Newspaper Portland New Age (Portland, Oregon) 1905-1907 New age
About Portland New Age (Portland, Oregon) 1905-1907
Adolphus D. Griffin published a weekly African American newspaper, theNew Age from 1896 to 1905, and later, the Portland New Age from 1905 to 1907. Griffin began his newspaper career in California and shortly after moved to Washington to edit the Northwest Echo, before founding the New Age in Portland, Oregon. According to Jason Stone, author of the University of Oregon Libraries’ essay on the history of the New Age, the newspaper improved communication among African American Oregon residents by keeping them updated on crucial issues of the time. Darrell Millner, author of “Black People in Oregon” in the Oregon Encyclopedia, notes that migration to the Pacific Northwest led to a steady increase in the African American population, despite emerging exclusion laws enacted from the 1840s to the 1920s. Though Miller states these laws made Oregon a hostile and dangerous place for newly arriving African Americans, Stone claims that Griffin’s New Age made the region seem quite welcoming.
The New Age served the African American community of Portland and surrounding areas by reporting and commenting on various issues of interest, including political activities, racial struggles, and other assorted news. The newspaper regularly printed a lengthy editorial from Griffin that focused on current events related to African Americans in Portland and the broader United States. In the January 5, 1907 issue, Griffin published “THE MISSISSIPPI RACE WAR” that commented on the Christmas race riots of Kemper County, Mississippi that led to the murder of several African Americans. Griffin also used this editorial to take political stances and speak out against certain political figures. The January 6, 1906 editorial, titled “SOME REMARKS ABOUT GOVERNOR VARDAMAN, OF MISSISSIPPI,” criticized the governor for his belief that public money should not be used for the education of African Americans, stating: “Education is as good for the Negro as for anybody. Booker Washington and others have demonstrated that. The Negro people are human beings, and citizens; this long-haired Negro-phobist would have them considered and treated as lower than cattle or dogs.”
The newspaper entertained readers with regular and semi-regular columns. The regular “Topics of the Times” column offered single-sentence commentary on issues like sports, entertainment, religion, and politics. Semi-regular columns, “Literary Littlebits” and “The Weekly Historian,” kept readers updated on literature and notable historical events. Readers interested in local news could learn about the activities from Portland residents in the “Portland Locals” column.
Every issue of the New Age contained advertisements for businesses in many states. Banking ads were printed on the front page of nearly every issue, and readers could find advertisements for several other types of businesses organized by location, such as Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Utah, North Dakota, and Montana.
In 1904, the New Age was circulated to 3,500 readers and by 1906, circulation had increased to 4,000. The newspaper ceased publication in 1907 when Griffin suddenly left Oregon for unknown reasons. He resumed his newspaper career as the editor of the Kansas Elevator. Stone speculates that the small and decentralized nature of the African American community in the Pacific Northwest might have made it difficult for Griffin to publish the New Age for profit, thus spurring his decision to leave.
Note: The issues digitized for this newspaper were microfilmed for and sponsored by the Committee on Negro Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies and Bell & Howell, a microfilming company, by the Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service in 1947, compiling African American newspapers published in the U.S. throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. For more information on the microfilm collection, see: Negro Newspapers on Microfilm, a Selected List (Library of Congress), published in 1953. While this collection contains selections from many U.S. newspapers titles, for further coverage, view a complete list of all digitized African American titles available in the Chronicling America collection.
Provided By: Library of Congress, Washington, DCAbout this Newspaper
Title
- Portland New Age (Portland, Oregon) 1905-1907
Other Title
- New age
Dates of Publication
- 1905-1907
Created / Published
- Portland, Oregon : A. D. Griffin, Manager, 1905-1907.
Headings
- - Portland (Or.)--Newspapers
- - African Americans--Oregon--Portland--Newspapers
- - African American newspapers--Oregon
- - African American newspapers
- - African Americans
- - Oregon
- - Oregon--Portland
- - United States--Oregon--Multnomah--Portland
Genre
- Newspapers
- Serial publications
Notes
- - Weekly
- - Began in 1905; ceased in 1907.
- - Microfilmed for the Committee on Negro Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies by the Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service.
- - Also issued on microfilm from Harvard University, and University of Oregon.
- - Also issued on microfilm from University of Oregon.
- - Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Historic Oregon Newspaper online collection.
- - Vol. 10, no. 34 (December 23, 1905); title from masthead
- - Vol. 11, no. 52 (April 20, 1907).
Medium
- 2 volumes
Call Number/Physical Location
- Newspaper
Digital Id
- http://bibpurl.oclc.org/web/98422 External
- http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025137/ External
- http://ddsnext.crl.edu//titles/26841 External
Library of Congress Control Number
- sn83025137
OCLC Number
- 9272279
ISSN Number
- 2834-815x
Preceding Titles
LCCN Permalink
Additional Metadata Formats
Availability
The Library of Congress may not have copies of this newspaper title, however it may be held by other libraries around the country. Check the "Libraries That Have It” tab for details, or, if present, select the LCCN Permalink below for more LC holdings.