An imperfect source : the Midwestern Black press and the anti-lynching movement from 1890 to 1940
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This dissertation examines the role of the Midwestern Black press in documenting and resisting racial terror lynching in the United States between 1890 and 1940. While the antilynching activism of national figures like Ida B. Wells has been widely recognized, less attention has been paid to the efforts of local and regional Black newspapers--particularly those operating in the Midwest. These publications served as vital institutions within Black communities, not only reporting on racial violence but challenging the narratives perpetuated by mainstream white media, advocating for legislative change, and shaping public memory. Drawing on case studies across multiple states, this study explores how the Midwestern Black press covered lynchings, featured influential figures in the anti-lynching movement, incorporated political discourse and editorials, and utilized visual elements such as illustrations and photographs to convey the brutality of racial terror. Special attention is given to the treatment of women victims, the role of respectability politics, and the intersection between migration and media representation. The study reveals the press's strategic efforts to mobilize readers, preserve the dignity of victims, and create a counter-narrative that exposed the moral failures of American democracy. Ultimately, this project contributes to the historiography of Black journalism and racial violence by demonstrating that the Midwestern Black press was neither monolithic nor passive. Though imperfect and shaped by its own internal hierarchies, it played a central role in the development of a Black political consciousness rooted in resistance, advocacy, and community solidarity. In June 2024, more than a century after the Tulsa Race Massacre--a case analyzed in this study--the city of Tulsa approved a $105 million reparations package for survivors and descendants. This unprecedented act of redress underscores the importance of historical memory and affirms the long-standing role of the Black press in bearing witness to violence that mainstream institutions sought to ignore or erase. The findings of this dissertation speak not only to the past but to the present struggle for justice, truth, and historical accountability.
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Ph. D