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Philadelphia Tribune

Philadelphia Tribune
Type African-American daily
Founder(s) Christopher James Perry, Sr.
Founded 1884
Language English
Headquarters Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
ISSN 0746-956X
Website www.phillytrib.com

The Philadelphia Tribune is the oldest continually publishing African-American newspaper in the United States. The paper began in 1884 when Christopher J. Perry published its first copy. Throughout its history, The Philadelphia Tribune has been committed to the social, political, and economic advancement of African Americans in the Greater Philadelphia region. During a time when African Americans struggled for equality, the Tribune acted as the "Voice of the black community" for Philadelphia. Historian V. P. Franklin asserted that the Tribune "was (and is) an important Afro-American cultural institution that embodied the predominant cultural values of upper-, middle-, and lower-class Black Philadelphians."

In the early 21st century, the paper is headquartered at 520 South 16th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It publishes on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. The Philadelphia Tribune also publishes the Tribune Magazine, Entertainment Now, Sojourner, The Learning Key, and The Sunday Tribune. The Tribune has a weekly readership of about 625,000, and is mostly read by people living in the Philadelphia-Camden Metro Area, as well as in Chester. The Tribune has received the John B. Russwurm award as "Best Newspaper" in the country seven times since 1995.

Christopher J. Perry was born on September 11, 1854 in Baltimore, Maryland to free people of color. Perry attended school in Baltimore, gaining a positive reputation in his local community through his public speeches. After he graduated from high school in 1873, the ambitious Perry migrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, feeling there were more opportunities in the northern city, given the waning days of Reconstruction in the South.

Once in Philadelphia, Perry began writing for local newspapers such as the Northern Daily and the Sunday Mercury. He wrote a column titled, "Flashes and Sparks" for the Mercury, which provided information to the growing Black community in Philadelphia. Other migrants from the South were also settling there. Through his regular columns, Perry gained positive attention from the educated members of the African-American community in Philadelphia. However, in 1884, the Sunday Mercury went bankrupt and Perry was without a job.


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