List of African-American newspapers in Rhode Island

This is a list of African-American newspapers that have been published in the state of Rhode Island. It includes both current and historical newspapers.

Relatively few African-American newspapers have been published in Rhode Island. The first known such newspaper, and the only one published in the 19th century, was John Henry Ballou's Eastern Review (1879–1880). ^[1] Rhode Island was thus the only state to show a net drop in African-American newspapers between 1880 and 1890, namely from 1 to 0, as Irvine Garland Penn recorded in The Afro-American Press and Its Editors . ^[2]

In addition to its African-American newspapers, Rhode Island is the site of another important advancement in the history of the Black press: when John Carter Minkins became editor-in-chief of the Providence News-Democrat in 1906, he was the first African American to head a daily newspaper that catered to the white community. ^[3] Upon leaving the News-Democrat in 1911, Minkins purchased the weekly Rhode Island Examiner , which under his leadership gave front-page coverage to issues affecting African Americans. ^[4]

Newspapers

City	Title	Beginning	End	Frequency	Call numbers	Remarks
Providence	The Advance	1906 [5]	? [5]	Monthly newspaper [5]	LCCN   sn92063903 OCLC   25116082	Suspended publication from June to December 1935. [5]
Providence	The Providence American	1986 [6]	current	Biweekly [6] or monthly [7]	ISSN   1521-0197 LCCN   sn92063968 OCLC   25323488	Official site Founded by Frank Graham, and purchased by Peter Wells in 2006. [8] Became online-only in 2019. [8]
Providence	Providence Chronicle	1939 [9]	1957 [9]	Weekly [9]	LCCN   sn85042514 OCLC   12597287	Published by William D. Wiley. [10] Circulation of 1,541 in 1951. [11]
Providence	The Citizen	1968 [12]	1970s [12]	Weekly [12]	LCCN   sn92063966 OCLC   25323334	Published by John E. Singleton [12]
Providence	Eastern Review	1879 [13] [14]	1880 [13]	Weekly [15]		Edited by John Henry Ballou, Rhode Island's first African-American attorney. [14] Weekly circulation of approximately 500. [15] Only African-American newspaper published in Rhode Island through at least 1890. [2]
Providence	The Ebenezer Grapevine	1978 [16]	1980s [16]	Monthly newspaper [16]	LCCN   sn92063967 OCLC   25323389	Followed by the Ocean State Grapevine. [16] Published by Ebenezer Baptist Church. [16]
Providence	New England Torch Light / New England Torchlight	1890s		Weekly [17]		Published by J.W. Henderson. [18] Edited by Barney McKay. [19]
Providence	The North Star	1977 [20]	? [20]	Monthly newspaper [20]	LCCN   sn92063999 OCLC   25480200
Providence	Ocean State Grapevine	1986 [21]	1980s [22]	Twice-monthly [22] or biweekly [21]	LCCN   sn92064032 OCLC   25323430	Billed as “Rhode Island’s only Black newspaper.” Successor to the Ebenezer Grapevine, and published by Coach's Cultural Hour, Inc. [22]
Providence	The Sun	1890s		Weekly [17]

See also

• List of African-American newspapers and media outlets
• List of African-American newspapers in Connecticut
• List of African-American newspapers in Massachusetts
• List of newspapers in Rhode Island

Works cited

• Danky, James Philip; Hady, Maureen E., eds. (1998). African-American newspapers and periodicals : a national bibliography. Harvard University Press. ISBN   9780674007888.
• Lemons, J. Stanley; Lambert, Diane (2003). "John Carter Minkins: Pioneering African-American Newspaperman". The New England Quarterly. 76 (3): 413–438. doi:10.2307/1559809. JSTOR   1559809.
• Penn, Irvine Garland (1891). The Afro-American Press and Its Editors. Willey & Company.
• Smith, Jessie Carney; Horton, Carrell Peterson, eds. (1995). Historical Statistics of Black America: Media to Vital Statistics. Gale Research. ISBN   0810393921.

References

1. Penn 1891, pp. 113–114.
2. Penn 1891, p. 114.
3. Lemons & Lambert 2003, p. 413.
4. Lemons & Lambert 2003, pp. 424–425.
5. "About The advance. (Providence, R.I.) 1906-19??". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
6. Danky & Hady 1998, p. 477, ¶ 4969.
7. "About The Providence American. (Providence, R.I.) 198?-201?". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
8. "RI's Media Decline — Projo Staff Cuts, Providence American Stops Printing and Pivots to Digital". GoLocalProv.com. 2019-01-30. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
9. "About Providence chronicle. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1939-1957". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
10. Bell, Andrew J. (1997). An assessment of life in Rhode Island as an African American in the era from 1918 to 1993. Vantage Press. p. 111. ISBN   9780533120659.
11. Smith & Horton 1995, p. 1207.
12. "About The citizen. (Providence, R.I.) 1968-197?". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
13. North, Simon Newton Dexter (1884). History and Present Condition of the Newspaper and Periodical Press of the United States: With a Catalogue of the Publications of the Census Year. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 333.
14. Howard, R. H.; Crocker, Henry E. (1881). "Ballou, Esq. John H.". A History of New England: Containing Historical and Descriptive Sketches of the Counties, Cities and Principal Towns of the Six New England States. Crocker & Company. p. 7.
15. C.A. Cooke and Co.'s United States Newspaper Directory Revised, Containing Names of All the Newspapers and Other Periodicals Published in America. Cook, C.A. & Co. 1881. p. 177.
16. "About The Ebenezer grapevine. (Providence, R.I.) 1978-198?". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
17. Afro-American Encyclopedia: Or, the Thoughts, Doings, and Sayings of the Race. Haley & Florida. 1895. p. 134.
18. The New England Business Directory and Gazetteer. Sampson & Murdock Company. 1896. p. 1858.
19. "McKay, Barney M. [McDougal]". Notable Kentucky African Americans Database. University of Kentucky. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
20. "About The north star. (Providence [R.I.]) 1977-19??". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
21. Danky & Hady 1998, p. 438, ¶ 4564.
22. "About Ocean state grapevine. (Providence, R.I.) 1986-198?". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-01-16.