championship, making league finals on multiple occasions.

William Henry Twine was an American lawyer and newspaper publisher in Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buck Colbert Franklin</span> African American lawyer (1879–1960)

Buck Colbert Franklin was an African American lawyer best known for defending survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.

Frank Hilton Greer was an American journalist, Sooner, and politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma who founded the Daily State Capitol newspaper and served in the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature between 1892 and 1894.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles F. Barrett</span>

Charles F. Barrett was an American journalist, soldier, and politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma who served as the 4th and 6th Adjutant General of Oklahoma between 1919-1923 and 1925–1939. He led National Guard response to the Tulsa race massacre.

References

  1. ↑ Danky, James Philip; Hady, Maureen E. (1998). African-American newspapers and periodicals : a national bibliography. Mark Graham. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press. p. 571. ISBN   978-0-674-00788-8.
  2. 1 2 Parshina-Kottas, Yuliya (2021-05-24). "What the Tulsa Race Massacre Destroyed". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  3. ↑ "A. J. Smitherman, News Journalist born". African American Registry. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Spencer, Mark (February 6, 2021). "A.J. Smitherman: A crusading editor pays a heavy price". The Philadelphia Tribune . Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Tulsa Star". gateway.okhistory.org. Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 "Smitherman, Andrew J. | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture". www.okhistory.org.
  7. 1 2 "Andrew J. Smitherman (1883-1961) •". 2009-05-09. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  8. ↑ "A New York professor and Tulsa DA helped clear records of Black men accused of wrongdoing in Race Massacre". ABC 17 KMIZ. June 2, 2021.
  9. ↑ Kirst, Sean (18 June 2020). "In Buffalo, a hero journalist found new life after Tulsa massacre". Buffalo News.
  10. ↑ "A.J. Smitherman". okjournalismhalloffame.com. University of Central Oklahoma. Retrieved 5 August 2022.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.