| Author: | Irvine Garland Penn |
| Pub Date: | 1891 |
| Isbn: | 9780598582683 |
| Publisher: | Willey & Company |
Afro-American Press and Its Editors is a book published in 1891 written by Irvine Garland Penn. Penn covers African-American newspapers and magazines published between 1827 and 1891.[1] The book covers many aspects of journalism, and devotes a chapter to black female journalists.[2]
Penn believed that the black press played a crucial role in presenting the case to the broader American population that black people were fit for the full benefits of citizenship.[3]
The book is frequently referenced as an important early work on African-American journalism. John Ernest called Penn's book comprehensive and detailed and the foundation of many later studies. Penn wrote in part to encourage blacks to support black papers.[4] Charles A. Simmons writes that Penn's book along with Armistead S. Prides, A Register and History of Negro Newspapers in the United States: 1827–1950 and Warren Henry Brown's Check List of Negro Newspapers in the United States (1827-1946) are essential starting points for understanding the early history of African American newspapers.[5]