Indianapolis Recorder
| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Founder(s) | George P. Stewart and Will Porter |
| Publisher | William G. Mays |
| President | Shannon Williams |
| Founded | 1895 |
| Headquarters | 2901 N. Tacoma Indianapolis, Indiana 46218 USA |
| Circulation | 100,000 |
| ISSN | 1930-2207 |
| Website | www |
The Indianapolis Recorder is an American weekly newspaper, which began publishing in 1895. The newspaper holds the distinction of being published longer than any other African-American paper in the U.S. state of Indiana and is also the nation's fourth-oldest-surviving African-American newspaper. The newspaper's primary readership is African-American.
The newspaper was first established by George P. Stewart and William H. Porter as a two-page church bulletin. Although they began the Recorder together, Porter sold his share of the newspaper to Stewart in 1899.
By 1916, the two-page church bulletin had become a four-page newspaper. During this time, the Recorder urged African-Americans to be moral, proud of their heritage and to combat stereotypes. Popular sermons were excerpted, and biographical sketches were also published with a moral focus.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the paper encouraged economic growth in its readership. The weekly also pressed for the end of racial discrimination in employment practices, spoke out against the Ku Klux Klan and publicly endorsed anti-Klan politicians. During World War II, the paper supported the war effort and like many publications of the time, recognized contributions of community members. The Recorder also reported on the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s drive to integrate the armed services and proudly reported on the success of the Tuskegee Airmen. In the 1940s, circulation reached 40,000.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Recorder pushed for action in regards to civil rights and desegregation. During this time, the paper reported on Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X while continuing to report on local church activities and marriages. It was during this troubling period that William Raspberry came to work for the Recorder. Raspberry would go on to achieve national prominence as a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist for The Washington Post.
...
Wikipedia