Richard W. Thompson (journalist)

Richard W. Thompson
Richard W. Thompson in 1902
Born	1865 Brandenburg, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	February 12, 1920(1920-02-12) (aged 54–55) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation	Journalist, Clerk
Spouse(s)	Grace Evelyn Lucas Ella B Gibbs

Richard W. Thompson (1865-February 12, 1920) was a journalist and public servant in Indiana and Washington, D.C. He was at various times an editor or managing editor of the Indianapolis Leader, the Indianapolis World, the Indianapolis Freeman and the Washington D.C. Colored American. He was published as a general correspondent in The Colored American, The Washington Post, the Indianapolis Freeman, the Indianapolis World, Atlanta Age, Baltimore Afro-American Ledger, the Cincinnati Rostrum, the Charleston West Virginia Advocate, the Philadelphia Tribune and the Chicago Monitor. His longest lasting relationship was with the Indianapolis Freeman. In 1896, the black paper, The Leavenworth Herald, edited by Blanche Ketene Bruce, called Thompson the "best newspaper correspondent on the colored press."

He was closely associated with Booker T. Washington and twice served as an assistant of Emmett Jay Scott, in 1903 when Scott was Washington's assistant at the Tuskegee Institute and again in 1918 when Scott was special assistant to the Secretary of War during World War I. He played an important role in the support of Washington against the attacks against Washington by William H. Ferris in 1903. He also had a long running antagonism with William Calvin Chase of the Washington Bee.

Richard W. Thompson was born in 1865 in Brandenburg, Meade County, Kentucky. His father was a minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Connection Church, and died in 1872. later that year he moved with his mother, Jane, to New Albany, Indiana. In 1875 he moved to Indianapolis where he attended public schools. His performance in school was excellent, but he was forced to leave school before the end of his senior year due to ill health.