The Colored American

The Colored American

Type	Weekly newspaper
Format	Tabloid
Owner	Phillip Bell Samuel Cornish Charles Bennett Ray
Publisher	Charles Bennett Ray
Founded	1837
Language	English
Ceased publication	1842
Headquarters	New York City
OCLC number	9858717

The Colored American was a name used by two 19th century weekly African-American newspapers: one that was published in New York City from 1836 to 1842 by Samuel Cornish, Phillip Bell, and Charles Bennett Ray, and one that was published in Washington, D.C. from 1893 to 1904. by Edward Elder Cooper.^[1]

Front page of the November 25, 1899 edition of the Washington, D.C.-based paper.

New York paper

Initially published under the name, "The Weekly Advocate,"^[2] New York's Colored American was a weekly running newspaper whose length was four to six pages. It circulated in free black communities up and down the northern seaboard.

The main focus of this newspaper was set on the moral, social, and political elevation of the free colored people as well as the peaceful emancipation of slaves. That is why The Colored American had various subscribers. Due to the employment of agents in various cities, as well as abolitionists for their marketing needs, the subscribers were widely spread. Since the newspaper's primary readers were black and hard pressed for cash, they also received help from African-American churches and local abolition societies by way of fund drives and donations. Occasionally, the newspaper received cash infusions from prominent white allies. All of the donations, fund drives and supplements helped the paper to publish 38 articles and survive through 1841. Thanks to the subscribers, the interesting articles and the extra funding sources, The Colored American became an important paper of its time.

Timeline

• January 1837 - Samuel Cornish, Philip Bell, and Charles Bennett Ray launched The Weekly Advocate.
• March 4, 1837 - Publisher Robert Sears changes the name to The Colored American.
• 1839 - Charles Bennett Ray became the sole owner of The Colored American.
• 1840 - The Colored American declared in favor of Liberty Party candidate James G. Birney.
• 1841 - The last paper was published on Christmas Day.

See also

• The Rights of All
• Freedom's Journal

References

1. ^ "More About This Newspaper: The colored American. (Washington, D.C.) 1893-19??". Library of Congress. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83027091/essays/20070119090000/. 
2. ^ Penn, Irvine G. (1891). The Afro-American Press and its Editors. The Arno Press and The New York Times. 

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