California Eagle
Encyclopedia
The California Eagle was one of the oldest and longest-running African American
newspapers in Los Angeles, California
and the West. It started in 1879, founded by John J. Neimore, who had escaped slavery
in Missouri
. The editor and publisher, he first called it The Owl, then renamed it The Eagle.
After Charlotta Spears
succeeded him as owner in 1912, she changed the name to the California Eagle. Later marrying J.B. Bass, who became editor under her, she owned and operated the paper until 1951. In the 1920s, they increased circulation to 60,000. During this period, Charlotta Bass was also active as a civil rights
campaigner in Los Angeles, working to end segregation in jobs, housing and transportation.
The newspaper was next owned for more than a decade by Loren Miller
, who had been city editor. He also worked as a civil liberties lawyer and was a leader in the community. After he sold the paper in 1964 to accept an appointment as a justice to the State Supreme Court, the publication quickly lost ground and closed that year.
, as many came from the Deep South
in the Great Migration
. The newspaper contained information about housing, jobs and news items relevant to the African-American community. One of the new arrivals was Charlotta Spears
, who took a job selling subscriptions to the newspaper in 1910.
By 1912, Neimore was in very poor health. Spears Bass recalled in her biography of him that Neimore called her to his bedside. He made her promise to keep the newspaper alive.
Spears took control of the newspaper upon Neimore's death in 1912. She owned and ran the California Eagle until she retired in 1951. After she married J.B. Bass, he was editor until his death in 1934.
The California Eagle had the following platform:
By 1925, the newspaper had a circulation of 60,000, the largest of any African-American newspaper in California. Its publishers and editors were active in civil rights
, beginning with campaigns for equitable hiring, patronage of black businesses, and an end to segregated facilities and housing.
Several newspaper employees went on to become prominent figures in their own right, including T.R.M. Howard. From 1933 to 1935, Howard, then a medical student at Loma Linda University
, was the circulation manager. He also wrote a regular column entitled, "The Negro in the Light of History" (later changed to "Our Fight"). After medical school Howard returned to Mississippi where he became a doctor. By the 1940s and 1950s, he had become one of the wealthiest and most influential blacks in the state and was a leading civil rights
leader. He was later a mentor of Medgar Evers
and Fannie Lou Hamer
. In addition, he played a key role in finding evidence and witnesses in the Emmett Till
murder case.
In 1951 Charlotta Bass sold the California Eagle to Loren Miller
, the former city editor. Miller was a Washington University, Kansas
law graduate. After he relocated to Los Angeles in 1930, he began writing for the Eagle and eventually became city editor. He earned a reputation in the black community as an articulate and outspoken defender of African Americans.
Miller continued in the tradition of publishing an activist paper. He was a civil liberties lawyer, with a particular interest in discrimination and housing. In 1945, Miller represented Hattie McDaniel
and won her case against the "Sugar Hill" restrictive covenant case. His work against restrictive covenants and other racial segregation practices led to his appointment in 1963as Superior Court of California judge by former Governor Edmund "Pat" Brown
.
The partial list of the employees and contributors at The California Eagle in 1957 were;
The offices were located on the southeast corner of W. Vernon & S. Van Ness Avenues.
In 1963, Miller sold the paper to fourteen local investors in order to accept his appointment as judge. The California Eagle initially increased circulation from 3,000 to 21,000. But, within six months the paper had to close. The paper rapidly deteriorated and on January 7, 1964, the California Eagle ceased publication after 85 years.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
newspapers in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and the West. It started in 1879, founded by John J. Neimore, who had escaped slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. The editor and publisher, he first called it The Owl, then renamed it The Eagle.
After Charlotta Spears
Charlotta Bass
Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass was an American educator, newspaper publisher-editor, and civil rights activist. Bass was probably the first African-American woman to own and operate a newspaper in the United States; she published the California Eagle from 1912 until 1951...
succeeded him as owner in 1912, she changed the name to the California Eagle. Later marrying J.B. Bass, who became editor under her, she owned and operated the paper until 1951. In the 1920s, they increased circulation to 60,000. During this period, Charlotta Bass was also active as a civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
campaigner in Los Angeles, working to end segregation in jobs, housing and transportation.
The newspaper was next owned for more than a decade by Loren Miller
Loren Miller (judge)
Loren Miller , was an American, California Superior Court Justice, County of Los Angeles, appointed by former governor Edmund G. Brown in 1964, serving until 1967...
, who had been city editor. He also worked as a civil liberties lawyer and was a leader in the community. After he sold the paper in 1964 to accept an appointment as a justice to the State Supreme Court, the publication quickly lost ground and closed that year.
History
The newspaper served as a source of both information and inspiration for the black community, often ignored or negatively portrayed by the predominant white press. Neimore established a newspaper to help the thousands of newly arrived African Americans adapt to life in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, as many came from the Deep South
Deep South
The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
in the Great Migration
Great Migration (African American)
The Great Migration was the movement of 6 million blacks out of the Southern United States to the Northeast, Midwest, and West from 1910 to 1970. Some historians differentiate between a Great Migration , numbering about 1.6 million migrants, and a Second Great Migration , in which 5 million or more...
. The newspaper contained information about housing, jobs and news items relevant to the African-American community. One of the new arrivals was Charlotta Spears
Charlotta Bass
Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass was an American educator, newspaper publisher-editor, and civil rights activist. Bass was probably the first African-American woman to own and operate a newspaper in the United States; she published the California Eagle from 1912 until 1951...
, who took a job selling subscriptions to the newspaper in 1910.
By 1912, Neimore was in very poor health. Spears Bass recalled in her biography of him that Neimore called her to his bedside. He made her promise to keep the newspaper alive.
The California Eagle had the following platform:
- hiring of Negroes as a matter of right, rather than as a concession, in those institutions where their patronage creates a demand for labor;
- increased participation of Negroes in municipal, state, and national government;
- the abolition of enforced segregationRacial segregation in the United StatesRacial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
and all other artificial barriers to the recognition of true merit; - patronizing of Negroes by Negroes as a matter of principle;
- more rapid development of those communities in which Negroes live, by cooperation between citizens and those who have business investments in such communities; and
- enthusiastic support for a greater degree of service at the hands of all social, civic, charitable, and religious institutions
By 1925, the newspaper had a circulation of 60,000, the largest of any African-American newspaper in California. Its publishers and editors were active in civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
, beginning with campaigns for equitable hiring, patronage of black businesses, and an end to segregated facilities and housing.
Several newspaper employees went on to become prominent figures in their own right, including T.R.M. Howard. From 1933 to 1935, Howard, then a medical student at Loma Linda University
Loma Linda University
Loma Linda University is a Seventh-day Adventist coeducational health sciences university located in Loma Linda, California, United States. The University comprises eight schools and the Faculty of Graduate Studies...
, was the circulation manager. He also wrote a regular column entitled, "The Negro in the Light of History" (later changed to "Our Fight"). After medical school Howard returned to Mississippi where he became a doctor. By the 1940s and 1950s, he had become one of the wealthiest and most influential blacks in the state and was a leading civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
leader. He was later a mentor of Medgar Evers
Medgar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi...
and Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer was an American voting rights activist and civil rights leader....
. In addition, he played a key role in finding evidence and witnesses in the Emmett Till
Emmett Till
Emmett Louis "Bobo" Till was an African-American boy who was murdered in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly flirting with a white woman. Till was from Chicago, Illinois visiting his relatives in the Mississippi Delta region when he spoke to 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant, the married...
murder case.
In 1951 Charlotta Bass sold the California Eagle to Loren Miller
Loren Miller (judge)
Loren Miller , was an American, California Superior Court Justice, County of Los Angeles, appointed by former governor Edmund G. Brown in 1964, serving until 1967...
, the former city editor. Miller was a Washington University, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
law graduate. After he relocated to Los Angeles in 1930, he began writing for the Eagle and eventually became city editor. He earned a reputation in the black community as an articulate and outspoken defender of African Americans.
Miller continued in the tradition of publishing an activist paper. He was a civil liberties lawyer, with a particular interest in discrimination and housing. In 1945, Miller represented Hattie McDaniel
Hattie McDaniel
Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American actress to win an Academy Award. She won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind ....
and won her case against the "Sugar Hill" restrictive covenant case. His work against restrictive covenants and other racial segregation practices led to his appointment in 1963as Superior Court of California judge by former Governor Edmund "Pat" Brown
Pat Brown
Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, Sr. was the 32nd Governor of California, serving from 1959 to 1967, and the father of current Governor of California Jerry Brown.-Background:...
.
The partial list of the employees and contributors at The California Eagle in 1957 were;
- Francis Philip Waller Jr., advertising & circulation;
- Abie Robinson, city reporting & general news;
- Roy Smith, sports reporting;
- Calme Russ, office management;
- Maggie Hathaway, society reporting & civic/church matters; and
- Anthony Funches, began as a copy boy, also doing cleaning, circulation/distribution.
The offices were located on the southeast corner of W. Vernon & S. Van Ness Avenues.
In 1963, Miller sold the paper to fourteen local investors in order to accept his appointment as judge. The California Eagle initially increased circulation from 3,000 to 21,000. But, within six months the paper had to close. The paper rapidly deteriorated and on January 7, 1964, the California Eagle ceased publication after 85 years.
Additional reading
- Douglas Flamming, Bound for Freedom: Black Los Angeles in Jim Crow America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005.
- Josh Sides, L.A. City Limits: African American Los Angeles from the Great Depression to the Present. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
- B. Gordon Wheeler, Black California: The History of African-Americans in the Golden State. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1993.
- Scott Kurashige, The Shifting Grounds of Race: Black and Japanese Americans in the Making of a Multiethnic Los Angeles. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008.