| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1892 |
| Ceased publication | 1970 |
| Headquarters | Dallas, Texas United States |
| ISSN | 2331-334X |
| OCLC number | 9839625 |
The Dallas Express was a weekly newspaper published in Dallas from 1892 to 1970. It covered news of African Americans in Dallas and a large portion of Texas. It called itself "The South's Oldest and Largest Negro Newspaper". It was a member of the Associated Negro Press.
The Express publicized lynchings and incidents of violence against blacks that were not always reported in other newspapers, attacked racial segregation and voting restrictions, and in the 1930s urged establishment of "Negro day" and construction of the Hall of Negro Life at the State Fair of Texas, held in Dallas. When the Ku Klux Klan, which according to D Magazine held sway over Dallas politics in the 1920s, threatened the Express in an insulting letter and called the city "white man's country", the newspaper published the letter and responded. "We are not agitators", it said. "But we do stand by the truth as we see it and protest against injustice". [1] Even while under white ownership in the 1930s, the Express was an ardent supporter of and advocate for the black community. It became more vocal after its 1938 acquisition by black leaders and campaigned for federally funded public housing, improved quality of black education in public schools, elimination of pay discrimination between black and white teachers, and the hiring of black police officers in Dallas. It published photographs of black slum conditions with its campaign promoting public housing, a somewhat shocking use of graphics for the times.
The Dallas Express title was later reused by a right-leaning [2] online publication established in 2021. It has no connection to the historical publication. [3] [4]
W. E. King founded the Express and operated it until his murder by Hattie C. Burleson in late August 1919. [5] In 1930, experiencing financial difficulties, it was acquired by Southwestern Negro Press, which was controlled by Travis Campbell, a white man who had been the printer for the Express and who purchased the paper to keep it in business. In February 1938 it was acquired by A. Maceo Smith, an insurance executive and secretary of the Negro Chamber of Commerce; Rev. Maynard Jackson, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church; Dr. E. E. Ward, a physician; Henry Strickland, president of Excelsior Life Insurance Co.; and C. F. Starkes, president of Peoples Undertaking. [6] [7] [8]
Robert Lee Thornton Sr. was an American banker, civic leader, and four-term Mayor of Dallas, Texas.
The Red Summer was a period in mid-1919 during which white supremacist terrorism and racial riots occurred in more than three dozen cities across the United States, and in one rural county in Arkansas. The term "Red Summer" was coined by civil rights activist and author James Weldon Johnson, who had been employed as a field secretary by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1916. In 1919, he organized peaceful protests against the racial violence.
Huston–Tillotson University (HT) is a private historically black university in Austin, Texas, United States. Established in 1875, it was the first institution of higher learning in Austin. The university is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, and the United Negro College Fund. Huston–Tillotson University awards bachelor's degrees in business, education, the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, science, and technology and a master's degree in educational leadership. It also offers alternative teacher certification and academic programs for undergraduates interested in pursuing post-graduate degrees in law and medicine.
The history of African Americans in Chicago or Black Chicagoans dates back to Jean Baptiste Point du Sable's trading activities in the 1780s. Du Sable, the city's founder, was Haitian of African and French descent. Fugitive slaves and freedmen established the city's first Black community in the 1840s. By the late 19th century, the first Black person had been elected to office.
John Henry Brown was an American journalist, military leader, author, politician, and historian, who served as a state legislator and as mayor of both Galveston (1856) and Dallas, Texas (1885–1887). Brown was among the first to publish scholarly histories of the state of Texas and the city of Dallas.
Henry Smith was an African-American youth who was lynched in Paris, Texas. Smith allegedly confessed to murdering the three-year-old daughter of a law enforcement officer who had allegedly beaten him during an arrest. Smith fled, but was recaptured after a nationwide manhunt. He was then returned to Paris, where he was turned over to a mob and burned at the stake. His lynching was covered by The New York Times and attracted national publicity.
Bonton is a historically African-American neighborhood in South Dallas, Texas. The area, zip code 75215, is bounded by Hatcher St. and S Central Expressway to the North and West, respectively, and goes as far as Municipal St. and Donald St. to its East and South. Lauren Woods and Cynthia Mulcahy, artists/researchers, put forth in their Dallas Historical Parks Project, that the name "Bon Ton" is possibly to be derived from the French expression "bon ton," translating to high society, fashionable manner, or style. This was a popular adjective in black society in the early 20th century. Advertisements in local black newspapers like The Dallas Express, used the phrase "High Classed, Bon Ton, Restricted Residences for Negroes" to describe the new housing developments in this area of South Dallas. Bonton was also once closely linked to the black arts and culture district called Deep Ellum, as a direct road originally connected the two areas. The two main racial groups represented in the neighborhood are African Americans and Hispanics, with the former constituting over 75% of the population. Many of Bonton's residents are disadvantaged, with 42.9% of the populace falling below the poverty line and 65% failing to complete high school or achieve an equivalent degree. As factors like these contributed to rising incidents of crime and other social ills, the battle to revitalize the area was born, one that still rages today.
Antonio Maceo Smith was a civil rights leader in Dallas, Texas, whose years of activism with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other civil rights and community groups led Texans to dub him "Mr. Civil Rights" and "Mr. Organization".
Emmett Jay Scott was an African American journalist, newspaper editor, academic, and government official who was Booker T. Washington's closest advisor at the Tuskegee Institute. He was responsible for maintaining Washington's nationwide "Tuskegee machine," with its close links to black business leadership, white philanthropists, and Republican politicians from the local level to the White House.
The Dallas Equal Suffrage Association (DESA) was an organization formed in Dallas, Texas in 1913 to support the cause of women's suffrage in Texas. DESA was different from many other suffrage organizations in the United States in that it adopted a campaign which matched the social expectations of Dallas at the time. Members of DESA were very aware of the risk of having women's suffrage "dismissed as 'unladylike' and generally disreputable." DESA "took care to project an appropriate public image." Many members used their status as mothers in order to tie together the ideas of motherhood and suffrage in the minds of voters. The second president of DESA, Erwin Armstrong, also affirmed that women were not trying to be unfeminine, stating at an address at a 1914 Suffrage convention that "women are in no way trying to usurp the powers of men, or by any means striving to wrench from man the divine right to rule." The organization also helped smaller, nearby towns to create their own suffrage campaigns. DESA was primarily committed to securing the vote for white women, deliberately ignoring African American women in the process. Their defense of ignoring black voters was justified by having a policy of working towards "only one social reform at a time."
The Texas Association of Women's Clubs (TAWC) is an umbrella organization of African American women's clubs in Texas. It was first organized as the Texas Federation of Colored Women's Clubs in 1905. The purpose of the group was to allow clubs to work together to improve the social and moral life of people in Texas. The club also spoke on topics of interest to black women in the United States.
The African American population in San Antonio, Texas has been a significant part of the city's community since its founding. African Americans have been a part of the Greater San Antonio's history since the late 1800s. San Antonio ranks as the top Texas destination city for Black professionals.
The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex has 1.2 million African-Americans, the 2nd-largest metro population of African-Americans in Texas.
John Rhode Shillady (1875-1943) was an Irish-American political activist who was Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1918 to 1920. He was attacked and badly beaten by a mob in Austin, Texas, on August 22, 1919. The attack occurred in broad daylight in downtown Austin, and the perpetrators bragged publicly about it. Shillady's injuries left long-lasting physical and emotional effects.
Newman O'Neal was the mayor of Hobson City, Alabama, until he faced death threats and was assaulted forcing him to flee.
Women's suffrage efforts in Texas began in 1868 at the first Texas Constitutional Convention. In both Constitutional Conventions and subsequent legislative sessions, efforts to provide women the right to vote were introduced, only to be defeated. Early Texas suffragists such as Martha Goodwin Tunstall and Mariana Thompson Folsom worked with national suffrage groups in the 1870s and 1880s. It wasn't until 1893 and the creation of the Texas Equal Rights Association (TERA) by Rebecca Henry Hayes of Galveston that Texas had a statewide women's suffrage organization. Members of TERA lobbied politicians and political party conventions on women's suffrage. Due to an eventual lack of interest and funding, TERA was inactive by 1898. In 1903, women's suffrage organizing was revived by Annette Finnigan and her sisters. These women created the Texas Equal Suffrage Association (TESA) in Houston in 1903. TESA sponsored women's suffrage speakers and testified on women's suffrage in front of the Texas Legislature. In 1908 and 1912, speaking tours by Anna Howard Shaw helped further renew interest in women's suffrage in Texas. TESA grew in size and suffragists organized more public events, including Suffrage Day at the Texas State Fair. By 1915, more and more women in Texas were supporting women's suffrage. The Texas Federation of Women's Clubs officially supported women's suffrage in 1915. Also that year, anti-suffrage opponents started to speak out against women's suffrage and in 1916, organized the Texas Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (TAOWS). TESA, under the political leadership of Minnie Fisher Cunningham and with the support of Governor William P. Hobby, suffragists began to make further gains in achieving their goals. In 1918, women achieved the right to vote in Texas primary elections. During the registration drive, 386,000 Texas women signed up during a 17-day period. An attempt to modify the Texas Constitution by voter referendum failed in May 1919, but in June 1919, the United States Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment. Texas became the ninth state and the first Southern state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment on June 28, 1919. This allowed white women to vote, but African American women still had trouble voting, with many turned away, depending on their communities. In 1923, Texas created white primaries, excluding all Black people from voting in the primary elections. The white primaries were overturned in 1944 and in 1964, Texas's poll tax was abolished. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed, promising that all people in Texas had the right to vote, regardless of race or gender.
This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Texas. Women's suffrage was brought up in Texas at the first state constitutional convention, which began in 1868. However, there was a lack of support for the proposal at the time to enfranchise women. Women continued to fight for the right to vote in the state. In 1918, women gained the right to vote in Texas primary elections. The Texas legislature ratified the 19th amendment on June 28, 1919, becoming the ninth state and the first Southern state to ratify the amendment. While white women had secured the vote, Black women still struggled to vote in Texas. In 1944, white primaries were declared unconstitutional. Poll taxes were outlawed in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965, fully enfranchising Black women voters.
Monty J. Bennett is an American businessman who founded and is the chairman and CEO of Ashford Inc., a hospitality real estate company. He is also the publisher of the Dallas Express, a news website launched in 2021 in Dallas, Texas. He is a Republican donor and is known for various political causes in Texas.
In Dallas, there was Dallas Express, which was for over eighty years operated as a black-owned, weekly progressive newspaper that covered the fight for civil rights, Jim Crow, and segregation. And then it went out of business in the seventies but it's been relaunched as a pink slime newspaper. But people think it's somehow connected to the old Dallas Express.