List of African-American newspapers in Colorado

This is a list of African-American newspapers that have been published in the state of Colorado. It includes both current and historical newspapers.

A 1906 issue of Franklin's Paper The Statesman, which adopted this name to avoid confusion with its competitor The Colorado Statesman.

Many of the historical newspapers were published in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the number of African Americans in Colorado rose from 1,163 in 1870 to 11,453 in 1910.[1] Colorado's first African-American newspaper may have been the Denver Weekly Star, which was in circulation by 1881.[2]

Notable newspapers in Colorado today include the Denver Weekly News, the Denver Urban Spectrum, and the African-American Voice of Colorado Springs.

Newspapers

City	Title	Beginning	End	Frequency	Call numbers	Remarks
Colorado Springs	African American Voice	1991[3]	current	Monthly[4]	OCLC 68567220	Official site
Colorado Springs	Colorado Advance[5]	1906[5] or 1914[6]	1917[6]	Weekly[6]		Edited by E.B. Butler.[5]
Colorado Springs	Colored Dispatch	1900[7] or 1905[8]	1913[7] or 1906[8]	Weekly[7]		Edited by Porter S. Simpson.[7]
Colorado Springs	Colorado Dispatch	1909[3]	1912[3]	Weekly[9]
Colorado Springs	Eagle	1912[10]	1913[10]	Weekly[10]		Full text of one issue available at Colorado College Edited by Mrs. Julia Embry.[10]
Colorado Springs	Light	1908[11]	1912[11]	Weekly[11]		Edited by Frederick Mason Roberts.[11]
Colorado Springs	Colorado Springs Sun	1897[12][13]	1905[12]	Weekly[12]		Founded to fulfill "the need of an independent, reliable organ, wherein the Afro-Americans of this city . . . could find expression of their best thought and material progress."[13]
Colorado Springs	Voice of Colorado	1912?[14]	1914[14]	Weekly[14]		Full text available from Colorado College
Colorado Springs	The Colorado Voice[15]	1948[15]	?[15]	Weekly[15]	LCCN sn91052014 OCLC 23091158
Colorado Springs	The Western Enterprise	1892[16] or 1896[17]	1912[17]	Weekly[17]	LCCN sn83025515 OCLC 9542002	Available online
Denver	The African Advocate	1890[18]	1891[18]	Weekly[18]	LCCN sn91052180 OCLC 23136641	Remembered for its support of the Back-to-Africa movement.[19]
Denver	Afro-American	1889[20]	1890[20]	Weekly[20]
Denver	Denver Argus	1886[21]	1888[21]	Weekly[21]	LCCN sn91052506 OCLC 23122380	Only one issue of the Argus survives, from 1886.[22]
Denver	The Denver Blade	1960[23] or 1961[24]	1970[24][25]	Weekly[24]	LCCN sn84025889 OCLC 10571270, 3838302
Denver	Denver Chronicle	1968[23]	1970[23]	Weekly[26]	LCCN sn90051897 OCLC 22615918
Denver	Denver Dispatch / The Denver Dispatch	1957[27] or 1958[28]	?	Weekly[28]	LCCN sn90051192 OCLC 21142342
Denver	Denver Drum / The Drum[29]	1971[23]	1973[23]	Weekly[29]	LCCN sn88084252, sn90051193 OCLC 21142270, 18487506	Founded by Jessica Grant.[23]
Denver	Colorado Exponent	1889[30]	?[30]	Weekly[30]
Denver	Denver Exponent	1892[31]	1895[31]	Weekly[31]		Absorbed into the Denver Statesman.[32] Edited by A.R. Wilson.[33]
Denver (Five Points)	The Five Pointer[34]	data-sort-value="1938"	1946?[35]	Weekly[35]
Denver	Denver Independent	1902[36] or 1910[37]	1913[36]	Weekly[36]		Founded by Thomas Campbell.[32] In 1916 the Star announced that “[t]he papers formerly known as The Statesman and The Independent have been merged into The Star.”[32]
Denver	The Denver Inquirer	1952[38] or 1953[39]	1954[32] or 1953[39]	Weekly[39]	LCCN sn87062123 OCLC 15347222	Generally listed as an African-American newspaper.[32][27] Billed itself as "non-racial, non-political, non-sectarian - Denver's Picture Weekly."[32]
Denver	The Colorado Journal	1948[40]	?	Weekly[40]	LCCN sn89052182 OCLC 19764373
Denver (Park Hill)[41]	Denver East News	1965[42]	?	Weekly[42]	OCLC 64683674	Attested through 1970.[41]
Denver	Denver Weekly News	1971[43]	current	Weekly[44]	LCCN sn90051216 OCLC 6352579	Official site
Denver	Denver Weekly Star / The Denver Star	1879[32] or 1881[2][45]	1883[2]	Weekly[2]	LCCN sn91052508 OCLC 23122358	Founded by Lewis Price.[32] "[A]mong the first African-American newspapers published west of the Mississippi River."[32] Only one issue survives, but many editorials by Henry O. Wagoner from 1882–1883 were reprinted in The Christian Recorder, including his denunciation of the Supreme Court's decision in the 1883 Civil Rights Cases.[46]
Denver	The Denver Star (1913–1963) / Franklin's Paper The Denver Star (1912–1913)	1912[47] or 1913[48]	1963[48]	Weekly	LCCN 2018218636, sn84025887, sn94081616 OCLC 1028638479, 10571156, 32229784 ISSN 2577-2384, 2577-2376	Available online A continuation of The Statesman (est. 1880s).[49] Known from November 23, 1912 to March 15, 1913 as Franklin's Paper The Denver Star, and then simply The Denver Star.[50] Sold by Chester Arthur Franklin in 1913 to the Denver Independent Publishing Company, which ran the paper until the end in 1963.[49]
Denver	The Colorado Statesman	1895[51]	1961[51]	Weekly[51]	LCCN sn8325514 OCLC 9541391, 23200610, 2636997, 8956794	Founded by Joseph D.D. Rivers.[52] Rivers had also previously founded a different weekly called The Statesman, which was later known as The Denver Star.[49] Distinct from a white weekly that was later also called The Colorado Statesman (1898–2017), but until the 1970s was named the Colorado Democrat.
Denver	The Statesman / The Statesman-Exponent (1895–1896) / Franklin's Paper The Statesman (1906–1912)	1885[53] or 1888[49] or 1889[54]	1912[53]	Weekly[53]		Available online First owned by Joseph D.D. Rivers.[49] Taken over by Edwin Henry Hackley, Colorado's first Black attorney, in 1892, and sold to George F. Franklin in 1898.[49] Briefly renamed the Statesman-Exponent in 1895–1896 following the acquisition of the Denver Exponent.[55] Renamed Franklin's Paper The Statesman in 1906, to avoid confusion with The Colorado Statesman.[49] Became the Denver Star, which was initially known as Franklin's Paper The Denver Star, in 1912.[49]
Denver	Times Speaker	1900s[56]	?[56]	Twice weekly[56]		In circulation in 1902.[56]
Denver / Aurora[57]	Denver Urban Spectrum	1987[58]	current	Monthly[58]	ISSN 1085-634X LCCN sn95005637 OCLC 23866026	Official site Founded by Rosalind J. Harris.[59] "Founded in 1987, the Denver Urban Spectrum (DUS) newspaper covers news and information for and about people of color."[58]
La Junta	Megaphone[3][60]	1913[61]	1915[61]	Weekly[61]		Founded by Thomas L. Cate.[62]
Pueblo	Rocky Mountain Advocate	1898[63]	1899[63]	Weekly[63]		Edited by William Jeltz[64]
Pueblo	The Western Ideal[65]	1919[66] or 1923[67]	1960[66]	Weekly[67]	LCCN sn94081602, sn93062831 OCLC 32229736, 27322066	Noted as a supporter of the 1940 Green Book.[68]
Pueblo	Religious World	1906?[69]	1908[69]	Weekly[69]
Pueblo	Rising Sun	1919[70]	1921[70] or 1923[71]	Weekly[70]		Founded by Thomas L. Cate, formerly of the La Junta Megaphone, upon his return from serving in World War I.[62] Official local organ of the International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor.[72] May have subsequently become the Western Ideal after purchase by W.J. Jackson.[72]
Pueblo	Colorado Times[73]	1904[74]	1912[74]	Weekly[74]		Founded by M.B. Brooks.[75]
Pueblo	Times	1894[76]	1895[76]	Weekly[76]		Edited by O.L. Boyd.[76]
Pueblo	Tribune	1898[77]	1900[77]	Weekly[77]
Pueblo	Tribune-Press	1895[78]	1904[78]	Weekly[78]		Edited by O.L. Boyd.[76]
Trinidad	Leader	1911[79]	1915[80] or 1912[79]	Weekly[79]

See also

• List of African-American newspapers and media outlets
• List of African-American newspapers in Kansas
• List of African-American newspapers in Nebraska
• List of African-American newspapers in Oklahoma
• List of African-American newspapers in Utah
• List of newspapers in Colorado

Works cited

• Abajian, James De Tarr (1974). Blacks and Their Contributions to the American West: A Bibliography and Union List of Library Holdings Through 1970. G. K. Hall. ISBN 9780816111398.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Berardi, Gayle K.; Segady, Thomas W. (1990). "The Development of African-American Newspapers in the American West: A Sociohistorical Perspective". The Journal of Negro History. 75 (3/4): 96–111. doi:10.2307/3031501. JSTOR 3031501. S2CID 142393523.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Census Bureau (1939). "Negro Newspapers and Periodicals in the United States: 1938". Negro Statistical Bulletin, Issues 1-17.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Danky, James Philip; Hady, Maureen E., eds. (1998). African-American newspapers and periodicals : a national bibliography. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674007888.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Junne, George H. (2000). Blacks in the American West and Beyond--America, Canada, and Mexico: A Selectively Annotated Bibliography. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313312083.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Leavitt, Craig William (2014). Colorado Newspapers: A History & Inventory, 1859 – 2000 (PDF) (M.A. thesis). University of Colorado.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Oehlerts, Donald E. (1964). Guide to Colorado Newspapers, 1859-1963 (PDF). Bibliographical Center for Research, Rocky Mountain Region. Retrieved 2019-12-22.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

References

1. Berardi & Segady 1990, p. 110.
2. Oehlerts 1864, p. 33, ¶ 567. sfn error: no target: CITEREFOehlerts1864 (help)
3. Junne 2000, p. 326.
4. "About African American Voice". Retrieved 2019-12-22.
5. Abajian 1974, p. 389, ¶ 4214.
6. Oehlerts 1964, p. 61, ¶ 1201.
7. Abajian 1974, p. 389, ¶ 4215.
8. Oehlerts 1964, p. 60, ¶ 1188.
9. Oehlerts 1964, p. 61, ¶ 1195.
10. Abajian 1974, p. 389, ¶ 4216.
11. Abajian 1974, p. 389, ¶ 4217.
12. Oehlerts 1964, p. 60, ¶ 1173.
13. Berardi & Segady 1990, p. 106.
14. Abajian 1974, p. 389, ¶ 4218.
15. "About The Colorado voice. (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 1948-19??". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
16. Oehlerts 1964, p. 59, ¶ 1154.
17. Danky & Hady 1998, p. 611, ¶ 6388.
18. Oehlerts 1964, p. 37, ¶ 663.
19. Flamming, Douglas (2009). African Americans in the West. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598840032.
20. Oehlerts 1964, p. 36, ¶ 640.
21. Abajian 1974, p. 390, ¶ 4222.
22. "About Denver argus. (Denver, Colo.) 188?-1???". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
23. Leavitt 2014, p. 337.
24. Danky & Hady 1998, p. 192, ¶ 1993.
25. Abajian 1974, p. 390, ¶ 4223.
26. "About Denver chronicle. (Denver, Colo.) 19??-19??". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
27. Junne 2000, p. 327.
28. Oehlerts 1964, p. 51, ¶ 1004.
29. "About The drum. (Denver, Colo.) 1971-19??". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
30. Abajian 1974, p. 390, ¶ 4224.
31. Oehlerts 1964, p. 38, ¶ 704.
32. Leavitt 2014, p. 338.
33. Abajian 1974, p. 390, ¶ 4226.
34. Census Bureau 1939, p. 4.
35. Abajian 1974, p. 390, ¶ 4227.
36. Oehlerts 1964, p. 44, ¶ 823.
37. Abajian 1974, p. 390, ¶ 4228.
38. "About The Denver inquirer. [volume] (Denver, Colo.) 1952-1953". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
39. Oehlerts 1964, p. 51, ¶ 996.
40. "About The Colorado journal. (Denver, Colo.) 1948-19??". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
41. Denver east news. WorldCat.org. OCLC 64683674.
42. Ayer Directory of Publications. Ayer Press. 1971. p. 151.
43. "Denver Weekly News - About". Facebook.com. Denver Weekly News. Retrieved 2019-12-22. Launched on February 17, 1971
44. Danky & Hady 1998, p. 192, ¶ 1995.
45. Stephens, Ronald Jemal; Larson, La Wanna M. (2008). African Americans of Denver. pp. 9, 17. ISBN 9780738556253.
46. Junger, Richard (2009). ""Thinking Men and Women who Desire to Improve our Condition": Henry O. Wagoner, Civil Rights, and Black Economic Opportunity in Frontier Chicago and Denver, 1846–1887". Voices from within the Veil: African Americans and the Experience of Democracy. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 167. ISBN 9781443811767.
47. Oehlerts 1964, p. 46, ¶ 880, giving dates as "Nov. 23, 1912 to date"
48. "About The Denver star. [microfilm reel] (Denver, Colo.) 1913-1963". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
49. History Colorado. "The Statesman and Denver Star". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
50. "About Franklin's paper the Denver star. (Denver, Colo.) 1912-1913". Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
51. Danky & Hady 1998, p. 161, ¶ 1670.
52. Hansen, M. (2007-01-21). "Joseph D.D. Rivers (ca. 1856-1937)". Retrieved 2019-12-22.
53. Danky & Hady 1998, p. 542, ¶ 5647.
54. Oehlerts 1964, p. 36, ¶ 653.
55. Brevard, Lisa Pertillar (2001). A Biography of E. Azalia Smith Hackley, 1867-1922, African-American Singer and Social Activist. Edwin Mellen Press. p. 378. ISBN 9780773475755.
56. Abajian 1974, p. 390, ¶ 4232.
57. "About The Urban spectrum : spreading the news about people of color. (Aurora, Colo.) 198?-current". Chronicling America. Library of Congress.
58. "Denver Urban Spectrum". Issuu.com. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
59. Leavitt 2014, p. 339.
60. N.W. Ayer and Son's American Newspaper Annual and Directory. 1915. p. 1247.
61. Oehlerts 1964, p. 111, ¶ 2116.
62. Leavitt 2014, p. 981.
63. Oehlerts 1964, p. 124, ¶ 2355.
64. Leavitt 2014, p. 1059.
65. Census Bureau 1938, p. 4. sfn error: no target: CITEREFCensus_Bureau1938 (help)
66. Junne 2000, p. 328.
67. Oehlerts 1964, p. 125, ¶ 2399.
68. Green, Victor H. (1940). "Card of Thanks". The Negro Motorist Green Book: 1940 Edition.
69. Abajian 1974, p. 391, ¶ 4236.
70. Oehlerts 1964, p. 125, ¶ 2396.
71. Abajian 1974, p. 391, ¶ 4237.
72. Leavitt 2014, p. 1061.
73. "Negro". Ayer Directory of Publications. Ayer Press. 1911. p. 1182.
74. Oehlerts 1964, p. 124, ¶ 2370.
75. Leavitt 2014, p. 1060.
76. Abajian 1974, p. 391, ¶ 4238.
77. Abajian 1974, p. 391, ¶ 4239.
78. Abajian 1974, p. 391, ¶ 4240.
79. Oehlerts 1964, p. 97, ¶ 1857.
80. Abajian 1974, p. 391, ¶ 4242.