The Anglo-African
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Founder | Robert Hamilton, Thomas Hamilton |
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Founded | 1859 |
Final issue | December 1865 |
Country | United States |
The Anglo-African and The Weekly Anglo-African were periodicals published by African American abolitionist brothers Thomas Hamilton (1823–1865) and Robert Hamilton (1819–1870) in New York City during the American Civil War era.[1][2][3][4] For a short period, one paper was also named the Pine and Palm.[5]
History
[edit]Thomas and Robert Hamilton were the sons of abolitionist and founder of the New York African Society for Mutual Relief William Hamilton. The elder Hamilton lived through the 1834 anti-abolitionist riots in New York and was critical of pacifist abolitionist newspapers like The Liberator.[3]: 44
The two brothers held similar views, and they founded The Anglo-African Magazine, a monthly, in January 1859.[3]: 44 It had 32 pages and cost one dollar for a yearly subscription. The Hamiltons founded the Weekly Anglo-African six months afterwards.[6] The newspaper and magazine were the first publications to run Martin Delany's serialized novel, Blake; or the Huts of America. Robert managed the magazine, while Thomas used his expertise as a reporter and journalist. The weekly's contributors included Martin Delany, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Edward Wilmot Blyden, and Sarah Mapps Douglass.[7] William B. Gould also served as a financial backer and reporter for The Anglo-African.[4] The newspaper ran with four pages of text at four cents per copy. Its motto was, "Man must be free; if not through the law, then above the law."[6] The paper had early successes in its coverage of slavery resistance, the Dred Scott v. Sandford case, and the Raid on Harpers Ferry.[6] Its correspondents and subscribers stretched across the US, as well as Canada and Jamaica.[3]: 43
The Anglo-African Magazine was published until March 1860 and the Weekly Anglo-African until March 1861. Due to financial troubles, the Hamiltons sold the weekly newspaper to George Lawrence, Jr., and James Redpath, who renamed it to The Palm and Pine.[7] The Hamilton brothers quickly saw that, under its new owners, the newspaper would no longer serve the needs of the black community.[3]: 47 Robert Hamilton, therefore, decided to start a new newspaper, also named the Weekly Anglo-African. Its first issue was published in July 1861.[3]: 47
Legacy
[edit]Lost issues of the Weekly Anglo-African were uncovered in the Black Abolitionist Papers Project.[3]: 44
References
[edit]- ^ "About The Anglo-African". Library of Congress. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- ^ Coddington, Ronald S. (2012). African American Faces of the Civil War: An Album. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 274. ISBN 9781421406251.
- ^ a b c d e f g Jackson, Debra (2008). "A Black Journalist in Civil War Virginia: Robert Hamilton and the Anglo-African". Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 116 (1): 42–72. JSTOR 27740409. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
- ^ a b Gould IV 2002, p. 24.
- ^ Fagan 2018, p. 79.
- ^ a b c "Anglo-African, The". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ a b "The Anglo-African Newspaper". Oxford Bibliographies. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
Bibliography
[edit]- Gould IV, William B. (2002). Diary of a Contraband: The Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor (paperback ed.). Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-4708-3.
- Fagan, Benjamin (2018). "Blake and the Black Newspaper". American Periodicals. 28 (1): 78–80.
- Jackson, Debra (2004). ""A Cultural Stronghold": The "Anglo-African" Newspaper and the Black Community of New York". New York History. 85 (4): 331–357. ISSN 0146-437X. JSTOR 23187347. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- Penn, I. Garland (Irvine Garland) (1891). The Afro-American press and its editors. Springfield, Mass.: Willey & co. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- "Just Teach One: Early African American Print » Weekly Anglo-African and The Pine and Palm (1861-1862)". Retrieved 29 March 2021.
- Weir, Elizabeth Lorang and R. J. (27 September 2013). "'The Slave to His Star'". Opinionator. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- Newspapers published in New York City
- Abolitionist newspapers published in the United States
- African-American newspapers
- Publications disestablished in 1865
- African-American history in New York City
- Defunct newspapers published in New York City
- Abolitionism in New York (state)
- Newspapers published in New York (state) stubs