Type | Weekly newspaper |
---|---|
Format | Broadsheet |
Editor | Yvonne Bach [1] |
General manager | Clarence Leslie [1] |
Founded | 1933 |
Language | American English |
Headquarters | 1720 Dixie Highway, Louisville, Kentucky, United States |
Circulation | 1,115 [1] |
OCLC number | 10644972 |
Website | Official website |
Louisville Defender is a weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky.
Louisville Defender was founded in 1933 by Alvin H. Bowman of Louisville and John Sengstacke of Chicago, as an affiliate of the Chicago Defender . It joined The Louisville Leader and Louisville News as African-American newspapers in the city.
Frank L. Stanley Sr. bought Sengstacke's share in 1936, and published the paper for the next 37 years. [2] By 1942, the newspaper had reached its target circulation of 15,000. [3] The paper became profitable after purchasing its own printing press in 1956. [3] Circulation dipped in 1953 when it became a tabloid, and dropped to 10,000 in the 1960s when other major newspapers started hiring African Americans to cover civil right issues in their papers. [4]
Stanley's column, "Being Frank", became nationally syndicated in the 1940s. [2] During the 1950s the paper covered issues related to integrated public accommodation, and in the 1950s and 1960s it covered open housing, equal job opportunities, and desegregated schools. [4]
After Stanley's death in 1974, his wife and sons became co-publishers. Circulation dropped to 2,600 weekly by 1985, and the family sold its ownership to Consumer Communications Industries Corporation headed by Clarence Leslie. [4] As of 2020 [update] , weekly circulation was listed as 1,115. [1]
Bud Dorsey was a full-time photographer for the Defender for more than 20 years when he retired in 2002. [5] [6]